Culture and Coexistence into the Great Unknown
Artist Salomé Restrepo, as part of the SACO Contemporary Biennial on the coast of the Atacama Desert in Chile, shares her insights on migration, cultural identity, and the role of art in addressing social issues. Through her powerful experiences in Colombia and Chile, Salomé explores how art can serve as a vehicle for dialogue and change, shedding light on the complexities of displacement and human resilience.
We embark on the first part of a series by Jack Eidt to spotlight the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, and its rich yet troubled history with mining.
In the name of the struggle against terrorism, a special operation — code named CONDOR – was conducted in the 1970s and 80s in South America. Its targets were left wing political dissidents, the organised labour and intellectuals. Condor soon became a network of military dictatorships, supported by the US State Department, the CIA and Interpol. A trial began in early March in Buenos Aires to attempt to bring to justice former dictators and military officers.
In this independent documentary, the Mapuche vision of the world is the basis to understand the struggle to protect their land and culture. The music, the paintings, the poetry, the language, the rituals, the traditions, and the strength of nature and the ancestors are present in “The Voice of the Mapuche”.
President Evo Morales signed into law in 2017 that stripped protection from the Isiboro Secure National Park and Indigenous Territory, known as TIPNIS for its Spanish initials, opening it to highway construction and other development.