Composite image of Todas las Manos courtesy of Francesco Letelier
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Francisco Let elier is a Chilean-American visual artist and writer and the crea tor of the mural installation Todas Las Manos. After the assassin ation of his father\, Orlando Letelier\, by agents of Chilean dictator Aug usto Pinochet in 1976\, Francisco joined with other Chilean exiles to pain t a mural in Washington\, D.C.&rsquo\;s Rock Creek Park to create a sense of unity and hope in the face of Pinochet&rsquo\;s reign of terror. The ar tists called themselves the Brigada Orlando Letelier. Eventually\, they wo uld paint Chilean solidarity murals in 11 cities involving thousands of pa rticipants and Francisco Letelier would devote his life to using art as a tool for narrowing political\, economic\, and cultural divides. One of his recent projects is a 105-foot mural at Los Angeles LAX airport\, &ldquo\; Into the Blue\,&rdquo\; created in collaboration with Marybeth Fama in 202 2.
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His E
xcellency Juan Gabriel Valdé\;s is serving as Ambassador of
Chile to the United States for the second time &ndash\; first under Presi
dent Michelle Bachelet and currently under President Gabriel Boric. In 197
6\, Valdé\;s was working at the Institute for Policy Studies in Wash
ington\, D.C. when his colleagues Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen Moffit
t were assassinated by agents of the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Va
ldé\;s has strived to keep alive the memory of his colleagues\, incl
uding through the installation of a statue of Orlando Letelier in front of
the Chilean ambassador&rsquo\;s residence on Massachusetts Avenue. \;
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E. Et
helbert Miller is a literary activist and the author of two memoi
rs and numerous books of poetry\, including Where are the Love Poems f
or Dictators? In 2023 he was nominated for a Grammy in the spoken wor
d category for his Black Men Are Precious work. He is also the ed
itor of Poet Lore magazine and host of the weekly WPFW morning radio show
On the Margin.
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Sa
rah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project and co-edits Ineq
uality.org at the Institute for Policy Studies. Over the past three decade
s\, she has supported many efforts in the pursuit of justice for Letelier
and Moffitt and other victims of the Chilean dictatorship. \;
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Tope Folarin is the Executive Director of the In stitute for Policy Studies. He&rsquo\;s a winner of the Whiting Award for his debut novel\, A Particular Kind of Black Man\, and the Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story Miracle.
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\n\n\n\n\nFor more informati on\, visit the Todas L as Manos exhibit page on the DC Public Library website.
\n\nhttps://dclibrary.libnet.info/event/9005078 URL;VALUE=URI:https://dclibrary.libnet.info/event/9005078 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR