Memory and Landscape: Unveiling the Historic Truths of Chile, 1973-1990

In Memory and Landscape, Maria Verónica San Martin uses allegory to create a poignant memorial to those who died during one of the darkest chapters in Chilean history. On September 11, 1973, rogue elements of Chile’s military carried out a violent coup d’état against the democratically-elected socialist government of Salvador Allende, installing General Augusto Pinochet as his unelected replacement. In the months and years that followed, members of Pinochet’s illegal regime engaged in a brutal and systematic suppression of political dissidents, arresting more than 40, 000 citizens (torturing many of them) and murdering some 3, 200 people for their political beliefs. A third of those killed were never found. It is widely believed the United States Central Intelligence Agency deliberately provoked political and economic chaos in Chile and helped to instigate the ousting of Allende.