Because I am part of this revolution,
I am the daughter of the sun, granddaughter of the dominion of the highlands,
I am Putipa, I am Chelele, I am Mamani, and I am popular art
I am Cholita Chic.
Cholita Chic is an anonymous artistic duo based in Arica, a Chilean city on the border with Peru. Formed in 2014, the collective came into being out of the need to make visible and problematize the macho reality in which many Latin American societies find themselves and to create a visual record of the emancipated woman of the future who at the same time preserves tradition.
C&AL: How was Cholita Chic formed?
Cholita Chic: Cholita Chic came into being in October 2014, as a result of our participation at an art fair with works by other university students. At the time, we were interested in feminist issues and continuing popular traditions with a view toward the future. At that time, I was living near the market where the cholitas go to sell different items and I was interested in the idea of the entrepreneurial, independent woman. For us, the cholita became the symbol of a physically, intellectually, and emotionally emancipated woman, and Cholita Chic is a manifestation of our commitment to iconize and extol this super woman that the cholitas represent. On an aesthetic level, we were interested in Pop Art and its connection to the popular.