The Archival Impulse in Voluspa Jarpa’s Judd Shaft

Abstract

Coined as “necroarchivos” by the author, this essay examines artworks that respond to a “necropolitics” where the sovereign dictates who must die and who may live. Resisting Chile’s necropolitics, contemporary artist Voluspa Jarpa investigates hidden and neglected histories to reveal an assault to national sovereignty and a wounded nation. Through foreign intervention, a counterinsurgency scheme, and a spectacle of terror, Agusto Pinochet and CIA operatives created a culture of silence, censorship, and fear. By examining her necroarchivos, a counternarrative is produced to expose complex histories of collaboration and control over the political and social body to highlight a quest for information, truth, and reparation. Engaging in an archival turn and an art historical discourse with contemporaries Patricio Vogel and Iván Navarro, Jarpa demonstrates a collective disciplinary effort in the pursuit of knowledge and justice.