Chilean street artists and instagrammable heritage activism: Movement intellectuals of O-18

Abstract

This paper introduces Chilean artistas callejerxs as powerful movement intellectuals (Eyerman, 1992, 2004) who curated the O-18 movement through their narration of the protestors’ hopes for the future, grievances in the present moment, and a visual representation of their painful dictatorial heritage. Central to this paper is the elucidation of Jones, Mozaffari, and Jasper’s (2020) newly postulated concept of Heritage Activism through a critical heritage studies lens. By focusing on the second, under-theorised element of their thesis – activists’ utilisation of heritage while in pursuit of social change – this work establishes the pivotal role of heritage in the Chilean uprising. It explores not only the prominent role heritage can play in social movements generally, but also the increasing influence and authority that social media such as Instagram allows street artists to possess in modern protests.