Archeology of Memory: Villa Grimaldi-clean up/Burma comic jailed for 45 years

Archeology of Memory: Villa Grimaldi

by Jessica Mosby

The Women's International Perspective

November 22, 2008

http://thewip.net/contributors/2008/11/archeology_of_memory_villa_gri.html

 

At the tender age of 19, Claudio Duran opened the door

of his Santiago home in the middle of the night to find

military secret police ready to arrest him. The officers

took him to Villa Grimaldi, ironically known as the

Palace of Laughter - a Chilean prison used by General

Augusto Pinochet after the 1973 military coup. At that

moment, he says, "my life changed." Duran (now known as

Quique Cruz) chronicles his imprisonment and the art

that helped him reconcile his painful past in the new

documentary Archeology of Memory: Villa Grimaldi. The

film debuted at the 2008 Mill Valley Film Festival.

 

Duran, along with over 5,000 other artists, musicians,

and dissidents, was imprisoned and tortured at Villa

Grimaldi. After being exiled to Canada, he changed his

name to Quique Cruz to protect his family still living

in Chile from further persecution. It was not until

Pinochet was arrested in London in 1998 that Cruz even

felt safe to discuss his past and return to Chile.

 

While working menial jobs and hiding his true identity,

he kept playing music because "through music you can

keep on dreaming." He later settled in Northern

California where he finished college and pursued a Ph.D.

at Stanford University. It was then that Cruz decided to

come to terms with the identity and country he had long

tried to forget through art. The result is a series of

work - a musical suite, book, documentary film, and a

multimedia installation - all titled Archeology of Memory: Villa Grimaldi.

 

The 88-minute documentary does not recount the past in

chronological order, it is not a history lesson of

Cruz's life. Archeology of Memory: Villa Grimaldi, which

Cruz directed and produced with filmmaker Marilyn

Mulford, is a surreal reliving of the last 30 years.

From the Chilean cultural renaissance of the early 1970s

to Pinochet's military dictatorship, Cruz offers a

dream-like remembrance of the world as seen through his eyes.

 

Nothing is literally reenacted. Cruz describes his

torture while fictionalized flashbacks and symbolic

sequences accompany his words. The images are interwoven

with footage of Cruz's Latin-inspired concerts at the La

Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, California. The

evocative music that he wrote and performed as part of

the project expresses the pain of his exile in an

incredibly affecting way. Without being overly dramatic,

it is as if by playing music, Cruz is finally able to

heal from the past he long concealed.

 

Sadly, Cruz - now a bearded, middle-aged man - is hardly

alone in his hardship. The film follows Cruz as he

visits Chile to interview his mother and reconnect with

friends who were also imprisoned for supporting Chilean

President Salvador Allende. Fellow artists and musicians

recount their own torture for crimes that were never

clear; one friend was sent to prison for making

"subversive birdcages" as part of an art installation.

 

For all of the haunting images on screen and the

horrific descriptions of Pinochet's secret police,

Cruz's interview with his elderly mother is truly

heartbreaking. The two sit on the porch of her rural

home as she relives the past, not knowing if her son was

alive or dead, having to burn all of the family's books

so as not to be perceived as "left-wing." After decades

apart, there is a sense of tranquility between Cruz and

his mother, but according to her, "we'll never really recover."

 

Cruz's declaration that "I came to this earth to play"

rings true. Archeology of Memory: Villa Grimaldi builds

to two spellbinding musical performances that elevate

the documentary from an interesting personal account to

a chilling piece of cinema. While visiting the former

site of Villa Grimaldi in 2001, Cruz starts an impromptu

percussion jam session, drumming away like his life

depends on it. Then, during a triumphant 2006

homecoming, Cruz performs the Archeology of Memory:

Villa Grimaldi musical set to an audience that includes

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who was also

imprisoned at Villa Grimaldi.

 

As the audience travels through Cruz's memory, the

healing process - not the torture - is what ultimately

resonates. The film is a testimony about the power of

art. Cruz has turned his painful past into something beautiful.

 

About the Author Jessica Mosby is a writer and critic living in San Francisco, California. In the rare moments when she's not traveling across the United States for work, Jessica enjoys listening to public radio, buying organic food at local farmers markets, trolling junk stores, and collecting owl-themed

tchotchke.

 

Burma comic jailed for 45 years

A popular comedian active in Burma's democracy movement has been sentenced to 45 years in jail by a Burmese court.

Zarganar was found to have violated the Electronics Act, which regulates electronic communications.

He is the latest in a string of opposition activists to be given long jail terms by the military government.

He was detained earlier this year for criticising the government's slow response to Cyclone Nargis in interviews with foreign news groups.

More than 100 activists have been sentenced over the past two weeks in a judicial crackdown across the spectrum of Burma's pro-democracy movement.

Some people have been sentenced to terms as long as 65 years.

Many took part in protests against the ruling junta sparked by fuel and food price rises in August 2007.

'Staggering'

Zarganar led a group of entertainers who organised private aid deliveries to victims of Cyclone Nargis, which hit in May.

An outspoken satirist of the military government, Zarganar had already been arrested and jailed four times before he was taken from his home again by the authorities in June.

At the time, he seemed to think the government would have no problem with his activities.

"No, we never encounter any problems, because we negotiated with them, and we just want to pass our donation parcels. We just want to encourage our people - this is our duty," he told the BBC in an interview just before his arrest.

The BBC's South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head says the sentence passed down on the comedian seems staggeringly severe: 45 years in prison, and he still faces further charges.

However, our correspondent says, it fits the pattern of other sentences given to more than 100 other dissidents over the past two weeks.

These include 65 years to the key members of the so-called 88 Generation of activists, and a total of 68 years to Ashin Gambira, leader of the monks' alliance that led last year's anti-government uprising.

Our correspondent says such breathtakingly disproportionate punishments send two clear messages from the generals who rule Burma: that they will brook no opposition in the lead-up to their carefully managed transition to what they are calling a "discipline-flourishing democracy"; and that they are unconcerned what the rest of the world thinks.

This wave of trials has been condemned by the UN and rights groups, as well as the United States and European countries.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7741653.stm

Published: 2008/11/21 13:48:18 GMT

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