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Alejandra Arévalo

          

Alejandra Arévalo

Hijos del silencio

(Children of silence) Ongoing

More than 20,000 families were split apart by illegal adoptions in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship between 1970 and 1990.The kidnapping and adoption of Chilean children was a mechanism put in place to improve the image of the dictatorship abroad. It was also a practice that sought to lower the poverty rate since the vast majority of the babies came from impoverished families. The child trafficking operation consisted of a wide and well-articulated network of social workers, doctors, nurses, judges and adoption agencies that would sell the babies mostly to European families. Some of these families knew the truth and others chose to ignore it.

Silence was and still is, the backbone of this situation.This project aims to inform and revive the memory of this problematic by portraying the different parties involved. From the people illegally adopted, their biological and adoptive families as well as the courts, clinics and others who were implicated.


Evelyn 5th Birthday Evelyn Sundroos came to Sweeden when she was one year and a half old. Her biological moher Carmen never gave her up for adoption. Under false promises chilean social workers took Evelyn to send her to a swedish family. In 2019, after her own research, Evelyn learns about her origins and how she came to Europe. First Congress of Adoptees in Europe, Stockholm, Sweeden, June 2022. Postcard Nr.1 sent from Chile to Lovisa's adoptive parents by Ana Maria Elgrem. Elgrem was in charge of sending most of the Chilean children to Sweden. Gabriela Fernández found her biological sister in 2019 with the help of Hijos y Madres del Silencio, non-governmental organization in charge of the search and reunification of families separated by illegal adoptions in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship. Lucila de las Mercedes Riquelme arrived to Sweeden when she was 4 years old by the hand of Ana Maria Elgrem, the person in charge of connecting the kidnapped children to the Swedish adoptive families. Lucila doesn’t have any contact with her adoptive family since they mistreated her for many years. She plans now to move to Chile to to live with one of her sisters. Grandkottenbagen, neighborhood where Elgrem used to live and where Lucila spent her childhood. Nilsson-Grönlund’s family Album. Lovisa arrival in Stokholm. Lovisa in her leaving room. Lovisa's Biological mother. They talk constantly by video call. Anna Sjolund found her biological mother at age 34, realizing she comes from a strong Mapuche lineage. In 2017 she visited her biological family in Chile for the first time and since then it was clear that she needed to reclaim and take her heritage and indetntity back. Cristian Leite arrived to Sweeden when he was 1 year and five monts old. In 2017 he found her biological sister and later in December he flew to Chile to meet his biological mother. Cici and Sosso are sisters. Both were ilegally adopted to two different families in Sweeden. In 2020 they found out about the existence of each other thanks to the investigation of Hijos y Madres del Silencio. They haven’t found yet their biological mother.

Claudio was taken to the Hogar Los Ángeles when he was one year old under the false presumption of being sick. Some weeks after Claudio’s internment, he was sent to France. In summer 2021 Claudio was able to take contact with her biological family.
Postcard Nr. 3.



A Cloud above me

Sound of an echo

Guardavecinos

Ongoing

Hijos del Silencio

The forced Oblivion


A Cloud above me

Mamabena otra Ariabena

Sound of an echo

Guardavecinos


© Alejandra Arévalo 2024