Online classes
Golden threads: the textile art of Leda Catunda, Olga de Amaral and the works of the Fernandez Blanco Museum
The work of Martín Chambi and the representation of indigenous peoples in Latin American photography
Colonial art in contemporary contexts. San Antonio de Padua and the works of the Fernández Blanco Museum in “The Golden Myth”
Present and represent the territory: Mazenett-Quiroga, Sandra Gamarra, Carolina Caycedo and Teresa Pereda
Chocolate, cochineal and rubber: a look at the works of Santiago Montoya, Tania Candiani and Betsabeé Romero
The work of Martín Chambi and the representation of indigenous peoples in Latin American photography
We invite you to a new meeting of the Distance Classes cycle within the framework of the exhibition "El Dorado. A territory”. On this occasion, together with Professor Leticia Rigat, we explore the work of Martín Chambi and the representation of indigenous peoples in Latin American photography. Through which visual resources was the image of the inhabitants of Latin America built? And what imaginaries were put into play in the creation and selection of images? These are some of the questions we ask in this class. A teacher and researcher, Rigat is also the author of the book The Representation of Native Peoples in Contemporary Latin American Photography, in which she outlines an overview of the subject.
The work of Martín Chambi, present in the exhibition, will be our gateway to the class. Chambi is one of the most important Peruvian photographers of the 20th century, and his work is an invaluable testimony of the life and culture of Andean indigenous peoples. Born in Puno, Peru, he began working as a photographer in the 1920s. During his career he recorded a wide variety of scenes of Andean life, from landscapes to portraits of local people and religious ceremonies. Starting from his most representative works, we focus on his technique and style, as well as his vision and commitment to documenting the culture and history of his people; We also review his work in the context of indigenous photography in Latin America from other authors and artistic trends in the region.
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Leticia Rigat holds a PhD from the University of Buenos Aires in Social Sciences (UBA), a Master's in Cultural Studies (CEI-UNR), and a degree in Social Communication (UNR). She is currently a professor at the National University of Rosario in the Degree in Cultural Management and a researcher at the Conicet. She coordinates the Study Group on Contemporary Latin American Photography (UNR) and works as a researcher at the Center for Research and Studies in Postcolonial Theory (Cietp - UNR) and at the Institute for Critical Studies in Humanities (IECH). She obtained the CIUNR Research Initiation scholarships, the Conicet doctoral and postdoctoral scholarship. She is the author of the book The Representation of Native Peoples in Contemporary Latin American Photography, winner of the 2018 Call for Publications for Latin American Research contest of the Montevideo Photography Center.
Colonial art in contemporary contexts. San Antonio de Padua and the works of the Fernández Blanco Museum in “El Dorado. A territory”
By Sonia Gugolj and team
How are colonial art pieces read in dialogue with works by contemporary artists? What historical and cultural survivals and transformations do they convey? In this new meeting we will discuss the temporary crossings proposed by the curatorship of the exhibition “El Dorado. A territory”, as well as the relevance and richness of the works on loan from the Isaac Fernández Blanco Museum.
The artistic productions of the colonial period reflect how the European influence spread, especially Spanish and Portuguese, in the cultures and traditions of the American peoples, at the same time that they account for the mastery of local artisans, who fuse their own traditions and styles with those of Europe. . The production of religious imagery in the evangelization process encompasses a wide variety of styles, materials, and techniques. We focus on the wood carving, leaf gilding and stew characteristic of the selection on display. Native artists also adapted and reinterpreted European motifs and iconography to incorporate cultural elements of their own to create a unique and distinctive aesthetic. Through them, we can study the interaction between different cultures, the dynamics of power, the identity and resistance of the American peoples.
Present and represent the territory: Mazenett-Quiroga, Sandra Gamarra, Carolina Caycedo and Teresa Pereda
In charge of Pilar Victorio and team
Considering that the colonial process impacted and affected the regions of the American continent in different ways, the territory is the starting point of Fundación Proa's curatorship for “El Dorado. A territory”.
The territory is charged with meaning when inhabiting it, but also when representing it. In this class we address the work of the artist duo Mazenett-Quiroga, which since 2014 has been investigating the relationships between landscape, myth, time, indigenous knowledge and their contemporary realities. In their multidisciplinary production, this duo investigates the human role in relation to nature.
The renowned Peruvian artist Sandra Gamarra is another of the protagonists of the class. Throughout her production, she has developed a distinctive style that combines pictorial technique with a critical reflection on the process of artistic creation and the construction of the image. Playing with copy and reversal, her work often defies the conventions of art.
Finally, Carolina Caycedo and Teresa Pereda present different perspectives on the landscape and the territory. Caycedo, from his series Retratos del agua, through works of video, photography and performance, focuses on the relationship between human beings and water, exploring its vital importance, as well as the politics and social struggles related to its access and distribution, especially in the context of Latin America. From another materiality, in Habla la tierra the artist Teresa Pereda collects and exchanges land from the different soils of America to express the diversity and richness of the continent.
Chocolate, cochineal and rubber: a look at the works of Santiago Montoya, Tania Candiani and Betsabeé Romero
In charge of Melina Herrero and team
We continue to review the raw materials from America exposed in El Dorado. A territory, in this case, everyday products applied to art through rich and diverse techniques, both for their plasticity and for their evocative power: chocolate, cochineal and rubber. Over time, the greedy search for gold throughout the American continent was displaced by the exploitation of various raw materials: silver, potatoes, corn, cocoa, coca, corn, among others.
In this meeting we work on its presence as explicit materiality in contemporary art pieces: the artist Betsabeé Romero focuses on popular culture, identity and social issues and her work is especially known for the innovative use of tires with which she creates sculptures and engravings that take up pre-Hispanic iconography to reflect on consumerism and industrial progress. Santiago Montoya works with chocolate pieces in which history, pre-Hispanic rituals, and identity are mixed with the experimentation of forms; while Tania Candiani, present in El Dorado with her work on the cochineal, allows us to learn more about this local production with a strong impact on the colonial economy. Throughout this class we focus on the choice of significant techniques and materials to analyze the cultural influences, creative processes, and underlying messages in the works of Romero, Montoya, and Candiani.