For seven hours, different personalities from the academic, political and artistic world gathered in the Central House of the University of Chile to read poetic texts, fragments of testimonies and memories of the victims of the dictatorship as part of the performative action “Never +, a the four winds, with all our voices.
With the silence of the city and under heavy rain, at five o’clock in the morning on September 11, a marathon began. reading the testimonies and reflecting on the memory of the victims of the dictatorship within the university community and the country, in the voice of different personalities from the artistic, academic and political world.
This is how it is seven hours of uninterrupted reading developed in the Central House of the University of Chile, whose record is available on the campus YouTube channel. In the artistic-poetic meeting, where different voices are combined with music and lighting in the Delight Lab in the Andrés Bello patio and on its second floor, students and academics from different academic units of the campus participated, as well as different personality, including Ximena Rivas, Patricia Rivadeneira, Daniel Alcaino, María Paz Grandjean y Fernando Pinilla. They joined Ernesto Lejderman survived the military attack in which his parents died at the hands of members of the Arica Regiment in La Serena.
The vice-rector of Extension and Communication of the University of Chile, Pilar Barba, maintains that “this is one of the important actions of this commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the coup d’état, an artistic action that aims, in a way, to summarize what we have done in during this “Never Again” week. He also added that through this initiative “Art is placed at the service of that art that at some point is silenced, but that deep down keeps within itself the potential to make us feel one and also to move us.“.
This activity, emphasized Vice-Rector Barba, “is our way of putting the voices of the University of Chile and the community, which accompanies this vigil that began with the first military movements on September 11, 1973 and which ended shortly after 12 with the bombardment of La Moneda.”
A spell for the past and the future of democracy
WHAT “Chile will never be a great cemetery, never again” is one of the opening sentences of the reading, which includes fragments of documents such as the Rettig and Valech reports, as well as some administrative summaries to which members of the university community are subjected. These documents were also at the entrance of the heritage building of the University during this demonstration that began early in the morning, which evoked the first movements of the coup and deployments in Valparaíso, and which marked the moments of the morning of September 11 .
One of the managers of this artistic action is an academic from the Faculty of Arts, Ana Harcha who pointed out that “at this time it is important to take this action to review the memory and also to disseminate what happened in these 50 years. Also, to think about the present, to think about the present, to Think about what we can do together. Because, even if a very individualistic discourse is returned and not done, we believe that it can be done, and a way to do it is not only to say it, but to do something together, like this.“.
This activity started exactly at five in the morning should be done – Ana Harcha explained – with “repair times that are important to what happened that morning 50 years ago, like a the act of exorcism of what unfolded as agony at five in the morning. , with the movements of the ship in Valparaíso. So we started this hour, to come together and say ‘we believe in common life, in collective life .’
One of the managers of the action is the director of the Chilean National Theater, Cristian Keim, for whom “this type of activity must be done regularly. They cannot be a salute to the flag and only for commemorative occasions, but they must be present at all times because the memory is built every day.
“We’re very happy to have it, but I think there is a super important mission for the University, which is to push it and make it happen not only for the anniversary as important as it is.“, he pointed out.
The light for “Never +”: light projection in the Delight lab
As a prelude to the show “No +, in four winds, with all our voices”, the front of the Central House of the University of Chile is the protagonist of the lighting intervention of the art and audiovisual design studio Delight Lab, obtained on the walls of Casa de Bello in the evening of Sunday, September 10 questions to suggest a reflection on loss, violence and building a society where we all feel safe.
This civic neighborhood event was held in conjunction with a large call by various women’s organizations to march in black around the palace of La Moneda.
Other activities held today at the Headquarters are the inauguration of “Gallery of the Presidents” exhibition the artist and vice dean of the Faculty of Arts, Luis Montes, as well as the meeting of students with former Uruguayan President José Mujica is here.
All the activities of Casa de Bello in 50 years, as well as records of events such as Concert “Víctor Jara Symphonic”. the delivery of eight new posthumous titles, the Michelle Bachelet’s conference “Human Rights, Memory and Democracy” and the delivery of The Human Rights and Democracy Medal went to Alicia Lira available on the website www.uchile.cl/golpe50
