INDELIBLE IMAGES

CHILE 1973

For the first time Koen Wessing's photo's on the coup in Chile 1973 are shown in Santiago.
Director, camera and editor | 12'30

Koen Wessing

1949 – 2011

Koen Wessing, a legend in the history of Dutch documentary, was one of the few photographers who documented the 1973 military coup in Chile against the progressive government  of Salvador Allende. The images were published in his famous photobook, Chile September 1973, but they have never before shown in Chile as a result  of the repression following the coup. As a socially engaged photographer Wessing provides a stunning view on these events. Wessing, who had been seriously ill during the last few years, increasingly felt the responsibility to show his 1973 work in Chile.  Regrettably he was never able to see the finished exhibition as he passed away on February 2, 2011.

Chile 1973

Military coup

On September 1973 the Chilean military led by General Augusto Pinochet, crushed the democratically elected Unidad Popular government of Salvador Allende. After the coup Pinochet established a military dictatorship that ruled Chile until 1990; it was marked by numerous human rights violations. The worst violence occured in the first three months of the coup’s aftermath, with the number of suspected leftists killed or disappeared. soon reaching into thousends.Following Pinochet’s defeat in the 1988 plebiscite, the 1991 Rettig Commission listed a number of torture and detention centers and found out that at least 3.200 people were killed by the regime.