Curatorial stories, political stories

DIANA B. WECHSLER

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Simposio; Solitudes and Globalization,; 2007

University of British Columbia,

Diana B. Wechsler  (conferencista invitada del Coloquio Solitudes and Globalization 1.). When we consider "curatorial productions" and the production of critical texts as "political actions" -since they are indications of a responsible delimitation of a corpus and a precise spotlight on some aspects of the contemporary world- we find that they build socio-cultural representations of different nature. They participate in the formation of identity markers such as genre, nation, region, class, etc. (depending on the case) that become part of the collective imaginary of our societies. I intend to make "a socio-political" interpretation of a corpus of curatorial stories and critical texts produced since the 1990s about the presentation/re-presentation of "Latin American Art" in the international arena. I´ll try to answer questions like What is the socio-political status of these documents (in this case exhibitions and catalogues). And, in Chartier´s words ask What were they held for? Who were the intended recipients? How do notions which are intrinsic to the art institution like art, modernity, modern art, post-modernity, Latin American art and more general ones like genre, nation or class influence the construction/discussion/re-definition? These issues will be accompanied by the problem of , unavoidable part of the analysis since it is one of the concepts challenged or reformulated not only in the artworks but also -and this is the main object of this analysis- in the curatorial narratives, the selection of works and the critical essays that support them. As an international and multi-disciplinary two-day colloquium bringing together both established and emerging scholars from across Canada, the United States, and the countries of Latin America, Solitudes and Globalization aims to activate the cultural terrain of the Americas as a subject of inquiry and a space of intellectual dialogue and debate. From their localized and specialized viewpoints, speakers will be invited to interrogate and historicize moments of cultural interaction and inter-relation (as well as their absence) from the post-Second World War period to the present, and to explore ways in which globalization on the American continents has impacted (and is in turn impacted by) the visual arts. It is anticipated that these discussions, particularly through the inclusion of graduate students, will help strengthen a pan-continental and pan-disciplinary network of intellectual inquiry and interaction, fostering a greater connectivity between scholars and an unprecedented exchange of ideas. The colloquium is is scheduled to take place March 16-17, 2007.