Contribution short abstract:

The 50th anniversary of Chile's 1973 coup is marked by fading memory and polarized views. To address this, the National Historical Museum created an exhibition that, designed as a historical laboratory, used art, objects, and voices foster critical analysis and democratic awareness.

Contribution long abstract:

Two elements characterise the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the coup d'état in Chile (1973): the decline of living memory and the polarisation of the past. Currently, in Chile, 36% of the population does not believe in the importance of democracy, and the veil of traumatic silence has hindered the generational transfer of memory. At the same time, 36.4% of Chileans believe that the military's action in 1973 was necessary, and the figures of distrust in the democratic system grow year by year, especially among the younger generations.

In response, the Museo Histórico Nacional organised the exhibition 50 years later, Coup in Memory (50 años después. Golpe en la memoria) combines the voice of more than one hundred interviews, patrimonial objects, contemporary art and unpublished archives. The exhibition was designed as a historical laboratory to analyse the costs of the loss of a democratic system and is guided by a choral soundscape that combines the questions of young people with the memory of those who lived through that time.

Through this exhibition, this paper analyses the role of archives, art, objects and testimonies as didactic material for critical analysis and historical awareness and their relationship with democratic appreciation. From the experience of its curators, the paper recounts the methodological process to encourage the participation and donation of hitherto marginalised histories from the Museum.