October 15: Human Rights.

Word of the Day: Arpillera- a Chilean craftwork tradition of using scraps of fabric to tell a sew a picture, which during the dictatorship period were used as a form of memory, protest and healing

Today I went to the Museo de la Memoria y Derechos Humanos (Museum of Memory and Human Rights) and it was unlike any other museum I had ever been to before, both structurally and conceptually. It's a beautiful, very new, huge, modern, open space with lots of light that enters.
Conceptually, it is a fascinating idea: a museum on a national level that attempts to commemorate victims of violence perpetrated by the state itself, openly exposing the past to the viewer.
I thought the museum in general did an excellent job of commemorating the victims, making them seem like real people with testimonies, pictures and artifacts. One area that I thought it was a little weak in was explaining the context of the dictatorship and the strength of support for Pinochet, factors that are still important in understanding political realities in Chile today.
It's hard to do that though without making apologies for abuses and I think the factions that directed the project itself would not have wanted to do that. Above all, its an interesting concept, the idea that a museum can create a historical narrative.

My favorite part of the museum was the large display spanning 2 floors of faces from those who were disappeared, tortured, or killed during Pinochet's regime. Pictures are so simple, but they express so much sometimes, in this case, the faces of the living expressing everything that political violence and intolerance can rob from a society.
There was also a large set of beautiful arpilleras upstairs, the quality of which I had never seen before.

There was also extensive information in the foyer on Truth Comissions from around the globe and on Chilean memorial sites.

All in all, a well done project.

Here's an article about the museum that was in Newsweek a while back: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/03/31/the-art-of-darkness.html

Ligero y Peso: July 15th

Today was full of cultural whiplash and varied between being extremely fun and emotionally intense.

After a morning of lectures about the Chilean economy and environment, we went out to see a vineyard, learn about a process that has become a huge part of the Chilean economy in recent years & taste some wines.

Being outside of Santiago was really eye opening. The huge gaps in income and access in Chile are apparent before you even get out of the city, but the countryside in many ways surprised me how low the standard of living appeared for many campesinos. While Chile’s neoliberal economy has been lauded by many, it was fascinating to finally have a visual image of those who have been left behind by growth or who it could be argued are exploited by growth.

On a lighter note, today I had the best meal of my entire life (Sorry Mom!) at San Martino Vineyards where we had a fabulous wine tasting with a huge lunch. The vineyards have been family owned from their initiation, feature artisanal wines and are the only carbon neutral vineyard in South America.

Our wines included:
-Carmenere- from a type of grape that grows exceptionally well in Chile
-Cabernet Sauvignon
-Cabernet Blanc- The best white wine I’ve ever had! I’m not usually a big fan of whites, but this was simply exquisite.

Our tremendously large meal included:
-cerviche: a seafood dish flavored with citrus
-queso fresco- very fresh and delicious seeds
-soup made from a puree of different vegetables
-avocados covered in sesame seeds & tomatoes flavored with lemon
-pan amasada- sort of like a biscuit
-canelones- pasta filled with cheese and jaiva, sweetwater crab that is unique to Chile
-Bouef bourgeon
asparagus
salad with watercress

And for dessert...
-Torta de lucuma- a sumptious treat with merengue and lucuma, a fruit from the North of Chile
-Torta de frambuesa- raspberry tart
-Mousse de mote con huesillos- A unique mousse version of a traditional Chilean dessert drink with peaches and a special grain
-truffle with coconut
-espresso

After touring the wine production on the property, we went to Paine, a community which was proportionally affected the most by the violence of the Pinochet dictatorship. 70 of the 2000 people in the town were "disappeared", mainly because they were active in agrarian land reform moments, which greatly challenged rural social structures. The citizens of the town have created a deeply intimate and personal monument to their desaparecidos, whose fate in many cases remains unknown. We met with one of them, whose father was taken and she explained the moment to us. The design of the monument was very symbolic. 1930 poles of varying heights represent la cordillera (the Andes), as well as the varying ages of the community. 70 poles are missing to represent missing community members. Instead, 70 mosaics, designed by surviving family members stand in memory of those lost. Finally, a tree planted in the center symbolizes how life continues, even in the midst of horrors and uncertainty.

Today reminded me of how much blood has been spilled over the right to have land, whether a simple personal plot or struggles for an entire nation. When you focus on the sadness of a single individual, the big pictures reasons and explanations for conflict make less and less sense.

In the last part of the day, we went to a Mapuche (original people’s) modern dance performance. Despite taking place in what our program’s academic director referred to as a “outdoor experimental shed,” the performance featured very modern lighting, video and audio effects, that included the Mapuche language. The dancing was simultaneously beautiful, fierce, weird and engaging. Seeing how we’ve been talking a ton about the importance of class in Chile, I was really fascinating by the audience, which featured people who were definitely lower class and of Mapuche descent, college students, upper class people and a few children. It really surprised me to see such a wide cross section at one event; it’s not really something you would ever see in the States.