Ana gave the overview of Friday's program, which culminated in a talk by Barbara Torres Baquedano, who obtained her MA in Cultural Studies at the University of Bremen with the thesis "There is no tomorrow without yesterday, " an analysis of collective memory in the text of the Valech Report, a report on political prison and torture in Chile between 1973-1990.
For the past 4 years, Barbara Torres Baquedano has worked with refugee women in Bremen, helping them express themselves through a Latin American art form, Arpilleras, shown here:
The arpilleras (burlap pictures) created by individuals (rather than the communal ones) give the name and native country of the refugee as well as the path they took. For example in the one above, Amira says her journey to Bremen was Somalia-Ethiopia-Sudan-Libya-Malta-Germany.
They also explain the message, "What I want to say with my picture." In the case of Amira, she wrote "At the bottom of my painting you can see a table set. In the foreground I have sewn a plate with food. When I sewed and embroidered my burlap, I was thinking that I would like to train as a cook, but during the course of this workshop I realized that maybe I am more interested in helping people. Since I speak many languages, I would like to learn German and then become a social worker or salesperson."
I was particularly interested in this workshop for at least three reasons. I know Ana Luengo and am always impressed by the projects she takes on; I'm concerned about refugee women, and I am interested in Bremen , Gemany, because a friend I've had since 1963 (when we were penpals on two sides of the ocean) lives in Bremen. It seemed a surprising place to have a Latin American art form used to help refugee women from Syria, countries in Africa, and other places. .
Continued on another blog post
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