Artwork by Chilean political prisoners exhibited at Warwick

A selection of crafts made by former Chilean political prisoners is being exhibited at the University of Warwick’s library from October 30 to November 17.

The exhibition, titled ‘Crafting Resistance: the art of Chilean Political Prisoners’, aims to emphasise the importance of the artwork in keeping the prisoners’ mental health stable whilst incarcerated.

The prisoners were held in concentration camps under General Pinochet’s military dictatorship in Chile, which lasted from 1973 to 1990 and was characterised by systematic suppression and persecution of dissidents. It is estimated that 3,000 people were left dead or missing, with a further 200,000 Chileans fleeing into exile.

Despite limited access to materials, some prisoners were able to craft works of art using improvised tools. A variety of art was created, ranging from clothing to carving work.

A spokesperson for the exhibit stated: “These artefacts are now testimony to the mental endurance of all those who were political prisoners under the Pinochet regime”.

Sergio Requena-Rueda, a former political prisoner who arrived as a refugee in the UK in 1977, told the Solihull Observer: “In the concentration camps, we organised ourselves in different activities and making crafted items was one of them, with very limited tools and materials but with great ingenuity.

“Sending the craft outside of the concentration camp to the country and abroad, was a kind of escape from the barbed wire to letting families, friends and the solidarity world know that we were continuing the resistance struggle from the prison, we were not victims, we were combatants.”

When speaking to the Boar, Liz Wood, MRC Assistant Archivist, stated: “It is important when looking at the objects to not just see them as pieces of art, but to look at the stories that lie behind them – and the tales they tell of both individuals and prisoners”.

The exhibition is free to visit and can be found in the Modern Records Centre section of the library.