Between the Museum and the Street: Roberto Matta's Works in Chile during the Unidad Popular

This article seeks to contribute to the study of the work Roberto Matta made in Chile in the early 1970s by focusing on a series of painted arpilleras made at Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and El primer gol del pueblo chileno, a mural created in collaboration with the muralist group Brigada Ramona Parra. I argue that this body of work was largely informed by the ideals of the Unidad Popular and that the artist's presence in the country might have contributed to the institutional validation of popular practices such as crafts and muralism in the local artistic scene.