BRATTLEBORO — How does a society rebuild after conflict? What constitutes justice? Those questions will be addressed at a Windham World Affairs Council talk, “Chile After Pinochet,” on Friday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m., at the 118 Elliot Gallery.
The speaker, Patricia Perez Valdes, has worked in the Education and Audience Department of the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, located in Santiago, Chile, since 2011.
This museum seeks to draw attention to human rights violations committed between 1973 and 1990 during the Pinochet years. Its mission is to allow dignity for victims and their families, stimulate reflection and debate, and promote respect and tolerance in order that these events never happen again.
Patricia's talk is entitled “Honoring the Victims of the Pinochet Years at Chile's Museum of Memory and Human Rights.” She says she will focus on the legacy of Chile's military dictatorship, the importance of memorialization in the construction of memory as a society, and the challenges faced by the museum since it was inaugurated in January 2010.
Perez Valdes is in the area on a global fellowship at Keene State College. In a joint initiative by the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Academic Program at Keene State College and the Auschwitz Institute For Peace and Reconciliation, she has been invited for an entire semester of sharing with the college community.
She has participated in the Raphael Lemkin Global Seminar: Holocaust and Genocide Prevention, AIPR Oswiecim, Poland, and in the Raphael Lemkin Latin American network for the prevention of genocide and mass atrocity crimes.
In her work for the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, Perez Valdes has developed materials and training programs for the mediation program of the education department. She has also designed materials for visits by children, students, foreigners, and community groups.
While at Keene State, Perez Valdes will work on further developing a human-rights curriculum for Chile and the museum.
There will be coffee, tea, and conversation starting at 7 p.m. The talk will begin promptly at 7:30.