Cultural Resistance
In the 1970s and 1980s, music was a central component of solidarity activism and the sound of the New Chilean Song movement (Nueva Canción Chilena) rang out around Britain.
Violeta Parra (1917-1967), one of the founders of the movement, was an iconic face of resistance campaigns and cultural events, with her songs performed worldwide by her children, Isabel and Ángel, as well as other members of the movement.
The lyrics of Chilean groups in exile, like Inti-Illimani, were translated and sold in record stores. British artists frequently performed in aid of Chile, raising money for those facing persecution. Victor Jara, a celebrated Chilean musician brutally murdered by the dictatorship, became a symbol of resistance, with many artists choosing to reproduce his music after his death. Jara’s songs about worker’s rights became hymns of hope and remembrance for revolutionary goals.
Crafting the Resistance
Chileans in exile like Vladimir Vega, and those in prison in Chile, used culture and craft to resist the dictatorship’s efforts to break their spirits and silence their opposition. See above to hear Vladimir Vega sing “Desaparecido” with images of the coup and the dictatorship that followed. Below, you can watch the 2018 documentary “Crafting the Resistance: The Art of Chilean Political Prisoners” (2018) about the way cultural resistance helped those imprisoned during the dictatorship.
The film is directed by Carmen Luz Parot and Gloria Miqueles. Produced by Jasmine Gideon.
British Art and Culture inspired by Chilean Events
Chile inspired many British artists, choreographers, playwrights, designers. Click on the images below to watch some examples of the huge cultural influence resistance to the dictatorship in Chile, the struggle for human rights and support for Chilean exiles had in Britain. These include Christopher Bruce’s famous “Ghost Dances” (1981) performed by the Rambert Ballet Company, Peter Kennard’s 1978 photmontage work on Chile, showing at the Four Corners Gallery in London this September 2023.
