Animitas in the Araucanía: Mourning and Tragedies Crystallized in the Public Space

Abstract

The animita is installed in the public space unrelated to any formal or institutional regulation, it is incorporated into the citizen’s traffic at the specific place where a tragedy has occurred; or where a violent or accidental death has occurred (murders or children murders, suicides, accidents to pedestrians, delinquents or travellers). The blood spilled together with candles lighted by the mourners, demarcates the point of orientation for the soul of the deceased and it will be the place where a new animita, (temple house), or whatever the constructive imaginary on a small scale permits. It is there where life and death give way to the ineffable; where the deceased becomes a Popular Saint through favours granted, and, thanks to them, he or she will be able to atone for his or her sins and conclude their mission, abruptly truncated in life. The animitas are incorporated into the urban or rural architectural scene, presenting themselves as areas for devotion and indirectly as a reminder of the fragility of life. Because they’re part of communal heritage and take place as social warrens, they represent a challenge for the architectural planning of the city and its road connectivity networks. The tension between the practices of the mortuary rite of the past and the present warns us about the challenges to think and reflect on the new intelligent city, which must dialogue in a respectful and sustainable way with its secular manifestations and its roots in cultural identity in southern Chile.