'Until Dignity Has Become Custom', a slogan used in Chile's history as a call for resistance has been adopted to show support for a new constitution — by contemporary graphic designer and artist Lolo Gongora
The image of Victor Jara’s face stares down from the wall of another graffiti-covered Santiago street.
The Chilean singer who was tortured and murdered during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in 1973 is enjoying something of a renaissance in his home city.
Last October, as his country was rocked by its most violent anti-government uprising since the return to democracy, his words, “the right to live in peace”, were sung throughout the length of the country.
Now, Jara’s image, alongside other protest iconography from that time, are re-appearing in time for a vote that could finally destroy the last vestiges of Pinochet’s regime.
On Sunday Chileans will be asked if they want to re-write the country’s constitution that was drawn up under the dictatorship.
The deeply polarising plebiscite has more than echos of the historic 1988 referendum that saw a “no” vote against Pinochet and his junta, and lead to democratic transition.
Images of Victor Jara's face has returned to the streets of Santiago
Credit: Ben Jones
A symbol of resistance once more, Jara’s image, alongside other protest iconography from that time, are appearing alongside the words “approve” and “new constitution”.
“It is no longer a vote to remove a dictator, but he left a constitution that has gripped Chile to the core and pushed it towards this neoliberal experiment. What will be voted on is the damned inheritance of the dictator,” said an artist named Felipe, of the screenprinting collective Serigrafia Instantanea, producing posters and artwork adorning the streets.
Sunday’s vote follows a year of division and violence in what was believed to be Latin America’s most stable country. Just days after billionaire president Sebastian Pinera described the country as an “oasis”, millions of Chileans were on the streets demanding systemic change in a country riddled with inequality. More than 30 people died, thousands injured and hundreds left permanently disabled following an aggressive crackdown of the unrest. Cases of arson and looting caused £1bn in damage.
In an attempt to appease demonstrators, the president agreed to hold a vote on the constitution, which is widely believed to be the cause of Chile’s problems.The constitution was drafted by the Pinochet regime undemocratically, and protected a neoliberal economy over healthcare and education. Some demonstrators believe rewriting the document could address the disparity.
Sunday's vote follows a year of division and violence in what was believed to be Latin America’s most stable country
Credit: AFP
Slogans of “No+ represion” or “No+ abusos”, meaning no more, pasted on walls could be relics from more than 30 years ago when first designed by an underground collective opposed to the dictator. Creative artwork and public messaging played a key role in the 1988 vote, with modern advertising techniques deployed with devastating effect to bring down the regime and spark hope among millions.
The new designs appear alongside colourful designs of women wearing green scarves of the current pro-abortion movement, or the face of a Mapuche indigenous man who was shot and killed by police in 2018.
“Artists take another look at the slogans and the social movement, appropriate it and spread it, reaching many more corners of society,” said Lolo Gongora, an artist whose images of women banging pots and pans in the traditional “cacerolazo” protest are seen across Santiago.
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“In the absence of leaders or spokespersons for this movement, artworks have come up that vindicate the struggle of the people,” said Marcel Sola, an artist and curator of a new museum exhibiting the art, photography and film of Chile’s 2019 uprising.
“In the same way, icons of the struggle in times of dictatorship have been rescued, such as the image and music of Víctor Jara as well as the actions of massive cacerolazo,” he added.
Serigrafia Instantanea’s design of a group banging pans together with the slogan “Until dignity becomes custom” have been reproduced on walls across the country. The phrase is a memento of a former resistance, reborn for this new revolt.
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