Introduction: Dossier Unfolding Art History in Latin America - Part II

edited by Maria Berbara, Roberto Conduru and Vera Beatriz Siqueira

BERBARA, Maria; CONDURU, Roberto; SIQUEIRA, Vera Beatriz (ed.). Introduction: Dossier Unfolding Art History in Latin America - Part II. 19&20, Rio de Janeiro, v. X, n. 2, jul./dez. 2015. https://www.doi.org/10.52913/19e20.X2.00b [Português]

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1. The articles in the two special editions of 19&20 - the present issue and the previous one - are the result of research done by students and teachers involved in the Latin American exchange project Unfolding Art History in Latin America, based at the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, in partnership with Universidad San Martín (Buenos Aires); Universidad de Los Andes (Bogota); Universidad San Francisco (Quito) and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Mexico City).

2. This project, funded by the Getty Foundation (Los Angeles) through its initiative Connecting Art Histories (see link), focuses on the art produced in regions of Latin America throughout the so-called “long 19th century”: a period comprised between the struggles for independence from former Spanish colonies or the relocation of the Portuguese Court to the tropics, and the consolidation of modernization processes in the early decades of the 20th century.

3. Having established this time span, the arts produced in Latin American countries, or resulting from them, have been analyzed in their debate with three important cultural traditions: the classical tradition, present either in academies and schools of fine arts, in the art made by the foreigners who had arrived in Brazil, or as a central aesthetic reference for the construction of images of the emerging nations; the modern tradition, essential for the modernization of cities, artistic systems, visual production and circulation techniques, as well as themes and issues in visual arts; and the non-Western traditions, present as the culture not only of indigenous people and Afro-descendants, but also of large groups of immigrants who arrived in America. Each student or teacher has made an attempt to understand how a dialogue with these traditions was established by dealing with the concept of unfolding, which may include a wide range of experiences: adherence, resistance, appropriation, reinterpretation, and incorporation, among others.

4. The second collection of texts presented herein addresses mainly power relationships, which are also important in a culture that, during the long nineteenth century, aims at asserting itself and becoming independent from the political, social and cultural oppression of the old Iberian cities. The articles discuss relationships with classical traditions, the modernization processes within the scenario of global modernity, the delimitation of inter-American borders, the construction of urban and landscape images, and academies and art schools.