[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.01,0:00:07.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dr. Tamara Díaz Calcaño: We are here at El Museo del Barrio in
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.60,0:00:13.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,New York in front of a gallery wall covered in arpilleras, and we
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.22,0:00:16.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are looking at one at the center of the exhibition. And here we
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.50,0:00:21.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have an arpillera workshop, the type of workshop that produced the types
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.10,0:00:25.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of work we are looking at. We're in the middle of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.66,0:00:29.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we are in a very tense and difficult time for politics and
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.60,0:00:33.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the economy in Chile. Chloë Courtney: So how does this object relate
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.10,0:00:38.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to that political context? There had been in Chile, a history of women
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.14,0:00:44.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,creating appliqué and embroidered narrative scenes like this one, but in
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.34,0:00:49.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the context of the dictatorship, this technique became a way for people
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.52,0:00:54.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to process their pain and their grief in a time when there was
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.34,0:00:58.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a great risk of censorship and retribution for speaking out. So what we
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.60,0:01:03.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,see in the center of the composition is a large church with a
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.02,0:01:08.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,table surrounded by women who are represented as these little stuffed dolls,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.80,0:01:13.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they're working with thread. And we see on the wall behind them
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.44,0:01:18.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a textile with a crochet border and a scene of mountains and a
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.42,0:01:22.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sun that is, in fact, very similar to the object as a whole.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.91,0:01:24.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dr. Tamara Díaz Calcaño: Beyond the building itself, we have the
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.86,0:01:30.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,town. We see the little houses, mostly female figures going about their
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.02,0:01:34.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,day, sweeping in front of their houses. We see the representation of nature.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.76,0:01:39.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We have the clever use of patterns with floral designs to represent the
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.48,0:01:42.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trees and the leaves. Chloë Courtney: Initially, the creation of
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.96,0:01:48.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,arpilleras took place through the sponsorship of a Catholic organization
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.26,0:01:52.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,called the Vicaría de la Solidaridad, the Vicariate of Solidarity. And this
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.60,0:01:56.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,organization was able to operate because it had the protection of the Archbishop
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.96,0:02:02.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of Santiago. And one of their initiatives was to organize sewing circles
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.22,0:02:06.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the sisters and the mothers and the daughters of activists who had
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.08,0:02:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,been detained and disappeared to come together and talk about their missing
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.00,0:02:13.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,family members and to try to process their experience. One thing they did
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.70,0:02:18.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was bring the sweaters and the clothing of their loved ones in order
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.50,0:02:22.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to work that into the pictures they were creating. They also did things
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.20,0:02:26.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like unravel their own sweaters to source yarn, so we can understand this
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.90,0:02:31.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a real conceptual embedding of their care and their love and their
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.20,0:02:34.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,grief into these objects. Dr. Tamara Díaz Calcaño: We have a representation
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.22,0:02:38.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,here of the intimate reality of how the state violence was affecting these
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.64,0:02:43.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,families. We have a smaller arpillera, and we are inside the family home.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.62,0:02:49.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By the dining room table we see female figures seated, but there around
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.02,0:02:52.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the middle ground, we find an empty seat with a question mark on
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.94,0:02:57.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it, referencing the person that has disappeared: taken by the state.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.26,0:03:01.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We also see possibly another arpillera on the wall where we have a portrait
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.72,0:03:05.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a male figure, and it says, "Dónde está", where is he?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.44,0:03:08.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They don't have photographies. They don't have journalists that can publish
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.76,0:03:12.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what is happening. So now the arpilleristas are taking the documentation
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.54,0:03:16.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of their lives and of their emotions and of their experiences in their
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.34,0:03:20.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,own hands, and they are using a technique that they probably already use
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.14,0:03:22.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at home. Chloë Courtney: There are at least three, if not more
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.98,0:03:27.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,techniques happening in most arpilleras: appliqué, or quilting; embroidery,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.72,0:03:31.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the ornamental stitches used to create the details; and then crochet for
Dialogue: 0,0:03:31.88,0:03:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the borders. At the end of the dictatorship in 1989, there was a
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.00,0:03:42.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,peaceful transfer of power, and some scholars hypothesize that these communities
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.26,0:03:46.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of women that maybe represented the first time that these arpilleristas
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.23,0:03:50.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were getting involved with politics empowered them and encouraged them to
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.36,0:03:54.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,get involved in other ways. They were empowered to say, "I'm not commenting
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.94,0:03:58.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the politics, but as a mother, where's my son? As a sister,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.71,0:04:02.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Where's my brother?" And to use this politics of care to go out
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.20,0:04:05.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the streets and protest and to speak openly, and that this created
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.06,0:04:10.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the potential for the transition to a democratic system. As these sewing
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.88,0:04:15.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,circles continued, the Vicaría de la Solidaridad realized there was a big
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.02,0:04:20.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interest in these objects, and they could easily be rolled up and hidden
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.04,0:04:24.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in suitcases between layers of clothing. So they developed this network
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.72,0:04:30.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of circulation to ship the arpilleras outside of the country secretly.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.30,0:04:36.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they decided to also establish more workshops. More women got involved
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.34,0:04:41.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who were not necessarily directly impacted by the death of a loved one
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.34,0:04:44.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or the disappearance of a loved one, but who were nevertheless concerned
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.32,0:04:48.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with what was happening. And so a body of themes began to emerge,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.58,0:04:54.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like protests where people are demanding work and justice and food to feed
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.50,0:04:59.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their families. We see community efforts at recycling, which was a way to
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.50,0:05:03.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,earn a little extra money on the urban periphery where people would collect
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.32,0:05:07.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cardboard. We see people instituting soup kitchens for their community so
Dialogue: 0,0:05:07.80,0:05:12.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they could share resources. There are little bags of rice that really
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.12,0:05:14.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,make that idea of the soup kitchen come alive.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.98,0:05:19.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dr. Tamara Díaz Calcaño: It is very interesting how [a] workshop that started as a way to
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.42,0:05:24.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,support emotionally the women affected directly by the violence of the state
Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.22,0:05:29.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,developed into a way of resistance, into a way for these women to
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.62,0:05:33.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have some sort of control in the situation, to be able to denounce
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.34,0:05:36.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the violence exerted against their family members against themselves. And
Dialogue: 0,0:05:36.96,0:05:40.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Pinochet government was aware of the power of these images,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.46,0:05:45.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they would try to destroy or hide these arpilleras if they could
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.76,0:05:48.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,get their hands on it. And the end result of the arpilleras is
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.80,0:05:52.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very interesting because there's something very sweet in terms of the aesthetic.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:52.74,0:05:56.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But when they invite you to look into them, you see that there's
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.46,0:06:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a subject matter that can be very tense, very heavy with the representation
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.10,0:06:05.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the violence of the state and the consequences of that violence in
Dialogue: 0,0:06:05.04,0:06:05.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the everyday.