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Camilo Yáñez
Born in 1974 in Santiago, Chile / Lives  in Santiago, Chile

Adriano Pedrosa (AP): What is the history of the Estadio Nacional  (National Stadium) in Santiago?

Camilo Yáñez (CY): It is a sports complex built in 1938. Its basic architectural lines were inspired by the Olympic Stadium of Amsterdam, built for the 1928 Olympics. It is popularly known as the Coloso de Ñuñoa (Colossus of Ñuñoa), as it is located in the district of the same name, and it has been the backdrop for many sporting and historical events, including the 1962 World Cup. The stadium bears both a positive and a negative symbolism for the Chilean people. Large voting assemblies, political gatherings, concerts, and other recreational activities have been held there. Great figures such as the Chilean writer Pablo Neruda, the former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the former Chilean president Salvador Allende, and Pope John Paul II have made speeches at this stadium. On September 11, 1973, the day of the Chilean military coup that changed the course of the country’s history, and just hours after the bombing of the La Moneda presidential palace, it began to be used as a large detention facility and torture camp. This went on for nearly three months, with a total of more than 40,000 detainees passing through. On March 12, 1990, the stadium witnessed the celebration of the return of democracy, with a huge Chilean flag covering the field. In 2009 the government decided to remodel the structure to commemorate the Chilean bicentennial in 2010.

AP: And your work?

CY:  Estadio Nacional 11.09.09  Santiago de Chile was recorded at  6 p.m. on September 11, 2009, 36 years after Pinochet’s military coup, while the remodeling work was under way. The installation consists of a double projection of a continuous film take, shot at five kilometers per hour. The work somehow tells the story of the stadium and Chile without a script or characters. It conveys the pain and hope that have been so intensely experienced there. The special lighting and color are characteristic of the sunset in Santiago in the spring.

AP: What is the song playing in the background?

CY: It is a cover version of the song “Luchín,” sung by Carlos Cabezas, a Chilean. The original version is by Víctor Jara, a singer and theater director killed during Pinochet’s dictatorship. The song tells the story of a poor boy that Jara and his wife took care of for some weeks after an intense storm that caused landslides in Santiago in the 1970s. The aid to the victims was organized by the College of Arts of the University of Chile, where Jara and his wife taught. The song’s lyrics speak of loneliness, sadness, helplessness, and hope at a moment of catastrophe. In this sense, it traces an analogy between the current situation in Chile and the history of the Estadio Nacional. My work speaks of the political moment we are now experiencing, and how the vestiges of history and memory have slowly been erased.