‘On Our Own Terms’: Refusal, Masks, and Indigenous Counter-narratives in Santiago de Chile Public Space

Abstract The exhibition MapsUrbe: invisible City (December 2018 – January 2019) staged the creations of young Mapuche artists and activists addressing politics history indigenous diaspora in Santiago (Chile). Engaging with urban space materiality trajectories shaped by displacement endurance within city, explored subversive aesthetics political imaginations, crafting alternative spatialities temporalities. Building on two years collaborative work activists, moving from an initial act generative refusal, this paper explores a redefinition curatorial practices collective artistic projects that aim at opposing dominant historical narratives. By reflecting experience co-curation, it shows how these challenge established institutionalized narratives embedded public spaces, resulting creative appropriations powerful counter-narratives ‘on our own terms.’