Traveling Arpilleras

Organized by the Permanent Mission of Chile to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva in collaboration with Chile’s Museum of Memory and Human Rights.

The Arpilleras exhibition consists of colorful patchwork designs that depict daily life during the time of military dictatorship in Chile (1973–1990). These works, appliquéd on burlap or “Arpillera”, were made by the mothers, spouses and daughters of disappeared detainees during their search for missing relatives. Their plight also led them to gather around Human Rights organizations, with whom they found the support needed to speak about their experiences.

The exhibition Arpilleras, consisting of 25 pieces by two artists acknowledged as Human Living Treasures from the “Colectivo lo Hermida”, aims to highlight various stories recorded by these women, particularly the situation in Chile in the 1980s. This occasion will also serve to celebrate the hundredth year since the birth of Violeta Parra, a Chilean singer and artist who is credited as the original Arpillerista.