The path of modernization and democracy in Bolivia has been arduous and tortuous. This is partly due to its geographical isolation as well as to the exclusion of its significant indigenous population—the largest in Central and South America—which had been denied the right to vote until 1952 when Bolivia experienced a historical Revolution that abolished its feudal institutions. After a Counter-Revolution, a series of military dictatorships, and the people's steady anti-dictatorial struggle, a democratically elected government was installed in 1982. For most of the latter half of the 20th Century, power was shared between mestizos and the white minority among political and economic elites, with some indigenous participation. In recent years, however, there has been an indigenous revindication that has also brought to bear other complexities that have challenged the art world’s pivotal role in nation-building. These complexities and challenges have also played a part in forging the aesthetics of the emerging contemporary Bolivian artists that this panel will introduce to the Latin American art scene.
This panel is a part of the Transformative Performances of National Identity: Bolivian Art and Cultural Expressions series organized and curated by Carolina Scarborough.
About the Speakers:
Fernando Casas, artist, philosopher and Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, Rice University, Texas,
Claudia Joskowicz, artist and Assistant Professor of Art, Wellesley College, Boston, Lucía Querejazu, art historian and curator
Moderated by Sandra Antelo-Suárez, curator and editor of TRANS Magazine.
About Transformative Performances of National Identity: Bolivian Art and Cultural Expressions:
This is a seven panel virtual series that will provide a historical overview of Bolivia’s artistic and cultural production. A group of Bolivian artists and intellectuals will trace the history and art of this South American country.
Transformative Representations of National Identity: Bolivian Art and Cultural Expressions is open and free to the public. Please click on this link to access registration for all panels https://www.eventbrite.com/o/carolina-scarborough-33772654223. At the conclusion of the series, the panels will also be available to the public on social media platforms.
Funders:
The series of virtual panels, Transformative Performances of National Identity: Bolivian Art and Cultural Expressions, is made possible by generous funds from The Fundación Simón I. Patiño in Geneva, The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University, The Bolivian American Chamber of Commerce in New York, Roberta & Richard Huber, and two anonymous donors.
Special thanks to George Ruiz, Fréderic Debray, Ignacio Oficialdelgui, Jill Lane, Omar Dauhaujer, Iván Rebolledo, James Huber, María Eugenia de Asín, Rita del Solar, Ingvar Elleffsen, Elizabeth Elder, Alejandra Prado, Bryan Rosado, Sharon Schultz, and Edward J. Sullivan.