About the project

Header photograph: Matías Valenzuela ©

 

The story of settler colonialism is usually told from the perspective of a hegemonic consensus that appeals to the idea of "the meeting of cultures" but ignores all other voices. Conversely, "Problematising History: Indigenous perspectives on Welsh settlement in Patagonia" aims to diversify views on the history of settlement in Patagonia, revisiting recent research, trajectories, life experiences, testimonies, and memories that were made invisible, denied or pushed to the margins.

This digital exhibition showcases creative indigenous projects related to the history of Chubut produced by four initiatives that responded to our call for contributions reflecting on the relationship between indigenous peoples, Welsh immigrants and the Argentine State. In alphabetical order, those initiatives are:

• Des-cartografiando la gesta: Un intento de desarmar la historia oficial y deconstruir el discurso colonial proponiendo la Cartografía Social como herramienta de investigación y construcción artística [De-mapping the feat: an attempt to dismantle the official history and deconstruct colonial discourse by proposing social mapping as a tool for research and artistic creation] by Ester Andrea Despó Cañuqueo and Nadia Paz Pissano Paileman
• Memorias y relatos de las y los antiguos del territorio mapuche. Problematizando la historia oficial de la región de Paso de indios, Chubut [Memories and stories of Mapuche territory elders. Problematising the official history of the Paso de Indios region] by Agustín Pichiñan
• Nahuelpan: Memoria, despojo y lucha [Nahuelpan: Memory, dispossession, and struggle] by Laura Gina Jara, Jenifer Paola Nahuelpan and Luisa Ayleen Suarez
• Puel Willi Mapu Mew: Taiñ Zungun by Viviana Ayilef, Gerónimo Gil, Mónica Melipan and Iván Paillalaf 

Project direction and coordination

Geraldine Lublin, Mariela Eva Rodríguez, Carolina Crespo, Ayelén Fiori, Julieta Magallanes, Ana Margarita Ramos, Kaia Santisteban, Valentina Stella y María Marcela Tomas.

Welsh and English Translations: Llewelyn Hopwood.

The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC, UK) and has been carried out through collaboration between Swansea University (Wales, UK), the National Library of Wales, Wales Arts International, and the Grupo de Estudios sobre Memorias Alterizadas y Subordinadas (GEMAS). Formed in 2008 by anthropologists with an interest in collective memory, the GEMAS network now includes numerous working groups and initiatives – research, mapping, journal publishing, and public performances – run by researchers, experts, students and indigenous peoples.

Acknowledgments

Special gratitude is owed to those who answered the call for contributions. Without them, this project would not be possible. 

Thank you also to:

Dafydd Tudur, Rhian James and Bethany Schofield, National Library of Wales.

Eluned Haf, Wales Arts International.

Llewelyn Hopwood and Mererid Hopwood, Geraint Daniel and Rhian James (Swansea University), Liliana Ancalao, Diego Vainer, Andrés Dinamarca, Ioan Llŷr Brooks.