No History’s Library – Gladio

This work belongs to the exhibition Remembering What Is: Chile’s Recent History in Film and Art at Lunds konsthall curated by Hans Carlsson.

A series of secret documents leaked into the public eye in the mid 90s. They revealed the existence of secret armies (stay-behind operations) set in place and organised by the CIA and NATO in order to avoid the seizure of power from the left in post-war Europe. The story of Operation Gladio– the codename for a stay-behind operation active in Italy from the late 60s until the early 80s–is full of uncertainties, ambiguity and violence without culprits, a story in which the Strategy of Tension was tested and perfected.

The No-History’s Library – Gladio points at some of the interventions that occurred in these so-called Lead Years, a time in which foreign agencies developed intricate tactics to control the opinion of the citizenry by using fear, false propaganda and double discourses, provoking horror through the use of false flag terrorism to ultimately achieve their geopolitical and business-oriented aims.

This book uses two kinds of documents, some from NATO regarding Operation Gladio, and others from the CIA regarding the French intelligentsia in the mid 80s. Together, they present an aspect of the Cold War related to the use of language, secrets and false discourses, questioning the possibility of thinking, assimilating and feeling part of a history who’s fundamental characteristic is the use of lies and secret.