“Quiebres y Reparaciones” at the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

In May of 2024, ARC had the privilege of attending the temporary exhibition “Quiebres y Reparaciones” (Breaks and Repairs) at the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. This exhibition, open from December 2023 to July 2024, delved into the intricate relationship between breaks and repairs in human history through the lens of pre-Columbian art from the Americas. The curation, overseen by Claudio Alvarado Lincopi and Felipe Armstrong Bruzzone, features nearly 100 pre-Columbian objects, which together narrate a story of historical fractures and the collective memory and artistry that sought to mend them.

These fractures, the organizers commented, also serve as metaphors for more or less recent events in the tumultuous history of Chile, and as heterogeneous as the coup d’état of 1973, or the social outbreak of 2019 – 2020, whose consequences continue to affect current Chilean society and politics.

The exhibition is an evocative exploration of how various American societies confronted and repaired their historical ruptures through collective memory and artistic endeavors. Among the pieces exhibited are broken and repaired wooden items, alongside other artifacts that highlight the composite nature of these practices. In discussions with the curators, it was emphasized that both intentional breaks and repairs are products of technological developments that, in many cases, are applied to the same artifact in different epochs. Behind each repaired object lies both inherited and learned knowledge, along with the tools and materials that enable diverse processes of manufacturing, crafting, repairing, and transforming.

The curators highlighted an extensive array of tools used by skilled hands, such as needles, threads, sewing kits, tendons, hairs, cutting and impact awls. In order to create the exact breaks or repairs needed for each object, these tools became extensions of their wielders,modifying the physical and perceptual possibilities of the body. In order to demonstrate the extent to which this skilled connection between body and tool affected the artisans’ work, the curators highlighted the delicate intensity required to weave torn fabrics, the tension and strength necessary to join broken wood with metals, and the precise force needed to pierce or break ceramics in a single motion.

One vivid case of the precision used in engaging with these items are the collection of ceramic vessels with intentional perforations reminiscent of bullet holes. These pieces serve to illustrate a practice observed in various American territories where objects were carefully perforated as part of burial rituals. Their perforations, often executed with great skill to avoid completely breaking the object, have been associated with inhumations, possibly as offerings to the deceased. Such “killed objects” signify the transition from life to death, reflecting the transformation of their functions in new contexts. However, the curators prefer to view these objects as altered rather than killed, emphasizing their transformation for new roles rather than their cessation of utility.

A notable example is a stone flute found in Quinta Normal, which was intentionally perforated as part of a ritual to silence it. This flute, used in ceremonies and festivals, was found buried with a young boy in the Mapocho Valley, symbolizing a transformation in its function as it accompanied the deceased into the afterlife. The intentional silencing of the instrument highlights the ritualistic significance of these interventions.

A significant aspect of this exhibition is its role in actualizing and breathing life into pre-Columbian culture, while simultaneously connecting it with contemporary Chilean society. This is particularly relevant given that Claudio Alvarado Lincopi is the first Mapuche curator to lead a project at the Museo Precolombino. His involvement symbolizes a bridge between the past and present, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of indigenous heritage and its ongoing influence in modern times. By highlighting these ancient practices, their deep meaning, and the alternative conceptions of time and life that they point to, this exhibition actualizes the cultural narratives of the indigenous peoples of Chile.

Given the current importance of cultural connection with the precolonial past, and the modern perspectives that it influences, the curators of Quiebres y Reparaciones hope that their analysis could lead to a new American perspective—an interpretive framework for understanding how these phenomena manifest and are addressed in diverse American contexts. According to Claudio and Felipe, this framework becomes particularly relevant when considering pre-Columbian objects in institutions like museums that have often sought to obscure their breaks, cracks, and repairs.

At the same time, this American perspective intertwines with the collective memory invoked by the “Nunca Más” as Chile commemorates 50 years since the coup d’etat. This connection extends beyond physical breaks, delving into the possibilities of repair after horror, a topic that many contemporary artists are currently dealing with as they contend with increasing conflicts and acts of war. Within the exhibit, each objects’ apparent dents or signs of repair remind us of fractured pasts and possible futures. The collection curated within Quiebres y Reparaciones  serves as a material manifestation of a “Nunca Más,” which reminds us that each mandate is not a single, bureaucratic directive but a single part of a continuous, permanent process where fracture and breaks are always possible. As curators have shown, it is equally if not more important to externalize the scars we see within the systems we inhabit, so that we can live with the memory of our past and live in the current moment with more clarity.

Throughout the exhibition, ethical and symbolic complexity unfolds before us, each object and history a microcosm of breaks and repairs. But apart from the complexity itself, other questions arise as the viewer moves through the collection. Claudio Alvarado asks his visitors: Are there limits to what can be repaired?  How do different ways of inhabiting time influence our perception and approach to breaks and repairs? Ultimately, the exhibition urges us to consider more conscious and responsible ways of addressing the breaks in our lives, cultures, and societies, always with the hope of finding paths toward more ethical and effective repairs.

Alessandro Zagato, August 2, 2024. Alessandro is the Latin America regional representative for the Artists at Risk Connection. Prior to ARC, he worked as a researcher at Bergen University (Norway) for a European Research Council project in Social Anthropology. He founded the “Research Group in Arts and Politics” (Grupo de Investigación en Arte y Política – GIAP) and the associated “Casa Giap,” a residency center for international artists and researchers in the south of Mexico. He holds a PhD in Sociology from Maynooth University, Ireland and is the author of “After the Pink Tide. Corporate State Formation and New Egalitarianisms in Latin America” (Berghahn Books 2020) and “The Event of Charlie Hebdo: Imaginaries of Freedom and Control” (Berghahn Books 2015), among several other publications. He lives in San Cristóbal de Las Casas (Chiapas, Mexico).