Just three days remain until the opening of the “Arpilleras – Threads of Memory” exhibition. Today, the Sybir Memorial Museum hosted a press conference announcing the first major presentation of arpilleras in Poland.
The meeting was attended by the Mayor of Białystok, Tadeusz Truskolaski, and the exhibition curators and representatives: Wojciech Śleszyński, Director of the Sybir Memorial Museum; Julita Waś, Development Specialist; and Andrés Mauricio Rojas Rojas, International Relations Specialist.
The exhibition features twenty-four arpilleras as well as a section devoted to works created by Sybiraks. It opens with a work depicting the bombing of the Presidential Palace in Santiago in 1973, which marked the beginning of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship.
“Visitors may wonder why, at the Sybir Memorial Museum, we are presenting stories from the other side of the world. However, regardless of whether a dictatorship was left-wing or right-wing, it always brought suffering. This is precisely what this exhibition is about,” said Wojciech Śleszyński.
Andrés Mauricio Rojas Rojas highlighted the artistic dimension of arpilleras:
“They were created out of an urgent need to bear witness. Although they are full of vivid colours and may appear innocent at first glance, they speak in a very clear and moving way about human rights violations. The stories of Chileans and Sybiraks may seem distant from one another, but these works remind us that people always find creative ways to preserve memory.”
Above all, the exhibition highlights the strength of women’s resistance to the violence of oppressive systems. In 1983, the “Women for Life” movement was established in Chile, organising peaceful demonstrations. One of its symbols became the dance known as La Cueca Sola.
“Women performed it wearing photographs of their missing husbands, sons, fathers and brothers over their hearts,” explained Julita Waś. “Unlike the joyful traditional La Cueca, which is danced in pairs, La Cueca Sola became a poignant act in which the silence left by the loss of loved ones speaks most powerfully.”
The Mayor of Białystok, Tadeusz Truskolaski, invited visitors to see the exhibition and emphasised what connects the two stories:
“Suffering, the struggle against regimes and the effort to survive – these are the experiences that connect both stories. Both Chileans and our Sybiraks expressed their feelings through art. This is the common thread connecting the stories presented in this exhibition,” he concluded.
The opening ceremony will take place on Friday, 10 July 2026, at 6:00 p.m. Admission is free.
The “Arpilleras – Threads of Memory” exhibition has been prepared in cooperation with the Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Santiago, Chile.
