Las Ultimas Mujeres

Las Últimas Mujeres was a cultural documentation project, from 2013, initiated in collaboration with the women’s rights organisation MujerOpina Chile and UNESCO.

 

The project was developed with a humanitarian focus: to recognise and preserve the work of the remaining indigenous women artisans in Chile. Its aim was to separate craftsmanship from the surrounding political tensions between the state and indigenous communities, instead centring attention on skill, heritage, and technique.

 

Rather than approaching the work from an external perspective, I lived alongside the Mapuches and Aymaras throughout the duration of the project, sharing in their daily routines and documenting their environment over time. The resulting body of work became both an intimate photographic record and an educational exhibition.

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Following the documentation phase, I spent three months producing the final exhibition, overseeing logistics, curation, and installation. The opening included a gathering dedicated to the women themselves, featuring a curated display of their work and giving them space to present and speak about their craft in their own words.

 

The project ultimately became both an exhibition and a platform — highlighting the beauty of their cultural knowledge and placing emphasis on preservation through visibility, respect, and authorship.