Cold Junction
Luis Bustamante is a Chilean photographer. He and his wife, Carmen, arrived in Hull in December 1974, as political refugees. Their son, Sebastian Bustamante, is a British-Chilean artist, curator, and researcher.
On 11 September 1973, a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet seized control of the South American country of Chile. The coup deposed the socialist president, Salvador Allende. The Pinochet regime launched an extensive and brutal terror campaign against Allende’s supporters, including kidnapping, arbitrary arrests, torture, and executions. Groups in Britain and elsewhere worked to highlight these abuses and to support victims and their families. The Humberside branch of the Chile Solidarity Campaign organised for 30 Chilean exiles to move to the city—Luis and Carmen were among them.
As well as continuing his studies at the University of Hull, Luis walked the streets, photographing what he saw. “The camera had two purposes: it was a connection with a new life and a shield that enabled me to look at it,” he later said. These images vividly capture a sense of everyday life in Hull in the mid-1970s, a period of significant social and political change.
To mark the fiftieth anniversary of Chilean refugees arriving in Hull, Cold Junction unites Luis’s photography with Sebastian’s ongoing project El Otoño. Bringing together objects, photographs, and video, Sebastian’s work explores his status as a second-generation exile. El Otoño honours those who were disappeared, those who stayed, those who left, and those still trying to build a better future in Chile.
This exhibition is co-curated with Tom White.
On 11 September 1973, a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet seized control of the South American country of Chile. The coup deposed the socialist president, Salvador Allende. The Pinochet regime launched an extensive and brutal terror campaign against Allende’s supporters, including kidnapping, arbitrary arrests, torture, and executions. Groups in Britain and elsewhere worked to highlight these abuses and to support victims and their families. The Humberside branch of the Chile Solidarity Campaign organised for 30 Chilean exiles to move to the city—Luis and Carmen were among them.
As well as continuing his studies at the University of Hull, Luis walked the streets, photographing what he saw. “The camera had two purposes: it was a connection with a new life and a shield that enabled me to look at it,” he later said. These images vividly capture a sense of everyday life in Hull in the mid-1970s, a period of significant social and political change.
To mark the fiftieth anniversary of Chilean refugees arriving in Hull, Cold Junction unites Luis’s photography with Sebastian’s ongoing project El Otoño. Bringing together objects, photographs, and video, Sebastian’s work explores his status as a second-generation exile. El Otoño honours those who were disappeared, those who stayed, those who left, and those still trying to build a better future in Chile.
This exhibition is co-curated with Tom White.
