Casgliadau Arlein

'Arpillera' style decoration of a bird. Purchased in 1975 by José Cifuentes at Plaza de Armas Artesania shop in Santiago, Chile.

Arpilleras are colourful, hand-stitched tapestries that document the lives of the oppressed in Chile during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-90).

Decoration depicting a colorful bird. Made of a thick layer of cardboard (4mm) cut in the shape of a bird with its head facing the proper right side and opened wings. The upper surface of the card is coated in adhesive and strands of six different colour yarns are aligned and adhered onto the surface to fill different delineated spaces that make up the design. The colours are a luminous red, dark navy, yellow, dark green, and two shades of brown. The lighter of the two browns is used to outline the separate blocks of colour. A rectangular piece of paper has been adhered to the upper back of the wings; under the paper are two bulges that suggest that a cord was once attached in order to suspend the bird for display (with the loop formed by the cord now having been cut off). The yarns are synthetic fibre, 4-ply, S-twist. The edge of the card appears to have been painted red.