#rethinkingconceptualism

[rethinkingconceptualism]

Although things have been changing in the last years, history of art has generally been written from a European or U.S.-American perspective. This situation has led to understand other art histories as derivative from the Euro-American canon. But, what happens if a European artist has been appropriating ideas from artists from other non-European latitudes? In her essay “La rivoluzione siamo noi: Latin American Artists in Critical Dialogue with Joseph Beuys, Katarzyna Cytlak” explores this topic, focusing on works by Joseph Beuys and his experience in Latin America. Beuys, considered one of the most famous German artists, has been celebrated for his “ecological works.” However, some of these ideas did not stem from his imagination, but were influenced by the ones of his Argentine peers, notably the works by Nicolás García Uriburu and Víctor Grippo.

As Katarzyna Cytlak noted:

“In the last years of his life, Joseph Beuys became interested in Latin American art as he reinforced his discourse on ecology. His collaboration with Nicolás García Uriburu reproduces the schema of the colonial power relationship, as the Argentinian artist is never officially mentioned in documentations of their actions. Beuys’s works from the mid 1980s, shortly before his death in 1986, could be described as derivative of Víctor Grippo’s and García Uriburu’s artworks.”

This essay not only shows that history needs to be rewritten. It also sheds light on the simultaneity of artistic explorations that were taking place in different parts of the world. To contrast the idea of derivative art, the works examined in this text indicate that Latin American artists had their own explorations, without having to adhere to what was coming from other latitudes.

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Aunque las cosas han ido cambiando en los últimos años, la historia del arte se ha escrito generalmente desde una perspectiva europea o estadounidense. Esta situación ha llevado a entender otras historias del arte como derivadas del canon euro-americano. Sin embargo, ¿qué es lo que sucedería si un artista europeo se apropiara de las ideas de artistas de otras latitudes, no europeas? En su ensayo “La rivoluzione siamo noi: Latin American Artists in Critical Dialogue with Joseph Beuys” (La rivoluzione siamo noi: Artistas latinoamericanos en diálogo crítico con Joseph Beuys), Katarzyna Cytlak analiza este tema, centrándose en las obras de Joseph Beuys y su experiencia en América Latina. Beuys, considerado uno de los artistas alemanes más famosos, ha sido celebrado por sus “obras ecológicas”. No obstante, algunas de estas ideas no surgieron de su imaginación, sino que fueron influenciadas por la de sus pares argentinos, entre las que destacan las obras de Nicolás García Uriburu y Víctor Grippo.

Como señala Katarzyna Cytlak:

“En los últimos años de su vida, Joseph Beuys se interesó por el arte latinoamericano al reforzar su discurso sobre la ecología. Su colaboración con Nicolás García Uriburu reproduce el esquema de la relación de poder colonial, ya que el artista argentino nunca fue mencionado oficialmente en las documentaciones de sus acciones. Las obras de Beuys de mediados de la década de 1980, poco antes de su muerte en 1986, podrían describirse como derivadas de las obras de Víctor Grippo y García Uriburu”.

Este ensayo no sólo muestra que es necesario reescribir la historia. También arroja luz sobre la simultaneidad de exploraciones artísticas que se dieron en distintas partes del mundo. Para contrastar la idea de arte derivado, las obras discutidas en este texto muestran que varixs artistas latinoamericanxs realizaron sus propias exploraciones, sin tener que adherirse a lo que venía de otras latitudes.

Katarzyna Cytlak, “La rivoluzione siamo noi: Latin American Artists in Critical Dialogue with Joseph Beuys,” Third Text, vol. 30, n° 5–6, (2016): 346-367.

Click here to read the full essay / Clica aquí para leer el ensayo completo

Photo: Nicolás García Uriburu and Joseph Beuys, “Colouration of the Rhine,” 1981, colour photograph, 9 x 13 cm, private collection, Buenos Aires. Photo credit: Henrique Faria Gallery, New York and Buenos Aires.

[artatak]

Buchpräsentation: Lena Geuer “Arte argentino - Ästhetik und Identitätsnarrative in der argentinischen Kunst”

26. Mai 2023, 18.30 Uhr in Andenbuch, Berlin

Die Monografie "Arte argentino – Ästhetik und Identitätsnarrative in der argentinischen Kunst. Ausgewählte Arbeiten von Marta Minujín und Luis Felipe Noé" von Lena Geuer erschien 2022 im transcript Verlag. Das Buch liefert für den deutschsprachigen Raum eine erste umfassende Studie, die den Begriff der ‚arte argentino‘ mittels postkolonialer und sinnlich-materieller Ansätze kritisch durchleuchtet. So hat die Autorin das Verhältnis zwischen Eigenem und Fremdem in Hinblick auf Identitätsnarrative in der künstlerischen Praxis sowie in der nationalen und geopolitischen Aneignung von Kunst ausführlich untersucht.

In den 1960er und 1970er Jahren lebten Marta Minujín und Luis Felipe Noé in den internationalen Kunstmetropolen Paris und New York, bevor sie in den 1980er Jahren nach Buenos Aires zurückkehrten. Die Künstler:innen haben die global vernetze Kunstrezeption ab den 1960er Jahren durch ihre Arbeiten mitgestaltet und nachhaltig geprägt. Vor dem Hintergrund der Global Art History widmet sich die Studie auch eurozentrischen Narrative in der Kunstgeschichtsschreibung, die durch das Potenzial der ‚arte argentino‘ dekonstruiert und in transkulturelle Erzählungen transformiert werden konnten.

Die Veranstaltung findet in deutscher Sprache statt, mit einer kurzen Einführung in spanischer Sprache.

Moderation: Katerina Valdivia Bruch

Buchhandlung und Kulturraum Andenbuch, Bergmannstr. 59 (im Hof), 10961 Berlin

>> Mehr Information

[artatak-projects]

“Between Personal Chronicles and Collective Memory” at Instituto Cervantes Berlin

Artists: María Linares, Daniela Lehmann Carrasco, Ana María Milán, Yoel Díaz Vázquez

Opening: 2 June 2021, 19:00 h

Exhibition dates: 2 - 9 June 2021

What do we remember? Are memories a reconstruction of the real? Are they built upon real facts or merely fictional stories? Is it possible to create a historiography based on personal narratives?

The exhibition “Between Personal Chronicles and Collective Memory” acknowledges the ephemerality of memories, examining their veracity as well as their inaccuracies and ambiguities. One of the ideas of the show is to portray different methods, such as collecting material, tracing paths, recording or reproducing oral histories, and address the importance of personal experiences in the (re)construction of an event. It also considers the recollection of multiple memories as valuable material for rewriting a history that has not been recorded by the official narratives. In this way, it brings to light personal stories that have generally remained unnoticed.

“Between Personal Chronicles and Collective Memory” focuses on oral history and the production of knowledge transmitted verbally over generations. It reflects on the circulation of memories and how these are kept alive through orality. Part of the process is the creation of a collective memory, often marked by experiences of resistance, violence, or traumatic situations.

Curated by Katerina Valdivia Bruch

Additional programme: 5 June 2021, 11:00 - 14:00 h

Workshops in the public space with María Linares, Daniela Lehmann Carrasco and Yoel Díaz Vázquez

Registrations via E-mail: contact (at) artatak.net

The exhibition is part of the programme of Rethinking Conceptualism: Avant-Garde, Activism and Politics in Latin American Art (1960s-1980s)

Address:

Instituto Cervantes Berlin

Rosenstr. 18, 10178 Berlin

Photos: San Felipe, © Yoel Díaz Vázquez, 2005-2018; Le Glück Quantitativ, Video Still © Daniela Lehmann Carrasco, 2010; Elevación, Video Still © Ana María Millán, 2019; RENOMBREMOS EL 12 DE OCTUBRE, © María Linares, 2019

[rethinkingconceptualism]

The cultural magazine Amauta was founded and directed by Peruvian writer, journalist and politician José Carlos Mariátegui. The magazine collected contributions from intellectuals of the Peruvian avant-garde of the time and was responsible for disseminating the indigenist movement. It also introduced in Peru the Latin American avant-garde, as well as different European currents of thought and artistic movements of the time (psychoanalysis, surrealism, cubism, futurism or the new Russian narrative). 32 issues were published in its four years of existence (1926-1930) and it was distributed both nationally and internationally. 

Among its local collaborators were Peruvian intellectuals and artists from different regions of the country, such as the indigenists: the artist José Sabogal and Julia Condesido (Lima), the historian and anthropologist Luis Eduardo Valcárcel (Cusco), the poets Alejandro Peralta (Puno) and César Atahualpa Rodríguez (Arequipa), and the writer and poet Enrique López Albújar (Piura). In addition, the politician Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre (La Libertad), founder of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA), collaborated from exile. Among his international contributors were Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Jorge Luis Borges, Miguel de Unamuno, André Breton and Diego Rivera.

Peruvian art historian Natalia Majluf co-curated with Beverly Adams (Blanton Museum of Art) the exhibition The Avant-garde Networks of Amauta: Argentina, Mexico, and Peru in the 1920s, which was presented at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) (February 27-May 27, 2019) in Madrid, with stations at the Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI) (June 21-September 22, 2019) and the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin (February 16-August 30, 2020). The press release of MNCARS highlights the following:

“The project questions the binary oppositions between nationalism and internationalism, localism and cosmopolitanism, criollismo and indigenismo, or tradition and modernity that have so far organised the discussion on this period. The magazine reflects a less dogmatic and polarized reality. (…)

In the same way, even today the group of indigenist painters led by José Sabogal is seen from the perspective imposed by the modernists of the 1930s and 1940s, who labeled these artists as traditionalists, excluding them from their particular historical narrative of modernity. The exhibition not only recovers indigenism to the field of the avant-garde, but – more broadly – it applies Amauta’s pluralistic gaze to rethink Latin American art of this period.”

The José Carlos Mariátegui Archive has digitised the magazine, that you can download here >>

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La revista cultural Amauta fue fundada y dirigida por el escritor, periodista y político peruano José Carlos Mariátegui. La revista recogió contribuciones de intelectuales de la vanguardia peruana de aquel entonces y se encargó de difundir el movimiento indigenista. Asimismo, introdujo en el Perú el pensamiento de vanguardia en Latinoamérica, así como distintas corrientes de pensamiento y movimientos artísticos europeos del momento (el psicoanálisis, el surrealismo, el cubismo, el futurismo o la nueva narrativa rusa). En sus cuatro años de existencia (1926-1930) se publicaron 32 ejemplares y tuvo una distribución tanto nacional como internacional. 

Entre sus colaboradores locales destacan intelectuales y artistas peruanxs provenientes de distintas regiones del país, tales como lxs indigenistas: el artista José Sabogal y Julia Condesido (Lima), el historiador y antropólogo Luis Eduardo Valcárcel (Cusco), los poetas Alejandro Peralta (Puno) y César Atahualpa Rodríguez (Arequipa), y el escritor y poeta Enrique López Albújar (Piura). Además, colaboró desde el exilio el político Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre (La Libertad), fundador de la Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA). Entre sus colaboradores internacionales se encuentran Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Jorge Luis Borges, Miguel de Unamuno, André Breton y Diego Rivera. 

La historiadora del arte peruana Natalia Majluf co-curó con Beverly Adams (Blanton Museum of Art) la exposición Redes de vanguardia. Amauta y América Latina, 1926-1930, que fue presentada en el Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) (27 de febrero al 27 de mayo de 2019) en Madrid, con estaciones en el Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI) (21 de junio al 22 de septiembre de 2019) y el Blanton Museum of Art de la Universidad de Texas en Austin (16 de febrero al 30 de agosto de 2020). El dossier de prensa del MNCARS destaca lo siguiente:

“El proyecto cuestiona las oposiciones binarias entre nacionalismo e internacionalismo, localismo y cosmopolitismo, criollismo e indigenismo, o tradición y modernidad que han organizado hasta ahora la discusión sobre el período. La  revista refleja una realidad menos dogmática y polarizada. (…)

De la misma forma, todavía hoy el grupo de pintores indigenistas liderado por José Sabogal es visto desde la perspectiva que impusieron los modernistas de los años treinta y cuarenta, quienes calificaron a estos artistas como tradicionalistas, excluyéndolos de su particular narrativa histórica de la modernidad. La exposición no sólo recupera el indigenismo para el campo de la vanguardia, sino que, de forma más amplia, aplica la mirada plural de Amauta para repensar el arte de América Latina de este período.”

El Archivo José Carlos Mariátegui ha digitalizado la revista, la cual pueden descargar aquí >>

Photo: Cover of the first edition of the magazine Amauta (septiembre de 1926), with an illustration by José Sabogal/Carátula de la primera edición de la revista Amauta (September 1926), con una ilustración de José Sabogal

[rethinkingconceptualism]

In her article “Brazilian Modernism: Feminism in Disguise”, published in Frieze Masters, issue 7, 2018, with the title ‘Feminism in Disguise’, Claudia Calirman explains how women artists played a crucial role in the development of the arts in Brazil. During Brazil’s dictatorship (1964-1985), some of them created strategies to challenge both the repressive regime and the patriarchal structures.

According to Calirman:

“The 1960s saw an explosion of great women artists such as Lygia Clark, Anna Bella Geiger, Anna Maria Maiolino, Lygia Pape, Wanda Pimentel and Letícia Parente, among many others.

(…) many artists resisted being labelled as ‘feminists’ since it was perceived as limiting one’s artistic significance or, even worse, as being divisive and counterproductive. (…) Though many canonical works by leading female artists questioned assumptions around gender, their attempts to explore or respond to feminist issues were often disguised or hidden.”

Despite this, “they forged new ways of representing women’s subjectivities and – even if they did not label themselves feminists – conceived a particular form of feminism unique to their country at a critical historical juncture.”

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En su artículo “Brazilian Modernism: Feminism in Disguise”, publicado en la revista Frieze Masters, n° 7, 2018, bajo el título ‘Feminism in Disguise’, Claudia Calirman explica cómo las mujeres artistas desempeñaron un papel importante en el desarrollo de las artes en Brasil. Durante la dictadura (1964-1985), algunas de ellas crearon estrategias que desafiaron el régimen represivo y las estructuras patriarcales.

Según Calirman:

“Durante los años sesenta hubo una explosión de grandes mujeres artistas, tales como Lygia Clark, Anna Bella Geiger, Anna Maria Maiolino, Lygia Pape, Wanda Pimentel y Letícia Parente, entre muchas otras.

(...) muchas artistas se resistieron a ser etiquetadas como ‘feministas’ ya que lo percibían como una limitación de la importancia artística de cada una o, peor aún, como algo divisivo y contraproducente. (…) A pesar de que muchas obras canónicas de destacadas mujeres artistas cuestionaban los supuestos en torno al género, sus intentos de explorar o responder a temas feministas a menudo fueron disfrazados u ocultados.”

Sin embargo, “forjaron nuevas formas de representar las subjetividades de las mujeres y – aunque no se autodenominaron feministas – concibieron una forma particular de feminismo única en su país, en el contexto de una coyuntura histórica crítica.”

Photo: Anna Maria Maiolino, “É o que Sobra” (What Is Left Over), from the series ‘Fotopoemação’ (Photopoemaction), 1974, digital print, 62 × 153 cm. Courtesy: the artist and Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan

[rethinkingconceptualism]

The Reina Sofía Museum (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía) in Madrid is one of the museums with regular activities that exhibit, research and discuss different topics on Latin American art. The museum’s website has a number of resources that include interviews, videos, images, a radio show and publications. For instance, the fifth number of Carta(s) about the exhibition curated by Nelly Richard “Unfinished Timelines: Chile, First Laboratory of Neoliberalism”,  that took place from 21 March to 24 May 2019. Following the web “The publication serves as a platform to establish a dialogue around memory and political struggle, taking the dictatorship and transition in Chile as an object of study and context in which the reflection will be located.”

You can download other issues of the publication Carta(s) here

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El Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía en Madrid es uno de los museos con actividades regulares que muestran, investigan y discuten diferentes temas sobre arte latinoamericano. El sitio web del museo tiene una serie de recursos que incluyen entrevistas, videos, imágenes, un programa de radio y publicaciones. Por ejemplo, el quinto número de Carta(s) sobre la exposición curada por Nelly Richard “Tiempos incompletos. Chile, primer laboratorio neoliberal”, que tuvo lugar del 21 de marzo al 24 de mayo de 2019. Según la web: “La publicación sirve de plataforma para establecer un diálogo en torno a la memoria y la lucha política, tomando la dictadura y la transición en Chile como objeto de estudio y contexto en el que se ubicará la reflexión.”

Pueden descargar otras ediciones de la publicación Carta(s) aquí

Photo/Foto: Felipe Rivas San Martín, Bombardeo del Palacio de la Moneda, 11 de septiembre 1973. Fotografía intervenida con código QR, 2013

[rethinkingconceptualism]

Mail Art is based on ideas of openness, inclusion, network and community, with no commercial purpose. Its historical roots can be traced in the artistic expressions of dadaists, futurists and Fluxus artists. In Latin America, during the decades of 1960s-1980s, it was widely used by artists, who wanted to circulate their ideas without having to pass through censorship measures. One of its best known representatives is Uruguayan poet, performer and multimedia artist Clemente Padín (*1939 in Lascano). He was part of a network of mail and visual poetry artists around the world, who were engaged in similar projects.

Padín’s first experiences in the field of Mail Art were in the 1960s with the publication of the magazines “Los huevos del Plata” (1965-1969), “OVUM 10” (1965-1969) or “OVUM 2a época” (1972-1875), with what he would describe as creative postcards and visual poems. In 1974, he organised the first Latin American Mail Art exhibition at the Gallery U in Montevideo. From August 1977 to November 1979 he was imprisoned for his fake postal stamps that criticised the brutal repression during the military dictatorship in Uruguay.

In 2009, Red Conceptualismos del Sur in collaboration with the Museo Reina Sofía set up an archive of Clemente Padín’s artistic practice, in other to catalogue and preserve his oeuvre. The same year, this archive was granted on a loan basis to the Archivo General de la Universidad de la República (UdelaR) in Montevideo. In September 2020, Clemente Padín donated his archive to UdelaR. Today, the Clemente Padín archive is fully catalogued and open to public consultation. The historian Vania Markarian, who works at the Clemente Padín archive at UdelaR, has published “Los Huevos del Plata. Un desafío al campo intelectual uruguayo de fines de los sesenta” (pp.132-142), in “Recordar para pensar. Memoria para la democracia”, Heinrich Böll Foundation (2010).

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El arte correo se basa en ideas de apertura, inclusión, redes y comunidad, sin fines comerciales. Sus raíces históricas se pueden rastrear en las expresiones artísticas de los dadaístas, futuristas y artistas Fluxus. En América Latina, durante las décadas de los sesenta a los ochenta, fue muy utilizado por aquellos artistas, que querían hacer circular sus ideas sin tener que pasar por la censura. Uno de sus más conocidos representantes es el poeta, performer y artista multimedia uruguayo Clemente Padín (*1939 en Lascano). Padín formó parte de una red internacional de artistas de arte correo y poesía visual alrededor del mundo, involucrados en proyectos similares.

Sus primeras experiencias en el campo del arte postal datan de la década de los sesenta con la publicación de las revistas “Los huevos del Plata” (1965-1969), “OVUM 10” (1965-1969) o “OVUM 2a época” (1972-1875), que él describiría como postales creativas y poemas visuales. En 1974 organizó la primera exposición de Arte Postal Latinoamericano en la Galería U en Montevideo. De agosto de 1977 a noviembre de 1979 fue encarcelado por sus falsos sellos postales, que criticaban la brutal represión durante la dictadura militar en Uruguay.

En 2009, la Red Conceptualismos del Sur, en colaboración con el Museo Reina Sofía, creó un archivo de su práctica artística para catalogar y preservar su obra. Ese mismo año, el archivo fue cedido en comodato al Archivo General de la Universidad de la República (UdelaR) en Montevideo. En septiembre de 2020, Clemente Padín donó su archivo a la UdelaR. Actualmente, el archivo de Clemente Padín ha sido totalmente catalogado y está abierto para su consulta pública. La historiadora Vania Markarian, que trabaja en el archivo Clemente Padín de la UdelaR, ha publicado “Los Huevos del Plata. Un desafío al campo intelectual uruguayo de fines de los sesenta” (pp.132-142), en “Recordar para pensar. Memoria para la democracia”, Fundación Heinrich Böll (2010).

Photo: “OVUM 2a época No. 1”, 14 sheets of different sizes , 30 x 21 cm, 1973

[rethinkingconceptualism]

In 2019, Katerina Valdivia Bruch interviewed three Berliners and asked each one of them one question: Does the term postmigrant apply to Berlin? How postcolonial is the German capital? Can we still speak of postmodernity in Berlin?

The artist María Linares answered the first one and explained why Berlin could be understood as a ‘demigrant’ city (the interview is in German, but you can use the Youtube subtitles).

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El año 2019 Katerina Valdivia Bruch entrevistó a tres berlineses y les hizo a cada uno una pregunta: ¿Se puede aplicar el término postmigrante a la ciudad de Berlín? ¿Qué tan postcolonial es la capital alemana? ¿Podemos seguir hablando de postmodernidad en Berlín?

La artista María Linares contestó la primera pregunta y explicó por qué Berlín es una ciudad ‘demigrante’ (la entrevista está en alemán, pero pueden hacer uso de los subtítulos en Youtube).

Interview/Entrevista: Katerina Valdivia Bruch for/para el Goethe-Institut Italien

[rethinkingconceptualism]

Víctor Vich, one of the speakers of the symposium “Rethinking Conceptualism,” held last year, has contributed to LA ESCUELA with the essay New Pedagogies: Art Practices and Citizen Activism in Peru on three civil initiatives, that suggest “new ways of approaching history, our relationship with heritage, and linguistic diversity.” These examples of civic activism show how much one can learn from schools working with art collectives that are encouraging new ways to address pedagogy.

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Víctor Vich, uno de los ponentes del simposio “Repensando el conceptualismo”, que tuvo lugar el año pasado, ha escrito el ensayo Nuevas pedagogías: prácticas del arte y del activismo ciudadano en el Perú para la LA ESCUELA. El artículo trata sobre tres iniciativas civiles, que sugieren “nuevas formas de abordar la historia, nuestra relación con el patrimonio y la diversidad lingüística.” Estos ejemplos de activismo civil muestran lo mucho que se puede aprender del trabajo entre colectivos escolares y artísticos, que proponen nuevas formas de abordar la pedagogía.

Foto: Proyecto Intangible: Acción N° 12 (2019). Espiral humano formado con 160 escolares de la IE 81526, centro poblado Santo Domingo, Perú. Cortesía: José Carlos Orrillo.

[artatak]

Online Reading Session # 13: Francine Birbragher-Rozencwaig “Essays on 20th Century Latin American Art”

17 November 2022, 18:00 h (GMT +1) via Zoom

Invited guest: Francine Birbragher-Rozencwaig, PhD

In this session, we will discuss a selection of essays on Central American and Caribbean art, art and politics in the 1960s and 1980s, and the carnival in Latin America.

Abstract of the publication:

“Essays on 20th Century Latin American Art” (New York, NY: Routledge, 2022) provides a broad synthesis of the subject through short chapters illustrated with reproductions of iconic works by artists who have made significant contributions to art and society. Designed as a teaching tool for non-art historians, the book's purpose is to introduce these important artists within a new scholarly context and recognize their accomplishments with those of others beyond the Americas and the Caribbean. The publication provides an in-depth analysis of topics such as political issues in Latin American art and art and popular culture, introducing views on artists and art-related issues that have rarely been addressed. Organized both regionally and thematically, it takes a unique approach to the exploration of art in the Americas, beginning with discussions of Modernism and Abstraction, followed by a chapter on art and politics from the 1960s to the 1980s. The author covers Spanish-speaking Central America and the Caribbean, regions not usually addressed in Latin American art history surveys. The chapter on Carnival as an expression of popular culture is a particularly valuable addition. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Latin American history, culture, art, international relations, gender studies, and sociology, as well as Caribbean studies.

Biography of the author:

FRANCINE BIRBRAGHER-ROZENCWAIG is an art historian, independent curator, and writer. She holds a master's degree in art history and a doctorate in Latin American history from the University of Miami. She is an editor and contributor to ArtNexus magazine. Since 1989 she has been writing about contemporary art with an emphasis on Latin America and the Caribbean. As an independent curator, she has organized more than one hundred exhibitions in the United States and Latin America. She is the author of Essays on Latin American Art of the 20th Century (Routledge, 2022). She currently works on projects that question the limits between "high art" and "popular art," analyze gender and sexual identity issues, and suggest new historical readings from artistic expressions. She is co-curator with Juan Canela of the 23rd edition of the Bienal de Arte Paiz, which will take place in Guatemala in 2023.

The session will be held in English.

Limited number of spaces available. Registrations are free of charge and available via Eventbrite.

Coordination and moderation: Katerina Valdivia Bruch

[artatak]

Artistic presentation “Between Personal Chronicles and Collective Memory: Artistic Perspectives on Memory, Oral History and Resistance from the Latin American Diaspora in Berlin.”

13 October 2022, 13.30 h (Bogotá), 20.30 h (Berlin), via Zoom

Participants: Katerina Valdivia Bruch, Daniela Lehmann Carrasco and María Linares

The event is part of the programme of the First Meeting of the Latin American Regional Group of the Memory Studies Association, held in Bogotá (in presence and online).

In this talk, Katerina Valdivia Bruch will speak about what inspired her to develop the exhibition Between Personal Chronicles and Collective Memory, and included a brief introduction to the exhibition.

The talk will continue with the participation of the artist Daniela Lehmann Carrasco, who will present her long term project on her family history, based on autoethnographic walks. Through these walks, the artist reflects on her family's memories and migrations (from Germany to Chile and from Chile to Germany) in two historical periods, the Second World War and the Pinochet dictatorship.

Afterwards, the artist María Linares will give an introduction of RENOMBREMOS EL 12 DE OCTUBRE, a participatory project that was created with the idea of giving a new name to the “Day of the Race” in Colombia. The project started in 2019, before the name of this commemorative day was changed in Colombia in 2021.

[artatak]

Arts & Conversation "Despatriarcalizar el archivo" con Karen Cordero Reiman, Natalia de la Rosa y Roselin Rodríguez

28 de julio de 2022, 18:00 (GMT +2) vía Zoom

Hay muchas maneras de trabajar con archivos de arte o de artistas. Una forma de hacerlo es tomando una postura crítica de acercamiento desde una perspectiva que desafíe al patriarcado. Sobre éste y otros temas hablaremos en nuestra sesión “Arts & Conversation” (Arte y conversación) con nuestras invitadas Karen Cordero Reiman, Natalia de la Rosa y Roselin Rodríguez, integrantes del seminario y taller “Despatriarcalizar el archivo” en Ciudad de México. Sobre Despatriarcalizar el archivoEl seminario y taller Despatriarcalizar el archivo es un grupo de trabajo formado desde febrero 2020, que reúne a investigadorxs diversxs – historiadores del arte, artistas visuales, antropólogxs y escritorxs, entre otrxs – con el fin de compartir experiencias y construir estrategias comunes para analizar y proponer alternativas a los “modelos patriarcales ligados a ejercicios de poder en el campo de la cultura y del arte”. Desde entonces, se ha convertido en una iniciativa colectiva que ha consolidado una primera etapa de reflexión y creación en este sentido, y que ha compartido este proceso y sus resultados iniciales en publicaciones en línea, conferencias y talleres.

Coordinación y moderación: Katerina Valdivia Bruch

Con la colaboración de Sara Vakili (Universidad de Tubinga, Departmento de Cultura y Literatura Inglesa & Estudios del Sur Global).

El evento será en español.

Las entradas son gratuitas y están disponibles vía Eventbrite.

[artatak]

Arts & Conversation "On Borders", with Tintin Wulia and Alex Brahim

7 July 2022, 18:00 (GMT +2) via Zoom

In this meeting, we are going to speak about two current artistic projects that address the topic of borders.

The research project “Protocols of Killings: 1965, distance, and the ethics of future warfare”, by Tintin Wulia, explores the connection between violence, distance and accountability. It aesthetically draws parallels between the protocols around the Indonesian massacres in 1965 and 1966 and the future technology of drone warfare.

The project “Juntos aparte” (Together Apart), by Alex Brahim, addresses topics of migration, restriction, citizenship and mobility at the Venezuelan-Colombian border between San Antonio del Táchira (Venezuela) and Cúcuta (Colombia). Since 2017, the international encounter on art, thought and borders “Juntos Aparte. Encuentro Internacional de Arte, Pensamiento y Fronteras” has been carried out in the city of Cúcuta.

The event will be held in English language. Limited number of spaces available.

Tickets are free of charge and available via Eventbrite.

Coordination and moderation: Katerina Valdivia Bruch

Photo: Terra Incognita, Et Cetera, 2009. Courtesy Tintin Wulia

[artatak]

Online Reading Session # 12: María Clara Bernal (ed.) "Redes intelectuales. Arte y política en América Latina"

26 May 2022, 18:00 h (GMT +2) via Zoom

Invited guest: Sylvia Suárez

In this session, we will discuss a selection of essays on networks among artists and intellectuals from Latin America in the twentieth century, that are part of the publication "Redes intelectuales: arte y política en América Latina" (Intellectual Networks: Art and Politics in Latin America), edited by María Clara Bernal and published by Uniandes in 2015.

Abstract of the publication: This book is part of the project "Intellectual Networks: Art and Politics in Latin America". Its main goal is to study the discussions about the relationship between art and politics in Latin American cities from 1920 to 1980. The analysis of this period offers insight into the networks that emerged from the exchange between artists and intellectuals during unique historical conditions and through diverse platforms. The principal thematic areas in Intellectual Networks are the continental nodes and networks constructed by cultural magazines during the first half of the twentieth century, poetic-ideological networks that caused a polarization between American intellectuals and artists during the Cold War and, lastly, macro- and micro-political networks established by the most ideologically compromised artists, critics, and curators during the seventies. The book gathers multiple perspectives because understanding the complexity of continental artistic processes implies a commitment to networking.

Additional information:

This bilingual publication (Spanish and English) was made possible thanks to a grant from Getty Institute's "Connecting Art Histories" initiative and is the outcome of "Intellectual Networks: Art and Politics in Latin America". The project was hosted by Fundación ArtNexus and brought together scholars from across Latin America to study intellectual and artistic networks in the region during the 1920s and the 1970s. A project team of international scholars met in two research seminars—one at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá and one at the Getty Center—to address these important decades in Latin American social and artistic history. The team presented its research findings through papers at a public conference and through an exhibition of archival material at the Universidad Nacional Tres de Febrero (Buenos Aires) in 2013. The exhibition traveled to the Museum Leopoldo Rother at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in May 2014.

The session will be held in English. Limited number of spaces available. Registrations are free of charge and available via Eventbrite.

Coordination and moderation: Katerina Valdivia Bruch

[rethinkingconceptualism]

Argentine philosopher, sociologist and feminist activist María Lugones (1944-2020) was part of the coloniality/modernity group, who contributed to the theories on the decoloniality of gender. She claims that the category of gender is a colonial imposition, which erased the variety of gender conceptions that existed before colonisation.

Lugones introduced the concept of "coloniality of gender", extending Aníbal Quijano's notion of "coloniality of power". She sees a limitation in Quijano's theory for considering gender as hegemonic, patriarchal and heterosexual and for accepting a capitalist, Eurocentric and global understanding of gender, which does not take into account how non-white colonised women were subordinated and disempowered. With her intersectional approach, she broadens the feminist discourse, historically dominated by white women. Furthermore, she understands knowledge as something produced by communities, not just individuals, which means that we all learn from and about each other.

In this link you can download the essay "Coloniality and Gender" (in Spanish language), Tabula Rasa, No. 9, (July-December 2008): 73-101.

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La filósofa, socióloga y activista feminista argentina María Lugones (1944-2020) formó parte del grupo colonialidad/modernidad, contribuyendo principalmente a las teorías sobre la descolonialidad del género. La teórica afirma que la categoría de género es una imposición colonial, que borró la variedad de concepciones de género que existían antes de la colonización.

Lugones introdujo el concepto de "colonialidad del género", ampliando la noción "colonialidad del poder" de Aníbal Quijano. Ve una limitación en la teoría de Quijano por considerar el género como hegemónico, patriarcal y heterosexual y por aceptar una comprensión capitalista, eurocéntrica y global del género, que no tiene en cuenta cómo las mujeres colonizadas no-blancas fueron subordinadas y deprovistas de poder. Con su enfoque interseccional, amplía el discurso feminista, históricamente dominado por las mujeres blancas. Además, entiende el conocimiento como algo producido por las comunidades, no sólo por los individuos, y todxs aprenderemos de y sobre lxs demás.

En este enlace pueden descargar el ensayo "Colonialidad y género", Tabula Rasa, Núm. 9, (julio-diciembre 2008): 73-101.

[artatak]

Online Reading Session # 11: Clemente Padín "Vanguardia poética latinoamericana" (in Spanish)

25 November 2021, 18:00 h (GMT +1) via Zoom

In this session, we will discuss with Clemente Padín a selection of his essays on visual poetry and performance in his book "Vanguardia poética latinoamericana".We have also invited Darío Marroche, editor of the second edition of "Vanguardia poética latinoamericana", recently published by the editorial microutopías, who will speak with us about this new edition of the book.Note: The meeting will be held in Spanish language.

Abstract of the publication: "Vanguardia poética latinoamericana" (ed. microutopías, 2021) brings together essays by Clemente Padín written between 1965 and 2020 on the poetic and visual practices of the Latin American avant-garde: experimental poetry, mail art, video art, urban interventions and poetic action, among others. Of great theoretical and documentary value, the book aims to highlight the creation of the Latin American avant-garde and open new dialogues on contemporary creation. This is the second edition of the book, initially published as "Vanguardia poética latinoamericana y otros ensayos" (Ed. Colectivo Editorial Sur/l, Buenos Aires, 2018).

About the author: Clemente Padín (Lascano, Rocha, October 8, 1939) is a Uruguayan poet, performer, artist and Graphic designer and a reference in the artistic currents of concrete poetry and mail art. He graduated in Hispanic Literature at the UdelaR (University of the Republic in Uruguay). He is the editor of the publications Los huevos del Plata (1965-1969), OVUM 10 and OVUM (1969-1975), Participación (1984-1986) and Correo del Sur (2000). He has contributed as an author to the magazine "Escáner Cultural: Revista Virtual de Arte Contemporáneo y Nuevas Tendencias", as well as has published in several international art magazines and other publications. Padín has participated in more than 200 group exhibitions and more than 1,200 Mail Art exhibitions worldwide.He has had solo exhibitions in the United States, Italy, South Korea, Argentina, Uruguay, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Canada, Dominican Republic, Peru, Brazil, Belgium and Japan. He participated in the XVI Sao Paulo Biennial (1981) and to the Biennials of Havana (1984 and 2000), Cuenca, Ecuador (2002) and the 2nd Biennial of Art in Thessaloniki, Greece (2009). Padín received a scholarship from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) (1984). Padín is author of 25 books and hundreds of notes and articles. He was distinguished with Pedro Figari Award for his artistic career in 2005, as well as the award 400 Años de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (400 Years of the National University of Córdoba), Argentina, and the Bernard Heidsiek Honorary Prize of the Centre Georges Pompidou France, in 2019. His archive is in the General Archive of the UdelaR, Montevideo, Uruguay.

About the editor: Darío Marroche is a Uruguayan architect and designer. He is currently working as an independent publisher in visual arts, coordinating a publication studio from Montevideo called microutopías. Since 2014 his works relate the publishing process as a creative act and reflective exercise of graphic activism. He considers publishing as an artistic practice in the generation of microutopías: space-time aesthetic experiences that are socially engaged. He organises community-based activities around self-publishing, art books and visual poetry, as well as coordinating the Montevideo Art Book Fair since 2018.

Coordination and moderation: Katerina Valdivia Bruch

Limited number of spaces available. Registrations are free of charge and available via Eventbrite.