In 2023-2024, in collaboration with Dr. Gabriela Cruz from the School of Psychology and Neuroscience, we partnered with Roberta Bacic from Conflict Textiles and art facilitator Jimena Pardo from Bordando por la Memoria, alongside the Glasgow Latin American Research Network, to co-develop a interdisciplinary and arts-based project aimed at exploring and sharing knowledge related to cultural and historical memory, migration, community engagement, and refugee heritage in Scotland. Funded by the Glasgow Knowledge Exchange Fund, the project featured a series of events, including the screening of the awar-winning film Nae Pasaran, followed by a panel discussion with its director, Felipe Bustos, an interdisciplinary panel discussion, and an arpillera workshop and exhibition. Arpilleras are a traditional Chilean textile craft, which has been used as a form of artivism. The arpillera (burlap) is a brightly colored patchwork which creates visual stories about personal and historical events. The creation of arpilleras became popular in Chile during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and it is tightly connected to that period as a form of creative resistance. 
 
This initiative, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Coup d'état in Chile and Uruguay, and examined the UK's role and impact, emphasising the importance of solidarity networks that have supported refugees in Scotland since the 1970s. 
 
The events provided a platform for engagement with the Latin American diaspora's historical narratives and broader reflections on migration, refugee histories and exile in Scotland. Refugee heritage pushes us to rethink the idea of heritage related to the nation-state. It shows a wider, transnational dimension of cultural heritage and cultural memory that challenges and expands ideas about what constitutes heritage, or whose stories, objects and sites are told, remembered and archived. Our memories and knowledge influence the way we perceive our world and interact with others, and also conform our social and community identities. Memories are not only and individual process, they can be formed and shared across groups of people. The project aimed to explore, remember and share the relevance of solidarity networks and the people who sought refuge in Scotland. It aimed to listen to the voices of those who sought refuge and those who stood in solidarity by connecting those stories with today’s generations of the so-called “New Scots”. 
 
The arpillera textile exhibition attracted a large number of visitors, who were deeply moved by the creativity and stories embedded in these unique textile pieces. Whereas participants at the workshop acquired practical skills in arpillera-making. Many expressed a desire to continue practicing this craft, highlighting the workshop's success in fostering a better understanding of this form of artivism. The workshop offered participants a platform to creatively express their personal and collective narratives on solidarity, displacement, and migration through the art of arpilleras. Several participants noted that these events inspired them to recognise the power of everyday acts of solidarity, reaffirming their belief that even small actions can have a profound impact and, at times, save lives. 

First published: 16 September 2024

<< News