The bolivian woman at the celebrations of the Virgin of Urkupiña in San Carlos de Bariloche

Abstract

The city of San Carlos de Bariloche since the late nineteenth century has relied attended different migration flows (European and mainly Chilean) that have contributed to its founding settlement. Since the second half of the last century the city not only includes migrants from other provinces but also becomes a destination for Latin American communities. Since the late seventies the Bolivian population settles in the suburbs of the city and since the nineties a bolivian family moves the image of the Virgin of Urkupiña to Bariloche and kicks off the festivities in his honor. Bolivian migrants in San Carlos de Bariloche, in the key of subalternity, produce local identities that are materialize in our object of study: the Marian devotions and specifically the celebration of the Virgin of Urkupiña. This paper analyzes the “place” of Bolivian women in these religious celebrations taking into account, on the one hand, their condition and the multiplicity of identities that cross it and, on the other hand, the women visibility and invisibility in the featured moments of the ritual.