When Art Loses its Sting: The Evolution of Protest Art in Authoritarian Contexts

Abstract

Change in art is an understudied topic in sociological research. This article examines protest artworks ( arpilleras) produced by shantytown women during and shortly after the dictatorship in Chile, to explore the question why political art that is for sale changes over time. This research is based on 136 semi-structured and in-depth interviews with various members of the art world in Chile, Europe, and the United States, a year's worth of participant observation of art groups in Santiago and over five hundred photographs of arpilleras, taken by the author and analyzed thematically. Political art that is for sale can change because the intermediary (the organization connecting producers and buyers) becomes less or more politically conservative, develops a precarious financial situation, grows more afraid of repression, and has the power to enforce the changes it desires; because the original buyers are replaced with new buyers with different motivations; and because new artists with new ideas begin making the art, one artist in the group produces something different and the idea spreads, artists censor themselves, and artists have new experiences or learn about new events. Through these sources of change, international social movements, local and international political and economic developments, and global institutions impact the art. Meanings attached to the art by the different parties (intermediaries, buyers, and artists) and class differences between artists and intermediaries are also important in facilitating change. These findings, based as they are on political art made in a repressive context, not only contribute to our understanding of artistic evolution but they help correct the bias in the sociology of art toward “art” made in democratic countries of the “First World.” They are not just applicable to authoritarian regimes but also to art by politicized minority groups in democratic contexts, and to other cultural products such as newspapers, magazines, documentaries, and books.