0:00:01.375,0:00:02.766
I'll turn over to you

0:00:02.887,0:00:04.779
and you guys take it away!

0:00:04.883,0:00:09.171
Ok, well thank you Neil[br]and also thank you to Jennifer Giuliano

0:00:09.737,0:00:09.987
with whom I've corresponded[br]but not met.

0:00:12.768,0:00:16.154
Thank you for helping me set up today[br]but also for the invitation

0:00:16.154,0:00:18.345
to share a work in progress

0:00:18.345,0:00:22.477
on the documents of 20th century[br]Latin American and Latino art

0:00:22.911,0:00:24.949
in shorthand, just[br]<i>The Documents Project</i>

0:00:25.383,0:00:26.861
is probably a bit easier.

0:00:27.684,0:00:31.718
I'm Abbie McEwen, Assistant Professor[br]in the department of Art History

0:00:31.718,0:00:32.610
here at Maryland.

0:00:32.610,0:00:36.378
I'm very pleased to have two co-presenters[br]this afternoon.

0:00:36.378,0:00:38.756
Olga Herrera[br]who is our team leader

0:00:38.780,0:00:40.376
here in Washington DC

0:00:40.376,0:00:44.582
hosting an inter-university program[br]on Latino research

0:00:45.513,0:00:47.924
currently at Notre Dame[br]but moving to Texas?

0:00:48.300,0:00:51.746
Moving to the University of Illinois[br]in Chicago, July 1st.

0:00:52.061,0:00:52.843
Ah, ok.

0:00:53.542,0:00:57.924
And then also [unclear][br]an undergraduate student at Maryland.

0:00:58.324,0:01:01.256
Already a graduate,[br]back for his second degree

0:01:01.256,0:01:02.377
in Art History.

0:01:02.879,0:01:05.593
He's a student, enrolled[br]in a directive study with me

0:01:05.593,0:01:11.881
this spring, engaged with the documents[br]at the Archives of American Art.

0:01:12.481,0:01:16.587
And then folding his research[br]into a paper I've hijacked

0:01:16.587,0:01:18.662
for our art course.

0:01:20.135,0:01:24.855
I've imagined this dialog I'm holding[br]maybe in four parts today.

0:01:24.855,0:01:29.028
First we would like to introduce[br]the larger project

0:01:29.028,0:01:33.097
based at the International Center[br]for the Arts of the Americas

0:01:33.097,0:01:36.552
the ICAA, at the Museum of Fine Arts,[br]Houston.

0:01:36.552,0:01:40.437
A project that was first conceived[br]back in 2002.

0:01:40.940,0:01:44.602
It's absolutely an international,[br]inter-American kind of initiative

0:01:44.602,0:01:47.892
and we'll speak a bit, too,[br]of the project's scope

0:01:47.892,0:01:49.389
as a whole

0:01:49.389,0:01:51.392
in part through a film,[br]which actually explains it

0:01:51.392,0:01:53.969
visually in much greater detail[br]than I can.

0:01:54.534,0:01:55.259
Then we'd like to talk

0:01:55.259,0:01:59.008
about the work of the Washington[br]working group.

0:02:00.226,0:02:02.836
Olga and I met, I think,[br]just about a year ago.

0:02:02.836,0:02:06.654
We kind of talked about this collaboration

0:02:07.728,0:02:10.364
we officially launched our project[br]in July.

0:02:10.364,0:02:14.322
And so we're more than halfway[br]through the recovery project

0:02:14.322,0:02:20.038
and we'll speak a bit to our work[br]and what we have targeted

0:02:20.038,0:02:24.605
as the archives, the documents[br]to recover from this area.

0:02:25.051,0:02:28.656
And third, I'd like to speak[br]a bit to the pedagogical aspect

0:02:28.656,0:02:29.690
of this project.

0:02:30.131,0:02:32.371
Not all of the teams have engaged[br]students

0:02:32.371,0:02:35.534
both undergraduate[br]and graduate students, but here

0:02:35.534,0:02:38.480
hopefully first in Colombia,[br]but certainly in Washington

0:02:38.480,0:02:41.413
that has seemed to be[br]an essential part of our work

0:02:41.413,0:02:44.010
and we have a number of students

0:02:44.010,0:02:45.168
not only at Maryland,

0:02:45.168,0:02:47.517
but at George Mason,[br]and American University,

0:02:47.517,0:02:50.219
who are real contributors[br]to this project.

0:02:50.532,0:02:53.437
And it's been exciting[br]and really rewarding, I think

0:02:53.437,0:02:58.424
for all of us to involve our students[br]and our roles in teaching

0:02:58.424,0:03:01.003
along with this kind of project.

0:03:01.350,0:03:04.839
At the end, we would hope to have[br]a real dialog about...

0:03:06.183,0:03:09.879
certainly on the one hand[br]the role and the purpose

0:03:09.879,0:03:11.979
of this kind of recovery project

0:03:11.979,0:03:15.592
but also with the challenges[br]that we have faced.

0:03:15.592,0:03:18.220
Certainly conceptually, structurally.

0:03:18.862,0:03:21.307
It is, after all, an edited archive.

0:03:21.307,0:03:22.965
But also practically, on the ground.

0:03:22.965,0:03:27.523
Fundraising, scanning, all of the[br]nitty gritty details

0:03:27.523,0:03:31.320
that can be challenging, I guess.

0:03:32.635,0:03:35.088
So, I guess we can get started.

0:03:35.774,0:03:37.890
I should say, just on a kind of...

0:03:39.152,0:03:43.081
of a primer to introducing the work[br]of the team at Houston

0:03:43.081,0:03:47.998
this is I think the most recent poster[br]which presents the documents

0:03:47.998,0:03:52.183
as real art objects,[br]almost in themselves.

0:03:53.328,0:03:57.855
The sub-field of modern Latin American art[br]even within the field of Art History

0:03:57.855,0:03:59.401
is rather new.

0:03:59.713,0:04:03.691
It's come into its own[br]perhaps only in the last two decades

0:04:03.691,0:04:04.989
or so.

0:04:05.233,0:04:07.754
Certainly now it's one[br]of the hotter fields.

0:04:07.754,0:04:12.046
We hope it's still continuing to trend[br]upward within the discipline.

0:04:12.953,0:04:16.096
But what has impeded,[br]or held back scholarship

0:04:16.096,0:04:19.870
has been the lack of access[br]to primary sources.

0:04:20.490,0:04:24.048
And the lack of a kind of basic[br]taxonomy of the field.

0:04:24.169,0:04:25.874
Who were the key players?

0:04:25.874,0:04:29.038
Not only the artists, but the critics,[br]the curators

0:04:29.304,0:04:33.396
from all of these parts of,[br]I guess we'll call it, art world

0:04:34.123,0:04:37.243
that have shaped the 20th century[br]of the Americas.

0:04:37.243,0:04:40.489
And that this impediment to scholarship,

0:04:40.489,0:04:44.755
this lack of access[br]and knowledge was, I believe,

0:04:44.755,0:04:47.515
really the jumping off point[br]for this archive.

0:04:48.150,0:04:54.029
Which was conceived[br]by a real leader in our field

0:04:54.029,0:04:58.830
Mari Carmen Ramirez, a curator,[br]since 2002

0:04:58.830,0:05:01.065
at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

0:05:01.065,0:05:06.035
She has really pioneered[br]her scholarship in the field

0:05:06.035,0:05:09.314
in a way, shaped[br]current trends in research

0:05:09.314,0:05:12.473
around modern and contemporary[br]Latin American art.

0:05:13.333,0:05:17.238
Based through her real research.

0:05:17.712,0:05:20.797
And it's a credit to her exhibitions[br]that she's put out

0:05:20.797,0:05:23.483
in the past three years in Houston,

0:05:23.483,0:05:26.128
and previously at[br]the Blanton Museum in Austin,

0:05:26.952,0:05:30.015
that her shows have been bracketing,

0:05:30.015,0:05:33.856
and really built up by[br]her serious scholarship

0:05:34.605,0:05:38.655
In 2002, just about 10 years ago,

0:05:38.655,0:05:42.789
she assembled, or began to assemble

0:05:43.159,0:05:45.705
different teams across the Americas.

0:05:45.705,0:05:47.482
And these are two maps.

0:05:47.482,0:05:51.988
One, the more topical,[br]looking at the art movements

0:05:51.988,0:05:56.062
and the other, with more speaking about--

0:05:56.062,0:05:58.265
looking at the different teams[br]that have been assembled

0:05:58.265,0:06:00.187
in these different cities

0:06:00.187,0:06:03.410
stretching across the Americas,[br]from the United States

0:06:03.410,0:06:07.194
down into Argentina and Chile.

0:06:07.485,0:06:09.830
A couple of these teams[br]have already reported.

0:06:10.179,0:06:12.293
- I think Mexico has reported?[br]- Ah, yes.

0:06:12.293,0:06:17.084
Mexico and the US team,[br]the component from UCLA

0:06:17.084,0:06:20.717
that managed the activities[br]in Puerto Rico, in Miami

0:06:20.717,0:06:22.578
and New York and California, as well.

0:06:22.578,0:06:26.465
And the other day we did[br]the Mid-West section of the country

0:06:26.776,0:06:28.723
We have Mexico and Argentina as well.

0:06:29.258,0:06:32.656
All the teams have completed the work,

0:06:33.327,0:06:35.657
but it has the process

0:06:35.657,0:06:39.454
of this documentation, takes 2 years[br]approximately, per team.

0:06:39.767,0:06:42.554
So these are the documents[br]that have been uploaded now

0:06:42.554,0:06:44.341
and are accessible to the public.

0:06:44.341,0:06:47.983
The other teams have completed the work[br]such as the teams

0:06:47.983,0:06:49.269
from Venezuela, from Peru

0:06:49.269,0:06:52.432
and as well as Brazil

0:06:52.432,0:06:54.855
that will be coming up[br]in the next two years

0:06:54.855,0:06:57.894
we'll be adding periodically[br]to the database

0:06:57.894,0:07:00.296
to building the digital archive.

0:07:01.768,0:07:03.714
So, the work is in progress.

0:07:03.714,0:07:07.207
I suppose we, in Washington,[br]are part of a second generation

0:07:07.207,0:07:10.496
of teams that have been planned,

0:07:10.496,0:07:13.673
and I think more teams, more projects

0:07:13.673,0:07:18.480
already are targeted for coming years.

0:07:18.819,0:07:21.158
I guess now, I'll check now...

0:07:21.158,0:07:23.399
Certainly I can answer questions[br]that you may have

0:07:23.399,0:07:25.289
about the larger project.

0:07:25.289,0:07:29.683
It may be more helpful to hear[br]about the project from the creators

0:07:29.683,0:07:33.161
just to say, Mari Carmen Ramirez[br]and you'll hear a few other voices

0:07:33.161,0:07:34.826
in this film.

0:07:40.894,0:07:43.094
♪ (Latin American guitar music) ♪

0:07:53.330,0:07:54.943
<i>(Mari Carmen Ramirez) The ICAA[br]stands for</i>

0:07:54.943,0:07:57.011
<i>the International Center for the Art[br]of America.</i>

0:07:57.617,0:08:00.316
<i>This is the only center of its kind[br]in the world.</i>

0:08:00.899,0:08:04.993
<i>And initially we established the center[br]to promote the work</i>

0:08:04.993,0:08:07.407
<i>of Latin American and Latino artists.</i>

0:08:07.936,0:08:10.480
<i>To organize exhibitions,[br]to organize symposia</i>

0:08:10.480,0:08:14.666
<i>and really serve as a kind of think tank</i>

0:08:14.666,0:08:17.423
<i>about Latin American and Latino art.</i>

0:08:17.423,0:08:22.351
<i>One of the main problems[br]is the lack of proper infrastructure</i>

0:08:22.351,0:08:24.031
<i>commended to archives.</i>

0:08:24.031,0:08:29.235
<i>And out of that came the idea[br]to establish a very ambitious initiative</i>

0:08:29.235,0:08:31.824
<i>which is the ICAA Documents Project.</i>

0:08:35.957,0:08:39.128
<i>(Peter Marzio) One of the very important[br]aspects of this project</i>

0:08:39.128,0:08:43.556
<i>is that the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston[br]is not collecting these documents.</i>

0:08:43.556,0:08:46.567
<i>The documents are staying[br]in their home countries</i>

0:08:46.567,0:08:51.041
<i>under the care of the archivists[br]or the librarians who are in charge of them.</i>

0:08:51.762,0:08:54.188
<i>That's the beauty of the new technology.</i>

0:08:54.188,0:08:56.360
<i>(Mari Carmen Ramirez) It's a kind of[br]super highway</i>

0:08:56.360,0:08:59.179
<i>that allows us to connect</i>

0:08:59.179,0:09:01.824
<i>all the major countries of the region</i>

0:09:01.824,0:09:05.330
<i>through a network of professionals[br]that are dedicated</i>

0:09:05.330,0:09:08.062
<i>towards recovering[br]the intellectual production</i>

0:09:08.062,0:09:10.748
<i>of the artists and movements[br]of the region.</i>

0:09:12.165,0:09:14.829
<i>Since 2004, we've had ten teams</i>

0:09:14.829,0:09:17.866
<i>working as part of[br]the ICAA Documents Project.</i>

0:09:17.866,0:09:21.901
<i>These teams have been operating[br]out of Buenos Aires, Argentina</i>

0:09:21.901,0:09:23.066
<i>Santiago, Chile</i>

0:09:23.075,0:09:24.427
<i>Sao Paolo, Brazil</i>

0:09:24.427,0:09:25.876
<i>Lima, Peru</i>

0:09:25.876,0:09:27.068
<i>Bogota, Colombia</i>

0:09:27.068,0:09:28.323
<i>Caracas, Venezuela</i>

0:09:28.323,0:09:29.777
<i>Mexico City, Mexico</i>

0:09:29.777,0:09:34.175
<i>and in the United States,[br]out of Los Angeles at UCLA</i>

0:09:34.175,0:09:36.536
<i>and Sound Bend, Indiana[br]at Notre Dame University.</i>

0:09:37.215,0:09:38.795
<i>There have also been researchers</i>

0:09:38.795,0:09:41.813
<i>affiliated to the UCLA[br]and Notre Dame teams</i>

0:09:41.813,0:09:44.862
<i>operating out of San Juan,[br]Puerto Rico</i>

0:09:44.862,0:09:47.735
<i>New York, Washington DC,[br]and Miami.</i>

0:09:48.227,0:09:50.660
<i>The research from all these teams[br]is then funneled</i>

0:09:50.660,0:09:55.400
<i>to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,[br]which is the headquarters for the ICAA.</i>

0:09:56.251,0:10:00.674
<i>They were housed and supported[br]by a number of partner institutions</i>

0:10:01.281,0:10:04.628
<i>that range from universities[br]to museums.</i>

0:10:04.628,0:10:08.621
<i>Those teams are responsible[br]for recovering documents.</i>

0:10:08.894,0:10:13.330
<i>Documents that have been written[br]by artists, critics and curators</i>

0:10:13.690,0:10:14.911
<i>of the 20th century.</i>

0:10:14.911,0:10:18.041
<i>And that provide us with the insight</i>

0:10:18.041,0:10:20.867
<i>into the intellectual foundation[br]of that art.</i>

0:10:21.078,0:10:25.474
<i>The central team in Houston is responsible[br]for processing those documents</i>

0:10:25.474,0:10:28.103
<i>and putting them up into a website</i>

0:10:28.103,0:10:32.469
<i>where they will be available to anyone[br]who wants to have access to them</i>

0:10:32.469,0:10:34.743
<i>free of charge, anywhere in the world.</i>

0:10:35.516,0:10:37.889
<i>(Peter Marzio) You get the information[br]out there,</i>

0:10:37.889,0:10:40.053
<i>it touches a nerve, it excites people.</i>

0:10:40.437,0:10:42.431
<i>People want to study more.</i>

0:10:42.431,0:10:44.476
<i>Eventually they want to collect,</i>

0:10:44.476,0:10:47.291
<i>they want to collect, trust me,[br]there'll be dealers there</i>

0:10:47.291,0:10:49.187
<i>who will want them to collect.</i>

0:10:50.477,0:10:54.026
<i>Eventually those works of art,[br]or some of them, anyway</i>

0:10:54.026,0:10:56.361
<i>will find their ways into museums.</i>

0:10:56.830,0:10:58.967
<i>You'll begin to develop departments</i>

0:10:58.967,0:11:02.065
<i>of Latin American art[br]across the United States.</i>

0:11:02.520,0:11:04.493
<i>With the departments[br]of Latin American art,</i>

0:11:04.493,0:11:05.873
<i>you'll get more students.</i>

0:11:05.873,0:11:09.716
<i>More students will lead to more patrons,[br]more patrons will lead to more dealers</i>

0:11:09.716,0:11:11.176
<i>and so forth.</i>

0:11:11.176,0:11:14.541
<i>It's almost like a forest fire</i>

0:11:14.541,0:11:16.691
<i>if you get it going in the right way,</i>

0:11:16.691,0:11:20.466
<i>and all starts with this simple project</i>

0:11:20.466,0:11:22.375
<i>here at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston</i>

0:11:22.375,0:11:24.690
<i>and that's what excites me about it.</i>

0:11:24.690,0:11:26.892
<i>is that it's so catalytic.</i>

0:11:27.459,0:11:28.930
<i>(Dr Edward Sullivan) Latin American art[br]certainly should become</i>

0:11:28.930,0:11:31.383
<i>part of the worldwide project[br]of Modernism.</i>

0:11:31.383,0:11:33.992
<i>And understanding the role[br]of the modern world</i>

0:11:33.992,0:11:36.958
<i>in the manifestations of art[br]throughout the world</i>

0:11:36.958,0:11:40.903
<i>whether it be Asia, Australia,[br]or the US, Americas</i>

0:11:40.903,0:11:46.054
<i>and certain Latin America is a critical[br]component of this discourse</i>

0:11:46.054,0:11:51.542
<i>this history and the access to documents[br]and the access to the actual material</i>

0:11:51.542,0:11:54.570
<i>written at the moment when the art[br]was happening</i>

0:11:54.570,0:11:56.166
<i>is a major tool.</i>

0:11:56.468,0:11:58.947
<i>(Mari Carmen Herrera) In addition[br]to the digital archive</i>

0:11:58.947,0:12:02.999
<i>we're also publishing a 13-volume[br]book series</i>

0:12:02.999,0:12:05.557
<i>that accompanies the digital archive.</i>

0:12:05.557,0:12:09.780
<i>It's called "Critical Documents[br]of Latin American and Latino Art"</i>

0:12:09.780,0:12:14.337
<i>the books, in many ways, serve[br]as a guide to the archive.</i>

0:12:14.367,0:12:18.983
<i>(Peter Marzio) There will be 13 published[br]volumes, which will be translated</i>

0:12:19.351,0:12:24.305
<i>which serve as the leading[br]primary documents in the various fields</i>

0:12:24.305,0:12:26.084
<i>of Latin American art.</i>

0:12:26.230,0:12:30.038
<i>And my hope is that students in college,</i>

0:12:30.038,0:12:34.484
<i>particularly freshmen who don't have[br]Portuguese or Spanish</i>

0:12:34.484,0:12:40.252
<i>will be able to take a course[br]in 101 level Latin American art.</i>

0:12:41.199,0:12:43.861
<i>That hasn't been possible until now.</i>

0:12:47.855,0:12:49.674
<i>(Mari Carmen Herrera) We have[br]some of the sketches</i>

0:12:49.674,0:12:53.185
<i>and particularly the color charts,[br]that Helio Oiticica used</i>

0:12:53.476,0:12:55.906
<i>in the creation of his Grand Nucleus[br]which is a work</i>

0:12:55.906,0:12:57.425
<i>that has been partially lost.</i>

0:12:57.893,0:13:02.147
<i>So, these things will be of use[br]to researchers in the future.</i>

0:13:02.420,0:13:06.473
<i>I'll go back and try to recreate[br]what this work was all about</i>

0:13:06.473,0:13:08.653
<i>and how the artist made it work.</i>

0:13:09.698,0:13:12.016
<i>We have other instances, for instance,</i>

0:13:12.016,0:13:14.784
<i>in relation to the artist Leon Ferrari</i>

0:13:14.784,0:13:17.271
<i>where we have a number[br]of documents in the archive</i>

0:13:17.271,0:13:20.434
<i>where he is performing sketches[br]or other works</i>

0:13:20.434,0:13:24.099
<i>or writing down thoughts[br]that pertain to works</i>

0:13:24.099,0:13:26.165
<i>that he was in the process of creating.</i>

0:13:26.377,0:13:27.904
<i>And there are many more instances</i>

0:13:27.904,0:13:30.701
<i>of these kinds of documents[br]in the archive.</i>

0:13:31.439,0:13:34.021
♪ (Latin American guitar music) ♪

0:13:39.921,0:13:42.276
<i>I wouldn't say that there are new[br]movements and artists</i>

0:13:42.276,0:13:44.276
<i>that have been discovered,[br]so much as artists</i>

0:13:44.276,0:13:47.420
<i>that have been re-assessed</i>

0:13:47.420,0:13:50.754
<i>as a result of this project.</i>

0:13:50.754,0:13:54.570
<i>And, for instance, I can cite[br]the specific case</i>

0:13:54.570,0:13:58.466
<i>of the Guatemalan artist Carlos Merida.</i>

0:13:59.158,0:14:02.181
<i>who did most of his career[br]in Mexico City.</i>

0:14:02.181,0:14:06.579
<i>And he's an artist that most of us[br]in the field knew</i>

0:14:06.579,0:14:09.367
<i>as having been a producer.</i>

0:14:09.627,0:14:14.769
<i>But I think very few people knew[br]the extent of his writing.</i>

0:14:15.142,0:14:17.850
<i>And it turns out[br]that he was a very prolific writer.</i>

0:14:17.850,0:14:22.622
<i>He had some very, very illuminating ideas[br]about the art of his times.</i>

0:14:22.938,0:14:26.283
<i>And he was also writing about the art[br]of his contemporaries.</i>

0:14:29.010,0:14:31.651
<i>People tend to associate[br]Latin American art</i>

0:14:31.651,0:14:35.624
<i>with so-called "magic realism".</i>

0:14:35.956,0:14:40.084
<i>The reality is, that ever since[br]the 1920s and 30s</i>

0:14:40.484,0:14:43.284
<i>there have been many important[br]Latin American artists</i>

0:14:43.284,0:14:45.838
<i>and many important groups of artists</i>

0:14:45.838,0:14:48.161
<i>who set out to recover</i>

0:14:48.161,0:14:51.902
<i>and to assimilate important aspects[br]of the avant garde</i>

0:14:51.902,0:14:54.025
<i>in Europe and North America.</i>

0:14:54.025,0:14:57.043
<i>And these artists not only assimilated[br]those principles</i>

0:14:57.043,0:14:59.684
<i>but they also[br]did something new with it.</i>

0:14:59.684,0:15:03.982
<i>And in many cases,[br]they anticipated developments</i>

0:15:03.982,0:15:05.669
<i>in the United States and Europe</i>

0:15:05.669,0:15:08.996
<i>so that there has been,[br]in Latin America,</i>

0:15:08.996,0:15:12.954
<i>original thinking[br]and production of art.</i>

0:15:13.257,0:15:16.567
<i>And that is, perhaps,[br]the biggest accomplishment</i>

0:15:16.567,0:15:18.856
<i>that I hope this project can achieve.</i>

0:15:18.856,0:15:22.078
<i>It's one thing to say,[br]"Latin American art is not derivative"</i>

0:15:22.078,0:15:25.433
<i>but to really show[br]why it's not derivative</i>

0:15:25.433,0:15:28.472
<i>and to provide the evidence,[br]the concrete evidence</i>

0:15:28.472,0:15:30.015
<i>what these artists were thinking.</i>

0:15:30.015,0:15:31.996
<i>That is what[br]we are setting out to do.</i>

0:15:32.391,0:15:34.364
♪ (Latin American guitar music) ♪

0:15:44.357,0:15:47.017
<i>(Dr. Edward Sullivan) For graduate[br]students, this project will be</i>

0:15:47.017,0:15:49.162
<i>of immense use and immense interest.</i>

0:15:49.162,0:15:52.872
<i>The access to documents,[br]and the access to the actual material</i>

0:15:52.872,0:15:55.729
<i>written at the moment[br]when the art was happening</i>

0:15:55.729,0:15:59.930
<i>is a major tool to understand[br]the developments</i>

0:15:59.930,0:16:01.874
<i>of these art movements[br]in Latin America.</i>

0:16:01.874,0:16:04.670
<i>(Mari Carmen Herrera) I see the ICAA[br]Documents Project</i>

0:16:04.670,0:16:09.598
<i>as being really[br]just the beginning of this effort.</i>

0:16:09.814,0:16:12.533
<i>We would like to find ways[br]to continue to expand the project.</i>

0:16:12.533,0:16:15.410
<i>And it will be up to future scholars</i>

0:16:15.410,0:16:17.918
<i>to really make something out of this</i>

0:16:17.918,0:16:23.783
<i>and to continue to build what could[br]become a really true amazing resource</i>

0:16:23.783,0:16:25.688
<i>for the development of the field.</i>

0:16:26.618,0:16:28.628
♪ (Latin American guitar music) ♪

0:16:38.727,0:16:42.229
Ok, so that was[br]their presentation of the film.

0:16:44.427,0:16:46.922
The film is available on Vimeo

0:16:46.922,0:16:51.097
and also on the MFA Houston's webpage,

0:16:51.097,0:16:54.908
should you wish to re-watch it.

0:16:55.272,0:16:59.910
Certainly we can go now[br]or even later this afternoon

0:16:59.910,0:17:01.785
to the webpage.

0:17:01.785,0:17:06.165
This is a screenshot from last week.

0:17:06.165,0:17:11.145
This is what it actually looks like[br]when you login to the document's homepage.

0:17:13.340,0:17:17.134
There's a bit of background history[br]of the project.

0:17:17.496,0:17:19.545
The documents, certainly,

0:17:19.545,0:17:23.675
3,700 or so catalogued to date.

0:17:23.675,0:17:28.249
I think the queue, Mari had told us,[br]was a few thousand this summer.

0:17:28.249,0:17:31.752
I imagine it's even longer now.

0:17:32.043,0:17:36.311
But this is some of the homepage[br]of the Documents Project

0:17:36.311,0:17:42.525
as it has looked since the digital archive[br]launched a year ago January.

0:17:42.525,0:17:44.592
So, we're just into the second year.

0:17:47.458,0:17:50.687
Mari Carmen in the film mentioned that[br]there was also a print publication as well

0:17:50.687,0:17:53.342
and I have this, below Olga.

0:17:53.342,0:17:54.795
I've just a copy of the book.

0:17:54.795,0:17:57.985
It's a pretty hefty volume!

0:17:58.895,0:18:01.790
- Should I pass it?[br]- Yeah, absolutely.

0:18:02.234,0:18:06.951
I will say it is a tremendous value[br]to have these sources translated.

0:18:07.238,0:18:10.422
Certainly, for teaching,[br]these are documents

0:18:10.422,0:18:13.594
that otherwise have not[br]at all been available.

0:18:14.523,0:18:17.013
Certainly in this way.

0:18:17.696,0:18:21.835
So this is the digital side,[br]that's the print version.

0:18:23.660,0:18:27.176
This is probably the most important

0:18:28.607,0:18:33.126
part of the webpage,[br]which is to say it's the search engine.

0:18:33.387,0:18:38.899
I'll show you our cataloging system,[br]our protocols,

0:18:38.899,0:18:43.497
so you can see how we're trying[br]to identify

0:18:45.009,0:18:49.610
keywords artists so that our documents[br]will appear in these searches.

0:18:50.236,0:18:54.840
But the archive is searchable[br]by artist name, by language

0:18:54.840,0:18:56.346
by date, by country.

0:18:56.745,0:18:59.827
With all of these different filters.

0:19:00.405,0:19:03.722
Just as a kind of example

0:19:03.722,0:19:07.889
I have pulled this document

0:19:08.933,0:19:12.383
it's one by the Argentine artist[br]Leon Ferrari,

0:19:12.678,0:19:16.499
just to show you[br]what it actually looks like

0:19:17.301,0:19:20.282
with the cataloging[br]and information at the top

0:19:21.700,0:19:25.137
and a synopsis and also an annotation.

0:19:25.646,0:19:29.162
If you click over on the very top[br]right-hand corner

0:19:29.162,0:19:34.413
you can also have this information[br]in Spanish, so it is a bilingual webpage.

0:19:34.789,0:19:38.512
If you were to click[br]on underneath this small image

0:19:38.512,0:19:40.006
of the document full text

0:19:40.868,0:19:43.898
this is what one of the document,[br]that appears for you.

0:19:44.508,0:19:47.048
Again, this is just as an example.

0:19:47.048,0:19:51.990
And it comes up as a PDF[br]with the ICAA cover sheet.

0:19:51.990,0:19:57.206
And then you do get within the document,[br]the image itself.

0:19:57.206,0:20:00.500
Which is, for graduate students,[br]for scholars,

0:20:00.500,0:20:05.635
actually a huge asset to this site.

0:20:09.613,0:20:12.579
Mari Carmen referred to,[br]in the film,

0:20:12.579,0:20:16.473
the editorial framework of the archive

0:20:16.473,0:20:20.560
and to these different categories.

0:20:22.529,0:20:25.668
I think it's worth noting[br]that researchers haven't been

0:20:25.668,0:20:31.291
necessarily asked to go and draw up[br]all sorts of documents.

0:20:31.291,0:20:37.291
And in fact, we've been tasked[br]to look more deliberately

0:20:37.291,0:20:40.346
for documents that fall[br]within these categories.

0:20:40.700,0:20:43.266
Certainly, these are[br]quite broad categories

0:20:43.930,0:20:48.779
but there is certainly a curatorial[br]or curative aspect to the archive.

0:20:49.382,0:20:51.276
Olga, did you want to speak[br]to some of these--

0:20:51.276,0:20:55.571
Yes, these are some of the categories[br]that will form in the publication

0:20:55.571,0:20:58.459
so these are, as Abbie said, pretty broad.

0:20:58.772,0:21:00.624
They include, if you take them[br]one by one

0:21:00.624,0:21:03.742
they include all the possibilities[br]within Latin American art

0:21:03.742,0:21:05.722
but they're not limited to this.

0:21:06.128,0:21:10.165
In fact, researchers are asked[br]to suggest new ones

0:21:10.165,0:21:12.539
depending on the cases,[br]depending on the collections

0:21:12.539,0:21:14.554
that we are looking at.

0:21:14.927,0:21:16.856
For example, the collection[br]that we're looking at

0:21:16.856,0:21:19.506
here in Washington DC,[br]the Jose Gomez Sicre

0:21:19.506,0:21:21.705
and the Organization of American States

0:21:21.705,0:21:23.856
that falls very much[br]into existing categories

0:21:23.856,0:21:25.481
Latin American and Latino.

0:21:25.889,0:21:29.463
He was an art critic[br]that was based here in Washington DC.

0:21:31.295,0:21:34.534
He joined the Pan American Union[br]in 1946

0:21:34.779,0:21:36.665
and retired in 1991.

0:21:36.959,0:21:40.366
So he had a very long career[br]of promoting young talent

0:21:40.366,0:21:41.429
from Latin America

0:21:41.429,0:21:42.510
and introducing them

0:21:42.510,0:21:46.002
as part of the mission of[br]the Pan American Union until 1948

0:21:46.002,0:21:49.113
and then from 1948 on,[br]the Organization of American States.

0:21:49.485,0:21:55.232
So, in his role, he's falling into this[br]looking at the hemisphere

0:21:55.500,0:21:58.141
from the location of the US.

0:21:58.141,0:21:59.740
Looking down at Latin America.

0:21:59.740,0:22:04.185
But as he travels back and forth,[br]he is taking his knowledge.

0:22:04.185,0:22:09.148
He's going to Argentina,[br]going to the [inaudible] Gallery

0:22:09.542,0:22:12.640
collecting information,[br]presenting the artists here in Washington

0:22:12.640,0:22:19.140
then going to São Paolo Biennial[br]exchanging information.

0:22:19.140,0:22:22.531
So he's creating all this network[br]that goes

0:22:22.531,0:22:25.889
into these different categories[br]of what is Latin American and Latino.

0:22:26.140,0:22:30.285
In the first volume that is circulating,[br]the concluding remarks

0:22:30.285,0:22:33.321
about this idea[br]of Latin American and Latino

0:22:33.321,0:22:35.025
is that these are constructions.

0:22:35.025,0:22:36.353
They do not exist.

0:22:36.353,0:22:39.567
But they're very much constructions[br]to put together groups.

0:22:40.021,0:22:41.839
Very heterogeneous groups.

0:22:42.089,0:22:44.489
So, we think this project,[br]this category,

0:22:44.489,0:22:47.091
the documents are challenging[br]those assumptions.

0:22:47.543,0:22:49.856
In the <i>National Imaginaries/[br]Cosmopolitan Identities</i>

0:22:49.856,0:22:51.078
that's the second volume

0:22:51.078,0:22:53.973
that is looking very much at the idea[br]of the global and the local.

0:22:54.593,0:22:57.478
Cosmopolitanism versus nationalism.

0:22:57.478,0:23:01.622
The organization, the construction[br]of the modern nation states

0:23:01.622,0:23:05.894
and how the artists are addressing[br]this building of the nations.

0:23:05.894,0:23:09.527
Are they assuming a very nationalist tone?[br]Or do they want to be international?

0:23:09.527,0:23:11.650
It's that national/international binary.

0:23:11.650,0:23:15.213
Recycling and hydrating the arts[br]of Latino America

0:23:15.213,0:23:20.323
that is something that relates[br]to the US Latino populations.

0:23:23.049,0:23:27.739
Appropriating icons[br]and appropriating histories

0:23:27.739,0:23:31.999
and recreating histories and myths[br]such as the mythical land of Aslam.

0:23:32.429,0:23:34.743
And making it part of that nationalism.

0:23:34.743,0:23:38.189
And others that follow along those lines

0:23:38.189,0:23:40.996
in terms of pop art, as well,[br]in Argentina.

0:23:41.436,0:23:45.149
In issues of race, class and gender,[br]that's very much what is happening

0:23:45.149,0:23:46.443
in the different countries.

0:23:46.443,0:23:48.346
One of the big issues here[br]that looks at

0:23:48.346,0:23:52.785
is the presence of Afro-Latin American,[br]the Caribbean

0:23:52.785,0:23:55.290
not only Caribbean, but other countries[br]that do not fall

0:23:55.290,0:23:57.366
within that Caribbean basin.

0:23:57.366,0:23:59.424
Art activism and social change.

0:23:59.997,0:24:03.648
And that goes a little bit[br]with this idea of...

0:24:06.361,0:24:07.589
graphic arts.

0:24:08.019,0:24:11.920
This idea of graphic arts[br]as a more popular medium

0:24:11.920,0:24:14.453
to pass on messages about art

0:24:14.872,0:24:16.960
or using art to convey messages.

0:24:17.586,0:24:20.393
Then super-realism, magic realism[br]and the fantastic.

0:24:20.393,0:24:22.775
That is a category that would look[br]as an example

0:24:22.775,0:24:26.958
the role of Roberto Matta, Wilfredo Lam

0:24:26.958,0:24:29.918
and the relationship that they had[br]with Breton.

0:24:30.266,0:24:33.768
Or Breton in Mexico with Frida Kahlo[br]or the others, and creating

0:24:34.043,0:24:36.927
and putting together[br]the first realist exhibitions

0:24:36.927,0:24:39.125
in Mexico in 1939 -1940.

0:24:39.125,0:24:44.259
New world, American constructive utopias,[br]that's really Abbie's alley

0:24:44.259,0:24:47.637
but it looks at those developments[br]that Mari Carmen mentions

0:24:47.637,0:24:51.790
about the Argentinian Madi group, 1940s,

0:24:52.157,0:24:57.566
really foretelling developments[br]that happened in the 1960s in the US.

0:24:57.912,0:25:01.086
The breaking of the frame,[br]art experimentation with colors,

0:25:01.086,0:25:06.276
sculptures, all these things[br]that were being explored

0:25:06.276,0:25:09.528
not only by Argentinian artists[br]but by Brazilian as well, and others.

0:25:09.528,0:25:11.144
And Venezuelans.

0:25:11.386,0:25:13.921
Abstracts and figuratives[br]in the Cold War period.

0:25:13.921,0:25:18.175
This is where Gomez Sicre wanted[br]to collect the collections

0:25:18.175,0:25:19.541
that we're looking at in Washington.

0:25:19.541,0:25:21.756
Really most of the documents[br]fall into this.

0:25:21.756,0:25:23.153
He was...

0:25:24.663,0:25:28.958
really the point for him[br]became the Cuban Revolution

0:25:29.837,0:25:34.169
he had promoted a lot of figuration[br]during the 1950s.

0:25:34.529,0:25:37.521
Beginning in 1960,[br]you start seeing the promotion

0:25:37.521,0:25:41.105
of more abstraction in the artists

0:25:41.105,0:25:43.877
even to the point that he,[br]for example,

0:25:44.285,0:25:46.870
taking the case of Ecuador,[br]you have Guayasamin

0:25:46.870,0:25:48.636
as one of the key artists.

0:25:48.902,0:25:52.371
To the point that he presented[br]an exhibition of Guayasamin in the 1950s

0:25:52.371,0:25:57.108
and then 1960s is a different generation,[br]totally obliterating

0:25:57.108,0:26:00.982
the contribution of Guayasamin[br]in this debate

0:26:00.982,0:26:03.861
and this documentation that he provides.

0:26:04.023,0:26:06.029
But then again the graphic artists,

0:26:06.029,0:26:08.931
this idea of art activism[br]and social change

0:26:08.931,0:26:11.393
in a way they interrelate.

0:26:11.393,0:26:15.180
Then we have the exile displacement[br]diaspora that has to be very much

0:26:15.180,0:26:20.292
with artists from Latin American countries[br]coming to the US, moving to Europe.

0:26:20.687,0:26:25.934
As part of self-exile[br]or forced exile displacement

0:26:25.934,0:26:28.388
and the diaspora, the construction,[br]the migration to the US.

0:26:29.155,0:26:33.903
These new diasporic communities[br]that start growing

0:26:33.903,0:26:36.389
from the 1970s, 1960s on.

0:26:36.849,0:26:42.455
Conceptualism, the reference[br]to Oiticica and others.

0:26:43.131,0:26:44.893
Mass-media and technology in art

0:26:44.893,0:26:47.423
what is happening,[br]especially with the groups in Argentina

0:26:47.423,0:26:51.254
in late 1960s and early 1970s.

0:26:51.818,0:26:56.415
That idea of using computers,

0:26:56.415,0:26:59.182
using certain formats[br]could be regenerated.

0:26:59.565,0:27:04.541
Very basic early 1970s technology[br]and traveling these exhibitions

0:27:04.541,0:27:07.979
and putting a collective[br]of world artists together.

0:27:07.979,0:27:10.626
Globalization and its Latin American[br]discontents.

0:27:10.626,0:27:13.094
This really looks at[br]more recent developments

0:27:13.094,0:27:16.694
in terms of the infrastructure[br]of the art field.

0:27:16.875,0:27:20.600
In terms of the new fairs,[br]the new biennials.

0:27:20.600,0:27:23.541
The circulation of global artists.

0:27:23.541,0:27:28.546
So, those are really very few examples[br]of what we could encounter

0:27:28.546,0:27:30.353
in these different categories.

0:27:30.353,0:27:35.307
But they're broad in their description[br]and they try to follow

0:27:35.307,0:27:40.448
more a model of identity,[br]very fluid, very organic coming in, out

0:27:40.448,0:27:45.400
and in the document series,[br]they sometimes do not fit

0:27:45.400,0:27:47.485
neatly into one category.

0:27:47.485,0:27:53.422
So they fit into several ones[br]and it's a way to present

0:27:53.422,0:27:56.937
a more wider perspective[br]of the movement of art

0:27:57.189,0:27:59.177
in Latin America.

0:28:01.083,0:28:04.120
The diversity of these topics[br]really speaks to the point

0:28:04.120,0:28:07.621
that Mari Carmen made in the film[br]about moving the idea

0:28:07.621,0:28:11.800
of Latin American art[br]away from its stereotyped identity

0:28:11.800,0:28:14.841
is just being about art activism[br]and social change

0:28:14.841,0:28:19.598
or as being so closely connected[br]to Diego Rivero, Frida Kahlo.

0:28:19.598,0:28:23.056
Though certainly major figures[br]within this history

0:28:23.056,0:28:25.327
but certainly they weren't the only actors

0:28:25.327,0:28:27.891
in the Americas across the 20th century.

0:28:28.067,0:28:29.573
And the idea

0:28:30.373,0:28:32.101
coming out of Houston,[br]I think expressed

0:28:32.101,0:28:33.633
by all of these different teams[br]has been

0:28:33.633,0:28:38.330
to allow a more expansive idea of what

0:28:38.330,0:28:41.939
American or Latin American, or Latino art

0:28:41.939,0:28:47.004
might actually have to offer, and to say.

0:28:49.941,0:28:54.673
There are four pages of the cataloging[br]entry forms

0:28:54.673,0:28:58.691
and I just thought I would show them here[br]to you just to give you a sense

0:28:58.691,0:29:03.217
of what the actual work is[br]to get a document if we find

0:29:03.217,0:29:08.692
for instance, an exhibition catalog[br]that is only five sentences of text,

0:29:08.692,0:29:14.276
how that actually becomes part[br]of the documenting process.

0:29:14.974,0:29:19.382
These are the empty documents[br]that we're giving to our students here

0:29:19.382,0:29:22.640
at Maryland and elsewhere[br]and asking them

0:29:22.640,0:29:27.361
to categorize[br]within this editorial framework

0:29:27.361,0:29:32.352
but also to do some of this other[br]data analysis

0:29:33.440,0:29:37.837
as it were, to think of these documents[br]and to catalog them.

0:29:37.837,0:29:44.256
And to do this work[br]as well as the interpretive analysis.

0:29:44.827,0:29:49.473
This is the second pages,

0:29:49.473,0:29:53.625
the third and fourth page[br]of our entry form.

0:29:57.477,0:30:00.317
This is shifting over to our...

0:30:00.317,0:30:05.228
with our Washington team[br]and our working group here.

0:30:06.590,0:30:11.508
I suppose if there are any questions[br]about the larger project in Houston

0:30:11.508,0:30:15.043
this might be a good time[br]to answer--

0:30:15.241,0:30:16.066
Yes?

0:30:16.216,0:30:19.459
(audience member 1) So I saw[br]on the main webpage

0:30:19.459,0:30:22.325
it said something sorta, I think "my",[br]it said something "my"...

0:30:22.325,0:30:24.425
- my argu--[br]- (Abbie) Oh, my documents

0:30:24.425,0:30:25.744
- (audience member 1) My documents?[br]- (Abbie) Yes.

0:30:25.744,0:30:28.512
(audience member 1) And looking[br]at the categories,

0:30:28.512,0:30:31.286
I wonder, is it possible to resort,

0:30:31.286,0:30:35.187
can a user coming there,[br]can they effectively...

0:30:35.187,0:30:37.204
as carefully as you've worked out[br]these categories

0:30:37.204,0:30:41.466
can they start to play with,[br]and stretch, and re-stretch the categories

0:30:41.466,0:30:44.406
and make things fit into different--

0:30:44.406,0:30:46.609
because I see the "my documents" and...

0:30:46.609,0:30:48.802
And sort of a related question was,

0:30:48.802,0:30:51.444
you're going through[br]the different collections,

0:30:51.444,0:30:53.086
and I'm wondering if there are some things

0:30:53.086,0:30:54.725
that just fit no categories,

0:30:54.725,0:30:58.392
and so they don't end up in this,[br]even though they're part of...

0:30:59.457,0:31:03.143
identified, and part of[br]a rich collection,

0:31:03.419,0:31:08.739
but there may be some things[br]that are just so much ephemera?

0:31:09.445,0:31:12.549
So, those are two kind of questions.

0:31:13.329,0:31:15.617
(Abbie) I can try[br]to answer them, I suppose.

0:31:15.617,0:31:18.815
My documents, we can play with that[br]a little bit on the webpage.

0:31:19.961,0:31:23.448
If you create a user account[br]and it's absolutely free to do this,

0:31:24.051,0:31:28.078
then you can tab the documents[br]and sort them into...

0:31:29.142,0:31:31.821
different larger folders,[br]as it were,

0:31:31.821,0:31:32.837
and we give them a heading.

0:31:32.837,0:31:36.299
So, if you wanted to look at[br]just Mexican muralism

0:31:36.299,0:31:38.709
or Cuban abstraction[br]you could create a folder

0:31:38.709,0:31:41.179
and then insert these documents there.

0:31:41.447,0:31:43.540
And you have the option of making[br]these folders public

0:31:43.540,0:31:45.090
and sharing them.

0:31:45.090,0:31:47.198
So, if you wanted to say,[br]"Well these are all documents

0:31:47.198,0:31:50.082
pertaining to muralism in the 1930s",

0:31:50.877,0:31:53.869
I've gone in and found them[br]and I'm going to make them available

0:31:53.869,0:31:57.243
to you, just as a collegial thing[br]to do, that's one option.

0:31:58.414,0:32:00.850
I've done this on a small scale[br]for my teaching.

0:32:00.850,0:32:03.862
If I've wanted to go in[br]and ask students to work

0:32:03.862,0:32:06.846
on this question of Latino[br]versus Latin American identity

0:32:06.846,0:32:09.393
and say, "Well, these are a few documents,

0:32:10.209,0:32:13.864
perhaps select two out of these[br]and construct an argument.

0:32:13.864,0:32:15.737
What are these different authors saying?"

0:32:16.034,0:32:18.284
There's that possibility.

0:32:18.284,0:32:22.450
I don't know that users can change[br]categorizations

0:32:22.450,0:32:25.362
although that might be[br]an interesting feature.

0:32:25.362,0:32:29.645
But that's the "my documents"[br]is only a personal site

0:32:29.645,0:32:32.816
within the larger project.

0:32:33.419,0:32:37.372
This other question about ephemeral[br]or one-off documents

0:32:37.372,0:32:41.908
is one that I also have thought about.

0:32:42.464,0:32:44.960
I think that the answer[br]that Maria Gaztambide,

0:32:44.960,0:32:48.142
she's the head of the ICAA at Houston,

0:32:48.142,0:32:51.413
she gave to us last summer[br]when she oriented me in the project,

0:32:51.413,0:32:53.764
all that has been oriented[br]probably many times

0:32:53.764,0:32:55.017
she's a real veteran.

0:32:57.106,0:33:01.406
Was if there does seem to be a document[br]that doesn't have an obvious artist

0:33:01.406,0:33:06.064
who is maybe kind of to the side[br]of one category or the other,

0:33:06.064,0:33:08.100
perhaps the strategy[br]might be to collect

0:33:08.100,0:33:11.094
a small set of documents,[br]four or five,

0:33:11.094,0:33:15.048
that would allow this artist[br]or this topic to be

0:33:15.048,0:33:18.336
in a way, more fully-explained[br]that one document in itself

0:33:18.336,0:33:19.709
might be able to do

0:33:19.709,0:33:22.504
and then to add those documents[br]together.

0:33:23.384,0:33:27.628
I don't know if this has happened,[br]but Maria says it's on the way

0:33:28.197,0:33:30.442
is for documents to link to each other.

0:33:30.442,0:33:34.233
And so if you pull up a document[br]on Frida Kahlo

0:33:34.233,0:33:38.215
there might be a way to bracket off[br]another document.

0:33:38.488,0:33:42.203
And so for artists, especially artists[br]who are lesser-known than Kahlo

0:33:42.203,0:33:45.578
to be able then to link an artist[br]who's an awkward fit, perhaps,

0:33:45.578,0:33:48.585
to something that is more major[br]or even to other documents

0:33:48.585,0:33:53.320
that explain this moment,[br]or this history

0:33:53.320,0:33:57.933
it's a way of including[br]sideways, as it were,

0:33:57.933,0:34:02.934
these even more marginal figures[br]within the larger narrative.

0:34:03.376,0:34:04.833
Does that sound about right?

0:34:05.996,0:34:08.877
You know your question is very important[br]because these categories

0:34:08.877,0:34:12.288
that were decided in 2004,[br]so it's nine years ago.

0:34:12.288,0:34:14.342
The field is changing and definitely,

0:34:14.342,0:34:17.447
but they are very open, that is something[br]that of my understanding

0:34:17.447,0:34:21.202
there is a way to communicate with them[br]to suggest new categories.

0:34:21.202,0:34:24.545
And I think this is going to generate[br]new categories by itself.

0:34:24.545,0:34:26.286
The availability of the documents,

0:34:26.286,0:34:29.223
the new reassessments[br]of the collections of artists

0:34:29.223,0:34:31.030
will generate newer themes.

0:34:31.376,0:34:33.748
For example, one of the last categories

0:34:33.748,0:34:36.661
that we had was the globalization[br]and its discontents

0:34:36.661,0:34:39.356
but you don't hear so much[br]about globalization

0:34:40.277,0:34:42.539
at the end of neoliberalism.

0:34:42.539,0:34:48.422
Now it's the idea of the backwards[br]globalization, no longer there

0:34:48.422,0:34:51.293
so it's just where is globalization[br]right now, and that's one of the points,

0:34:51.293,0:34:55.637
because that's one of my fields[br]of research, globalization.

0:34:55.637,0:34:57.665
So, right now it's very difficult.

0:34:57.665,0:35:02.566
So, is that the valid field right now?[br]Maybe it isn't.

0:35:02.566,0:35:06.892
So that's something that I think[br]it is set up to be more fluid,

0:35:06.892,0:35:10.841
and absolutely, they would consider[br]new fields

0:35:10.841,0:35:13.204
something else for[br]the researchers to suggest.

0:35:13.204,0:35:16.480
In terms of the documents,[br]that's something that we usually

0:35:16.480,0:35:18.027
if there's no--

0:35:18.671,0:35:22.066
if they don't fit neatly[br]within these categories

0:35:22.066,0:35:27.121
we write a note to the project[br]and then they reassess

0:35:27.121,0:35:28.755
and figure out where to put it.

0:35:28.755,0:35:31.301
For example, in the publication,[br]the book,

0:35:31.712,0:35:35.956
there are some documents[br]that are not really art-related,

0:35:35.956,0:35:39.412
but they're more into the concept[br]of what Latin America was.

0:35:39.412,0:35:45.794
For example, they have the original[br]poems from 1856

0:35:46.422,0:35:50.432
of Caicedo, Jose Maria Caicedo,[br]when he refers for the first time

0:35:50.909,0:35:53.335
to the continent as <i>Latin America</i>.

0:35:53.335,0:35:54.938
It's very much, it comes from--

0:35:54.938,0:35:57.965
It's a French construction[br]rather than an American,

0:35:57.965,0:36:01.042
The American usage of <i>the Americas</i>

0:36:01.042,0:36:04.573
was <i>the older American republics</i>[br]up until 1945.

0:36:04.883,0:36:09.732
And that's what you see in the official[br]documents from the national archives

0:36:09.732,0:36:13.118
related to art exchanges[br]with Latin America.

0:36:13.487,0:36:15.759
It's very much[br]<i>the older American republics</i>.

0:36:17.121,0:36:21.628
So it is definitely changing,[br]but that's something very interesting.

0:36:22.257,0:36:24.791
So if you are using it in the future[br]and see something that you want

0:36:24.791,0:36:28.812
to suggest, by all means,[br]that would be very welcome!

0:36:32.768,0:36:34.903
If there are no more questions[br]about the Washington part of it.

0:36:34.903,0:36:37.472
We can certainly[br]cycle back.

0:36:37.959,0:36:42.142
This is just a brief overview[br]of the Washington team.

0:36:42.927,0:36:47.689
I guess it's an introduction[br]of the different partner institutions

0:36:48.378,0:36:52.252
of their research team and then[br]an incomplete list of students.

0:36:52.252,0:36:58.031
We have still to add the six students[br]in my graduate seminar this term.

0:37:00.986,0:37:05.347
The idea of bringing the Documents Project[br]to Washington was really Olga's.

0:37:06.529,0:37:11.610
And perhaps you would want to speak[br]to your idea of bringing it here?

0:37:11.944,0:37:14.539
Well, yes, this is something[br]very interesting

0:37:14.539,0:37:17.916
and it's a conversation that has been[br]going on since about 2006.

0:37:18.451,0:37:22.805
When the current director of[br]the Documents Project, Maria Gaztambide

0:37:22.805,0:37:27.228
worked for the Archives of American Art[br]in the late 1990s,

0:37:27.228,0:37:30.745
she completed surveys[br]of Latin American, Latino artists

0:37:30.745,0:37:32.344
in New York and Puerto Rico,

0:37:32.344,0:37:34.401
and someone else did it for Florida.

0:37:34.401,0:37:38.264
So there was that foundation,[br]previous year of work

0:37:38.640,0:37:43.528
Previous years always come together,[br]so Maria was very much aware

0:37:43.528,0:37:45.849
of what was at the Archives[br]of American Art

0:37:45.849,0:37:50.014
in terms of this Mari Carmen[br]was very knowledgeable

0:37:50.014,0:37:53.900
about the work of Jose Gomez Sicre[br]and the lack of documents

0:37:53.900,0:37:55.234
about his criticism.

0:37:55.234,0:38:00.427
There were some articles in newspapers[br]as well as some of the essays

0:38:00.427,0:38:03.632
that he would write for the bulletin,[br]the Artes Visuales

0:38:03.632,0:38:06.050
of the Pan American union[br]of the OAS.

0:38:06.050,0:38:08.191
But other than that[br]there was not much

0:38:08.191,0:38:12.375
and when he passed away in 1991,

0:38:12.590,0:38:17.228
he retired from the Museum[br]of the Art of the Americas in 1981

0:38:17.804,0:38:20.891
and fortunately, and this is the issue[br]with archives

0:38:20.891,0:38:24.216
and with the technology[br]that really is amazing

0:38:24.216,0:38:26.743
there's usually one person[br]that really values

0:38:26.743,0:38:28.771
these collections of papers[br]at the same time.

0:38:28.771,0:38:32.213
So, in this case, they were put[br]in bankers' boxes,

0:38:32.213,0:38:35.373
13 of them, and we, for this project,

0:38:35.373,0:38:39.070
the idea was to go over these 13 boxes,

0:38:39.422,0:38:42.796
catalog them, put them in archival boxes,

0:38:42.796,0:38:46.164
create the finding aids, and then[br]scan them and digitize them.

0:38:46.164,0:38:49.717
So, that's been the work that we've been[br]doing since July.

0:38:50.283,0:38:54.881
So, the knowledge of these collections[br]at the Archives of American Art was there,

0:38:54.881,0:38:58.195
Washington was an important point[br]for the introduction

0:38:58.195,0:39:00.081
of Latin American artists.

0:39:00.081,0:39:03.228
Of course, we have that connections[br]from Mexico to New York,

0:39:03.228,0:39:06.651
the galleries, the development[br]of the 1920s

0:39:06.651,0:39:10.727
the interest in the mural movement[br]and priority at the World Fairs.

0:39:10.727,0:39:15.739
Those were really huge windows[br]into showing Latin American culture

0:39:15.739,0:39:19.328
from different countries[br]to the world.

0:39:19.328,0:39:22.208
But Washington was that special place

0:39:22.208,0:39:26.172
and the idea, the conversation[br]really started in 2006.

0:39:26.172,0:39:29.805
They tried to engage[br]the Smithsonian Institution,

0:39:29.805,0:39:32.145
were not very successful,[br]and at that time,

0:39:32.145,0:39:33.495
at the University of Notre Dame,

0:39:33.495,0:39:35.878
we were doing the Midwest project,[br]and recording

0:39:35.878,0:39:39.936
which was really going house-to-house,[br]visiting artist-to-artist,

0:39:39.936,0:39:44.407
organizations, and going to the basements,[br]pulling the archival collections,

0:39:44.407,0:39:45.642
digitizing them.

0:39:45.642,0:39:49.111
So, we had that experience[br]and this was a conversation

0:39:49.111,0:39:50.377
that continued after that.

0:39:50.377,0:39:52.263
Why don't we do Washington DC?

0:39:52.868,0:39:56.017
So, the opportunity really arose[br]last year,

0:39:56.017,0:39:59.237
and we said "if we don't do it this year,[br]it's not going to get done."

0:39:59.474,0:40:02.949
And this, the DC Project,

0:40:02.949,0:40:07.013
along with the Uruguay Project[br]are the last ones.

0:40:07.013,0:40:11.108
They were planning to do one in New York,[br]but it hasn't been solidified

0:40:11.943,0:40:15.360
in looking at the different[br]Latin American organizations

0:40:15.360,0:40:16.981
that existed, and galleries.

0:40:16.981,0:40:21.057
Some papers strong, very fragile galleries,

0:40:21.057,0:40:26.382
very small control centers[br]that are always at risk of disappearing.

0:40:26.629,0:40:30.312
So, this is one of the freelance projects[br]that we're doing.

0:40:30.584,0:40:35.324
And with this, the idea[br]for the consortium was Maria's

0:40:35.536,0:40:40.757
based on the success[br]of the Colombian team project

0:40:40.757,0:40:43.793
that engaged students from[br]Universidad de los Andes,

0:40:44.334,0:40:46.554
from Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano,

0:40:46.554,0:40:50.573
they were very involved, and that was part[br]of the goal of the project itself,

0:40:50.573,0:40:54.181
to try to bring new scholars,[br]to try to engage students

0:40:54.181,0:40:55.710
into the project.

0:40:55.710,0:41:00.032
So, this has been the idea[br]to include the universities.

0:41:00.334,0:41:03.927
Michelle Greet is[br]at George Mason University.

0:41:03.927,0:41:08.541
She was out... she has had...

0:41:09.625,0:41:12.327
she is working on a project,[br]so she had one year off.

0:41:12.327,0:41:15.327
So, I taught a class[br]at George Mason University

0:41:15.327,0:41:18.881
on 20th century Latin American art[br]last semester

0:41:18.881,0:41:20.919
and engaged the students[br]from George Mason.

0:41:20.919,0:41:23.648
We still have one working with us[br]this semester

0:41:23.648,0:41:26.305
so that has been the participation[br]with George Mason.

0:41:26.305,0:41:28.430
With the University of Maryland,[br]we're very thankful

0:41:28.430,0:41:32.183
to Abbie and to the department[br]because we have wonderful our students

0:41:32.183,0:41:36.175
working along, and one of them is Eloy,

0:41:36.420,0:41:39.639
who is working with the collections[br]of the Archives of American Art.

0:41:39.639,0:41:42.144
And basically we're engaging[br]Alejandro Anreus

0:41:42.144,0:41:44.912
who's the chair of the art department[br]at William Paterson.

0:41:44.912,0:41:48.484
He worked at the Organization[br]of American States

0:41:48.484,0:41:53.699
he did conduct some long interviews[br]with Gomez Sicre

0:41:53.699,0:41:59.930
so he has followed that idea[br]of publicizing what his curatorial vision was.

0:42:00.357,0:42:03.171
Michelle Greet, as I mentioned,[br]George Mason University,

0:42:03.171,0:42:07.230
Liza Kirwin, who is the acting director[br]of the Archives of American Art,

0:42:07.639,0:42:12.118
Adriana Ospina, who is the registrar[br]at the Art Museum of the Americas

0:42:12.118,0:42:17.322
I've been working with her[br]in terms of cataloging the archives.

0:42:18.080,0:42:22.550
We have a list of some of the consortium[br]of graduate students as students,

0:42:22.550,0:42:27.003
we had Rebecca Cosgrove[br]from Maryland as well, last semester.

0:42:27.003,0:42:32.300
And we have this semester, Eloy,[br]and a longer list that Abbie has

0:42:32.300,0:42:35.247
of the names of the students[br]from Maryland.

0:42:37.186,0:42:39.439
(Abbie) These are just, again,[br]some screenshots

0:42:39.439,0:42:41.905
of the Archives of American Art

0:42:41.905,0:42:46.871
where Eloy is working[br]on the Giulio Blanc papers.

0:42:46.871,0:42:51.934
Blanc was a major curator and writer[br]of Cuban, Cuban-American art.

0:42:51.934,0:42:55.464
Unfortunately passed away very young,[br]but his archive

0:42:55.464,0:42:57.782
is actually quite a tremendous asset.

0:42:57.782,0:43:00.783
And this is just the webpage,

0:43:00.783,0:43:04.260
as it looks at[br]the Art Museum of the Americas,

0:43:04.638,0:43:07.793
just off the National Mall[br]in Washington.

0:43:08.209,0:43:10.189
In addition to the Gomez Sicre archives,

0:43:10.189,0:43:15.107
they do actually have incredible[br]country files, artist files.

0:43:15.678,0:43:19.202
Unfortunately, not cataloged[br]and not very well organized,

0:43:19.202,0:43:26.061
but as a resource for Latin American art[br]the actual documents,

0:43:26.061,0:43:31.923
newspaper clippings, from all of the OAS[br]offices across these cities,

0:43:31.923,0:43:36.099
across the Americas,[br]are actually incredibly valuable.

0:43:36.099,0:43:39.177
But this is just if you were to go[br]to these sites, you could click through

0:43:39.177,0:43:41.583
and see the different papers and records

0:43:41.583,0:43:43.428
and archives and so on.

0:43:43.969,0:43:47.447
This is just an example of one document[br]that one of our graduate students,

0:43:47.447,0:43:50.978
Caroline Shields, is actually working on.

0:43:50.978,0:43:53.783
The documents are often quite short.

0:43:53.783,0:43:56.777
There isn't always a lot of text.

0:43:56.777,0:44:00.718
But in a way, in targeting Gomez Sicre,[br]in making him the big focus

0:44:00.718,0:44:03.661
of the project in Washington,

0:44:03.661,0:44:07.377
even what seemed to be[br]almost a minor document

0:44:07.377,0:44:09.459
with very little analysis

0:44:10.653,0:44:16.055
seen in numbers of 20 or 50,[br]they begin to articulate

0:44:16.055,0:44:20.523
a curatorial vision,[br]or even an agenda.

0:44:20.523,0:44:26.436
Gomez Sicre is often criticized as being[br]a <i>Cold Warrior</i>, as it were.

0:44:26.436,0:44:30.566
But we can see that shifts[br]in his own ideas

0:44:30.566,0:44:35.362
in his own philosophy[br]about abstraction and figuration

0:44:35.362,0:44:39.271
through the changing in the tone[br]of some of these texts.

0:44:39.271,0:44:43.895
And so, to have them not just[br]as a one-off, but as 20, as 50,

0:44:43.895,0:44:47.614
you begin to get a bigger picture[br]of him as a writer.

0:44:47.614,0:44:49.590
But this is just one example.

0:44:49.590,0:44:54.480
This is another example,[br]this is one that I'll be writing up.

0:44:54.480,0:44:59.660
I'll say that,[br]particularly I'm very excited

0:44:59.660,0:45:02.301
to be part of the Documents Project.

0:45:02.301,0:45:05.081
For me, it's been a bit[br]of a reacquaintance

0:45:05.081,0:45:06.618
with actually some of these documents

0:45:06.618,0:45:09.514
because I've already[br]gone through the archives

0:45:09.514,0:45:13.815
or have seen these documents[br]in the course of my own research

0:45:13.815,0:45:17.125
and, certainly the idea[br]of the Documents Project

0:45:17.125,0:45:21.030
isn't just to kind of[br]assemble the documents

0:45:21.030,0:45:26.514
but also to see them as a catalyst[br]for research, scholarship and publication.

0:45:26.810,0:45:29.218
to get the document, and a way,[br]to put the documents

0:45:29.218,0:45:32.340
into art historical use.

0:45:32.798,0:45:35.580
Albizu was a Puerto Rican artist[br]who Gomez Sicre

0:45:35.580,0:45:41.206
was really the first to introduce[br]to the United States-based audience.

0:45:41.770,0:45:46.215
She fell, almost immediately,[br]into a kind of obscurity.

0:45:46.215,0:45:49.157
This is a very early exhibition.

0:45:50.761,0:45:55.513
Albizu, I think is about to have[br]a bit of a resurgence.

0:45:55.513,0:46:00.104
This is a work of art,[br]a fantastic painting

0:46:00.104,0:46:03.519
that JP Morgan has just donated[br]to the Smithsonian,

0:46:03.519,0:46:05.504
I think just earlier this year.

0:46:05.504,0:46:10.432
It will be a real highlight[br]of the exhibition of Our America

0:46:10.432,0:46:14.251
that Carmen Ramos is preparing[br]right now, as we speak,

0:46:14.251,0:46:20.042
scheduled to open in October[br]of this year at the Smithsonian.

0:46:20.663,0:46:23.457
It's significant, in part, because Albizu

0:46:23.457,0:46:26.009
has not always been considered[br]an American artist

0:46:26.674,0:46:29.113
even though Puerto Rico[br]is certainly a commonwealth.

0:46:29.113,0:46:32.976
She's an artist who spent her career[br]in New York.

0:46:32.976,0:46:39.161
But to see her becoming recognized[br]through acquisition

0:46:39.161,0:46:42.176
but also through,[br]and at the documentary level,

0:46:42.176,0:46:45.838
have seen the history of Albizu[br]in Washington or New York.

0:46:45.838,0:46:48.382
It's a way of rounding out[br]a former picture of this artist

0:46:48.382,0:46:50.307
and who she was.

0:46:51.454,0:46:53.084
This is another example, again,[br]of a document

0:46:53.084,0:46:57.619
that I'll be writing up,[br]of again, for me, a Cuban artist,

0:46:57.619,0:47:02.275
Agustin Fernandez, who also had[br]one of his very early

0:47:02.275,0:47:08.387
and important exhibitions[br]at the Pan-American Union,

0:47:08.387,0:47:09.810
as it was.

0:47:10.459,0:47:13.687
Then I've featured Fernandez, in part,

0:47:13.687,0:47:17.212
to also mention[br]the Agustin Fernandez Foundation.

0:47:18.045,0:47:23.692
One of the great opportunities[br]that the Documents Project has afforded

0:47:23.692,0:47:28.593
is for otherwise obscure,[br]and very little known artist foundations

0:47:28.593,0:47:31.870
and estates, to have a bit[br]of extra publicity.

0:47:32.729,0:47:34.912
It's possible,[br]and certainly this will be the case

0:47:34.912,0:47:40.561
where Fernandez, for the document entries[br]to make reference to the estate

0:47:40.561,0:47:46.372
to a foundation, for them to be listed[br]as also a collaborator.

0:47:46.372,0:47:50.175
And for so many of these artists'[br]families, the artists themselves

0:47:50.175,0:47:55.244
the foundations, it's a real boost[br]to have this kind of recognition

0:47:55.244,0:47:59.669
and attention, which can otherwise[br]be very difficult, unfortunately,

0:47:59.669,0:48:01.074
to come by.

0:48:02.985,0:48:07.617
These are two documents that Eloy[br]has actually identified

0:48:07.617,0:48:09.881
from the Archives of American Art.

0:48:10.113,0:48:14.157
Both on a Cuban artist, again,[br]Amelia Pelaez.

0:48:16.579,0:48:18.111
(Eloy) Yeah, [br]I was going to say.

0:48:18.111,0:48:20.178
Basically there was a lot[br]of information there,

0:48:20.178,0:48:24.449
so I really had to narrow it down[br]to something that is doable.

0:48:25.110,0:48:27.898
And I narrowed it down to the[br]Julio Blanc papers.

0:48:28.490,0:48:32.723
Which has a lot of information[br]about different Latin American artists.

0:48:33.587,0:48:36.122
And further, there, I had to[br]narrow it down

0:48:36.122,0:48:38.948
to one particular artist.

0:48:38.948,0:48:40.657
I actually looked at Wilfredo Lam[br]

0:48:40.657,0:48:43.441
and there's some interesting[br]material there for him.

0:48:43.441,0:48:47.357
And there was actually some audio[br]material that I listened to

0:48:47.357,0:48:51.187
that was by Lydia Cabrera,[br]who is actually a sociologist

0:48:52.225,0:48:56.342
in Afro-Cuban culture,

0:48:57.083,0:48:59.312
and collaborated very much[br]with Wilfredo Lam,

0:48:59.312,0:49:01.282
and has some of his works.

0:49:01.282,0:49:03.403
And that was actually interesting,[br]listening to her.

0:49:03.403,0:49:05.725
Of course, at the time[br]when the interview was made

0:49:05.725,0:49:08.397
she was probably in her eighties[br]at the time.

0:49:09.457,0:49:12.210
But then I began to concentrate[br]on Amelia Pelaez

0:49:12.210,0:49:14.428
mainly because I wasn't sure

0:49:14.428,0:49:16.507
how much material[br]there was out there.

0:49:17.926,0:49:21.915
And the collection has

0:49:21.915,0:49:26.724
a series of things from catalogs,[br]exhibition catalogs

0:49:26.724,0:49:30.412
including her first exhibition in Paris[br]back in 1933.

0:49:31.020,0:49:33.618
And it goes on[br]through different exhibitions

0:49:33.618,0:49:37.986
including some posthumous exhibitions[br]here in the United States.

0:49:37.986,0:49:41.636
as well as one in Cuba,[br]starting in the late 60s,

0:49:42.151,0:49:43.751
'68, after she died.

0:49:44.220,0:49:46.643
Newspaper clippings, articles.

0:49:47.044,0:49:50.623
So what you see here is,[br]believe this first one is...

0:49:51.968,0:49:56.214
is actually by Giulio Blanc,[br]a paper that Giulio Blanc started writing.

0:49:56.214,0:50:00.316
And this is his draft, obviously,[br]and that's recorded there.

0:50:00.908,0:50:05.470
The next one that you see was one that was[br]actually written by Jose Gomez Sicre,

0:50:05.470,0:50:06.755
in a...

0:50:07.917,0:50:12.059
I guess it was a journal[br]called The Metropolitan

0:50:12.501,0:50:14.338
which is actually associated with the--

0:50:15.449,0:50:18.278
it was actually not in New York,[br]that's one of the things I found out,

0:50:18.278,0:50:19.993
because it involves a lot of research

0:50:19.993,0:50:23.144
when you start writing[br]the annotations later.

0:50:23.144,0:50:27.601
But it's in Miami,[br]it started actually in Coral Gables

0:50:27.917,0:50:29.294
and then later became part of

0:50:29.294,0:50:32.206
the Museum of Modern Art in Miami.

0:50:32.206,0:50:34.978
And then that section got closed[br]and that was part of the...

0:50:38.852,0:50:40.948
FIU in Miami.

0:50:42.086,0:50:45.258
So, what I do is I go through these

0:50:45.258,0:50:47.848
and I basically end up[br]filling out the forms

0:50:47.848,0:50:50.606
that were shown earlier.

0:50:50.782,0:50:55.253
And what really takes a lot of the work[br]aside from just the description

0:50:55.253,0:50:59.712
is the actual looking at the annotations[br]and doing the research, and trying to--

0:50:59.712,0:51:01.255
But it's very interesting.

0:51:02.392,0:51:06.912
in some of them I was telling Olga earlier,[br]that I saw one of the catalogs

0:51:06.912,0:51:11.499
that was actually done in Cuba[br]in November of 1968,

0:51:13.227,0:51:14.896
shortly after she died.

0:51:14.896,0:51:16.323
It was very comprehensive.

0:51:16.323,0:51:20.089
And it actually has pictures[br]that go back to her time in Paris

0:51:20.769,0:51:26.977
along with other Cuban artists[br]there that were co-students

0:51:26.977,0:51:28.538
with her in Paris.

0:51:29.073,0:51:33.752
It also shows her, aside from a lot[br]of the paintings that she has done

0:51:33.752,0:51:37.505
she also did ceramics[br]and she had a workshop in Havana

0:51:38.047,0:51:39.903
so it shows a lot of her ceramics.

0:51:39.903,0:51:42.288
That's something that a lot of times[br]you don't get to see.

0:51:42.590,0:51:44.717
So, it's been very interesting.

0:51:44.717,0:51:48.317
I, myself, come--I'm a neophyte,[br]really, to this, to the art history.

0:51:48.317,0:51:51.294
I come more from[br]the practicing artist end

0:51:51.294,0:51:54.197
and so it's very interesting[br]to see all of these works

0:51:54.197,0:51:57.827
which actually end up[br]influencing you as an artist, as well.

0:52:00.471,0:52:02.139
- Yes?[br]- (audience member 2) Can I jump in?

0:52:02.139,0:52:04.324
So, I was fascinated listening to how

0:52:04.324,0:52:06.512
you narrowed down[br]to this particular artist

0:52:06.512,0:52:10.553
and it sounds like you are swimming[br]in a sea of documents

0:52:10.553,0:52:14.973
and trying to bite off[br]and masticate that one portion.

0:52:15.766,0:52:18.290
Are you making notes[br]about all the other things

0:52:18.290,0:52:20.294
that you don't end up focusing on?

0:52:20.294,0:52:23.095
So that others can narrow their searches?

0:52:23.095,0:52:25.752
(Eloy) That's a good question,[br]it's a very difficult one to answer

0:52:25.752,0:52:29.428
because there is so much material in there[br]as you go through it.

0:52:29.428,0:52:31.661
And some of it is a little bit[br]clearer to see

0:52:31.661,0:52:34.782
than others, just because of the quality[br]of the microfilm

0:52:34.782,0:52:38.276
but I'm basically using[br]my own judgment in there

0:52:39.722,0:52:42.353
And I talk with Olga sometimes[br]and there are some things that--

0:52:42.353,0:52:47.425
I make a list of different things[br]and then she can call it further,

0:52:47.425,0:52:50.849
and say "This, I think it's good[br]to concentrate on."

0:52:50.849,0:52:55.542
But it's very easy to spend[br]tons of time on that

0:52:55.542,0:52:57.477
so at some point,[br]in order to actually be productive

0:52:57.477,0:53:00.223
and produce something[br]you have to use your own judgment.

0:53:01.036,0:53:04.575
I should tell you a little bit[br]why I chose--

0:53:04.575,0:53:07.445
why I narrowed it down[br]to these two artists,

0:53:07.445,0:53:08.972
and especially to Amelia Pelaez.

0:53:08.972,0:53:13.161
I'm originally from Cuba,[br]so I have some knowledge

0:53:14.537,0:53:15.785
about the culture.

0:53:15.785,0:53:19.960
I grew up there and then came[br]to the United States in the 60s.

0:53:20.827,0:53:25.342
So, some of the things that I read[br]are a little bit easier

0:53:25.342,0:53:28.310
to associate with and to understand.

0:53:28.310,0:53:30.688
A lot of the material[br]is actually in Spanish.

0:53:30.688,0:53:32.121
These two happen to be in English,[br]

0:53:32.121,0:53:33.950
but there's a lot of others[br]that are in Spanish.

0:53:33.950,0:53:35.913
Some of it is also in French.

0:53:36.589,0:53:39.993
So, as I write about the documents[br]I also end up translating them.

0:53:40.524,0:53:44.424
But yeah, you're right,[br]it's a matter of choice[br]

0:53:44.424,0:53:46.593
and judgment.

0:53:48.601,0:53:50.089
I don't know if[br]I've answered your question.

0:53:50.089,0:53:51.735
(audience member 2) No, no,[br]that's perfectly fine.

0:53:51.735,0:53:53.422
That's what I figured[br]you were going to say!

0:53:53.422,0:53:55.498
I was just curious how the--

0:53:55.498,0:53:58.109
You don't want those little,[br]that flotsam and jetsam

0:53:58.109,0:54:00.573
to be flotsam and jetsam,[br]to be lost forever--

0:54:00.573,0:54:05.481
(Eloy) And some of it's a little bit...[br]of a reputation, for example,

0:54:06.698,0:54:09.071
I read something,[br]and then I read something later,

0:54:09.071,0:54:12.484
another newspaper article[br]and it repeats it.

0:54:12.484,0:54:16.644
For example, the case of Pelaez,[br]later in the 90s, I believe,

0:54:16.644,0:54:19.557
when they started doing some shows[br]in Miami

0:54:19.557,0:54:23.089
there was some antagonism[br]from a certain group

0:54:23.089,0:54:25.575
a more conservative group[br]of the Cuban community

0:54:25.575,0:54:26.731
that opposed that,

0:54:26.731,0:54:29.986
because she was obviously from Cuba[br]and she died in Cuba.

0:54:30.709,0:54:33.276
And there were some[br]newspaper articles on that.

0:54:33.276,0:54:37.061
But then there was also movement[br]from within the Miami community

0:54:37.061,0:54:39.653
that said, "Hey, you know,[br]this is not fair, this is not right.

0:54:39.653,0:54:40.708
Let's...Let's...

0:54:42.902,0:54:45.989
Let's pay homage to this woman."

0:54:46.433,0:54:49.441
And I think one of the things that Olga[br]mentioned about Jose Gomez Sicre,[br]

0:54:49.441,0:54:51.540
I think you implied that there was a--

0:54:51.540,0:54:53.676
I think you used the term <i>Cold Warrior</i>...

0:54:54.778,0:54:58.090
in there, and there was also[br]some articles about him.

0:54:58.090,0:55:02.762
For example, he actually was[br]very favorable towards Amelia Pelaez

0:55:02.762,0:55:06.661
because most of her art[br]is really non-political.

0:55:07.139,0:55:10.024
He was not as favorable,[br]I think in some cases

0:55:10.024,0:55:13.165
than was [Wilfredo Lam],[br]who tended to be more...

0:55:15.310,0:55:17.111
leaning socialist, and all that.

0:55:17.111,0:55:20.729
So that's one of the things[br]that I do find in doing this research

0:55:20.729,0:55:25.199
is how the politics[br]begin to play in here.

0:55:26.837,0:55:29.621
(Mari Carmen) Yeah, and for[br]Gomez Sicre, the politics,

0:55:29.621,0:55:31.569
you have to take into consideration

0:55:31.569,0:55:34.763
that he is of the Organization[br]of American States,

0:55:36.435,0:55:38.051
he is an employee,

0:55:38.051,0:55:42.215
so he has to follow[br]this political position

0:55:42.215,0:55:44.297
within the organization itself,

0:55:44.297,0:55:48.319
even though he worked from 1946 on,[br]but he's so many things.

0:55:48.319,0:55:54.450
He was part of, he saw McCarthyism,[br]then he saw the Cold War

0:55:54.450,0:55:58.319
the changes to the Alliance for Progress[br]in Latin America and those shifts.

0:55:58.319,0:56:00.689
So, he would see money coming in,[br]money taken out,

0:56:00.689,0:56:01.917
money coming in...

0:56:01.917,0:56:04.473
The foundations themselves,[br]the Rockefeller Foundation

0:56:04.473,0:56:07.005
giving him money in the 1960s,

0:56:07.005,0:56:10.265
and the Rockefeller Foundation[br]giving money in 1945,

0:56:10.265,0:56:13.504
prior to him joining[br]the Pan-American Union

0:56:13.504,0:56:16.072
to create the archive,[br]the actual archive

0:56:16.072,0:56:19.048
to what we see today[br]at the Art Museum of the Americas

0:56:19.048,0:56:21.748
that came as a grant[br]from the Rockefeller Foundation

0:56:21.748,0:56:23.465
during World War II.

0:56:23.465,0:56:28.124
So, that is something that we,[br]in reading between the lines,

0:56:28.124,0:56:30.528
as Abbie said, these are very short[br]documents,

0:56:30.528,0:56:32.380
but when we put them together[br]as a group

0:56:32.380,0:56:36.404
we start seeing what was happening[br]in terms of his politics.

0:56:36.404,0:56:39.842
One of the surprises[br]in the archives for us

0:56:39.842,0:56:43.235
was finding newspapers from Cuba

0:56:43.235,0:56:47.472
from between 1963 and 1964[br]which at the time

0:56:47.472,0:56:52.328
seems that he was being investigated[br]at the FBI, at the CIA.

0:56:52.328,0:56:56.337
But he had this relationship[br]with Alejandro Carpentier

0:56:56.337,0:57:00.083
that went all the way 20 years back[br]and he was the one

0:57:00.083,0:57:03.676
sending these newspapers[br]that were coming to his residence

0:57:03.676,0:57:07.140
and he would move[br]into the OAS for protection.

0:57:07.140,0:57:10.249
So, there's a little bit of that[br]<i>Cold Warrior</i>...

0:57:10.249,0:57:13.873
in the public imagination, but I think[br]this opened more lines of inquiry

0:57:13.873,0:57:17.579
to really looking at what is,[br]from the institutional point of view,

0:57:17.579,0:57:21.267
what is happening[br]and how he's choosing his politics.

0:57:22.060,0:57:26.173
Hard to understand certain curatorial[br]normals that he's following.

0:57:26.173,0:57:28.228
(Eloy) And there's that,[br]and there's other issues,

0:57:28.228,0:57:31.271
for example, one newspaper article,[br]I didn't actually document that,

0:57:31.271,0:57:35.293
but then I found it was from[br]Wilfred Lam's wife,

0:57:35.853,0:57:40.295
in which she basically said[br]that in Cuba, actually,

0:57:40.555,0:57:45.089
in a hotel, I think it was, it probably[br]used to be the Hotel Nacional,

0:57:45.089,0:57:47.419
and now it's called Habana Libre,

0:57:47.419,0:57:51.820
in a store there they were selling[br]fakes of Wilfredo Lam.

0:57:51.820,0:57:55.824
And so that came to her attention[br]and she ended up writing a letter

0:57:55.824,0:58:00.273
that basically said unless it has a seal[br]that I have actually signed,

0:58:02.570,0:58:08.886
do not consider it to be[br]a genuine Wilfredo Lam.

0:58:09.301,0:58:12.586
So it's... I'm just kind of giving you[br]some of the things I find

0:58:12.586,0:58:15.905
that may not make it[br]into all of this information.

0:58:15.905,0:58:18.482
But it's just interesting to see[br]that it's going on,

0:58:18.482,0:58:19.979
that it's happening.

0:58:20.692,0:58:25.761
I will say that this year-long project[br]has focused on the Gomez Sicre papers

0:58:25.761,0:58:29.417
and to a small degree, with [inaudible][br]Eloy and the Giulio Blanc papers,

0:58:29.417,0:58:32.134
but at both the Archives of American Art[br]and certainly

0:58:32.134,0:58:34.254
at the Organization of American States,

0:58:34.254,0:58:37.289
there are many other archives,[br]and for this project

0:58:37.289,0:58:42.178
to be funded for additional years,[br]there's actually an incredible amount of work

0:58:42.178,0:58:44.523
and documents to be recovered.

0:58:44.793,0:58:49.311
But that's forecasting a bit ahead[br]to the future.

0:58:49.311,0:58:52.355
But certainly, even in a year,

0:58:52.355,0:58:56.611
we hope to have contributed[br]almost 400 documents

0:58:56.611,0:59:00.096
but there are three and four times[br]that many, potentially,

0:59:00.096,0:59:02.657
that could fall into this project.

0:59:03.135,0:59:06.189
And just to kind of go on[br]with teaching a little bit.

0:59:06.189,0:59:09.720
These are the six students[br]who are in my graduate seminar

0:59:09.720,0:59:12.048
this spring,[br]and these are their assignments.

0:59:12.455,0:59:16.862
And they each have, I guess,[br]between four and five documents

0:59:17.659,0:59:20.163
I know Lindsey Muniak,[br]she's an undergraduate student

0:59:20.163,0:59:23.292
in the department, who's hoping[br]to actually take on a bit more

0:59:23.292,0:59:27.131
after her honors paper is concluded,[br]and perhaps to write a bit

0:59:27.131,0:59:30.100
over the summer as well.

0:59:30.100,0:59:34.705
And their topics range[br]from someone like Torres Garcia

0:59:34.728,0:59:39.840
to a more contemporary figure,[br]Juan Downey, for instance,

0:59:40.649,0:59:42.570
a video art pioneer.

0:59:42.984,0:59:48.413
They are from the later 1940s[br]through the 1980s.

0:59:49.363,0:59:53.783
I think in each case the documents[br]correspond at least in some way

0:59:53.783,0:59:57.206
to the conference paper[br]the resource that they're putting together

0:59:57.206,0:59:58.551
for the seminar.

0:59:58.551,1:00:02.840
So I tried, in a way, to assign[br]or to suggest documents

1:00:02.840,1:00:07.525
that have a significance[br]beyond just the Documents Project

1:00:07.525,1:00:12.182
but that could, in a way,[br]feed into their other work,

1:00:12.182,1:00:14.150
and their work for their coursework,

1:00:14.150,1:00:17.929
and for me, within the department.

1:00:18.224,1:00:22.809
I have to say, it's been interesting[br]for me to have had these students

1:00:23.939,1:00:25.573
to involve in this project.

1:00:25.573,1:00:28.242
It seemed like a good opportunity[br]for graduate students

1:00:28.242,1:00:32.124
to give them an opportunity[br]to publish and to contribute to

1:00:32.124,1:00:37.141
what I think is going to be a real key[br]document and archive in the field,

1:00:37.141,1:00:41.714
and for them to be credited as authors,[br]both in the digital version

1:00:41.714,1:00:45.103
and in the print form[br]of the Documents Project,

1:00:45.343,1:00:47.127
but also to expose them

1:00:47.437,1:00:50.970
to this digital humanities[br]initiative in general.

1:00:51.598,1:00:54.609
To see what the process is[br]for cataloging

1:00:55.137,1:00:58.597
even if they don't get into the selection[br]of documents.

1:00:58.597,1:01:01.913
And then to write them up,[br]in two parts.

1:01:01.913,1:01:03.710
I don't know if we explained this.

1:01:03.710,1:01:07.058
There's a short synopsis,[br]perhaps 100-200 words

1:01:07.336,1:01:10.057
and then a longer annotation,[br]300-400 words

1:01:10.406,1:01:14.294
in which the students--and I think[br]the drafts I have received

1:01:14.294,1:01:16.048
have been quite intelligent--

1:01:16.048,1:01:20.880
The students then put their document[br]into the larger context

1:01:20.880,1:01:23.988
both within the Gomez Sicre papers,[br]in their case,

1:01:24.542,1:01:28.033
but then within the field itself,[br]of Latin American

1:01:28.033,1:01:31.121
or just of modern art.

1:01:31.121,1:01:34.222
So, I enjoyed working with these students.

1:01:34.222,1:01:38.033
I'm just beginning to get the first drafts[br]of their documents in.

1:01:38.597,1:01:40.590
We have a session coming up[br]in a couple of weeks

1:01:40.590,1:01:44.215
where we'll workshop[br]these entries together in seminar,

1:01:44.824,1:01:49.473
and kind of polish them to refine them,[br]before sending them to Olga!

1:01:50.018,1:01:52.989
And then she will eventually send them[br]down to Houston

1:01:52.989,1:01:56.334
and we'll look forward, of course,[br]to seeing them come out

1:01:56.334,1:01:59.810
in digital and in print form.

1:02:01.652,1:02:05.249
That's really the end of the presentation,

1:02:06.697,1:02:09.152
my part, or our part of the presentation[br]that I had planned.

1:02:09.152,1:02:13.138
These are just, again,[br]taking familiar images.

1:02:13.138,1:02:17.116
I guess in the time that we have left,[br]I'd love to have a conversation about

1:02:18.610,1:02:20.501
the challenges,

1:02:20.501,1:02:23.753
the real meaning, the importance[br]of this kind of project,

1:02:24.204,1:02:27.110
not only for Art History[br]but within the humanities.

1:02:27.387,1:02:29.310
I'll say, I think I mentioned this[br]to someone earlier,

1:02:29.310,1:02:31.038
this has been my first venture

1:02:31.038,1:02:33.800
into anything digital in Art History.

1:02:33.800,1:02:36.455
And I have to say, I confess[br]to a real ignorance on my part.

1:02:36.455,1:02:42.533
I don't know that there are comparable[br]archives elsewhere in the humanities

1:02:42.533,1:02:45.944
and how something like this[br]at a Museum of Houston

1:02:45.944,1:02:50.324
might actually correlate to other efforts[br]within Latin America,

1:02:50.324,1:02:54.225
as you were saying earlier,[br]with the libraries or other projects.

1:02:54.654,1:02:57.800
Certainly more[br][unclear] to take questions!

1:02:58.160,1:03:00.849
(audience member 4) We only have[br]a few minutes left,

1:03:02.667,1:03:04.852
but if you do have a question[br]or a comment

1:03:04.852,1:03:06.259
please feel free.

1:03:06.521,1:03:09.403
(audience member 5) I have a question[br]just about student participation

1:03:09.403,1:03:10.737
in the project.

1:03:12.213,1:03:17.137
It's always a tricky thing when students[br]are doing intellectual work for a project

1:03:17.137,1:03:19.459
to make sure[br]that they get sufficient credit

1:03:20.506,1:03:22.309
for the work that they do.

1:03:22.309,1:03:25.784
So how will their work be recognized[br]in the larger archive

1:03:25.784,1:03:29.117
once it moves through to it?

1:03:30.266,1:03:34.966
(Mari Carmen) We are giving them credit[br]if the entries are outstanding.

1:03:35.453,1:03:37.442
They appear as researchers.

1:03:37.442,1:03:40.244
If they're fine, they appear[br]as collaborators

1:03:40.244,1:03:44.118
after the name of the person[br]who looks at the reviews.

1:03:44.118,1:03:49.196
So, for example, the synopsis[br]and annotations from Maryland

1:03:49.196,1:03:52.041
if they're outstanding, they would be[br]by themselves.

1:03:52.041,1:03:56.055
If not, they would have Abbie's name[br]and then their name, as collaborator.

1:03:56.279,1:04:00.695
And that is part of the publishing idea,[br]and part of the project

1:04:00.695,1:04:04.370
in motivating the engagement[br]or artists, of students,

1:04:04.370,1:04:07.461
and creating these very young scholars[br]to start developing,

1:04:07.461,1:04:09.787
and providing that foundation[br]for them

1:04:09.787,1:04:13.306
in terms of publication and participating[br]in larger projects

1:04:13.306,1:04:16.409
that are recognized in a scholarly[br]point of view.

1:04:16.409,1:04:19.399
(audience member 5) I think[br]this kind of work is really important.

1:04:24.659,1:04:27.434
(audience member 4) Any other questions,[br]comments, before we wrap?

1:04:30.680,1:04:32.788
(audience member 6) You all mentioned[br]the importance of linking the documents,

1:04:32.788,1:04:35.127
and that there was beginning[br]to be some work in that.

1:04:35.127,1:04:40.093
I was curious as to, how is the group[br]considering linking them?

1:04:40.093,1:04:41.980
Is it going to be in a more[br]curatorial process?

1:04:41.980,1:04:45.955
or do they directly connect this work[br]to this other work explicitly?

1:04:45.955,1:04:48.206
Or will it be through[br]a tagging system possibly?

1:04:48.206,1:04:51.256
like grouping together[br]categories via tags?

1:04:53.103,1:04:55.086
(Mari Carmen) In the forms[br]that are filled out,

1:04:55.086,1:05:00.730
because this is digital,[br]but there's a lot of handwriting

1:05:00.730,1:05:04.481
a lot of typing that goes into the[br]actual papers that we see.

1:05:04.481,1:05:08.052
There are certain keywords[br]that we include for each document,

1:05:08.052,1:05:13.088
so we're asked that we,[br]the researchers, include as many,

1:05:13.385,1:05:15.602
could be locations,[br]could be workgroups

1:05:15.602,1:05:17.830
could be dates, could be the countries.

1:05:17.830,1:05:22.168
So there are wider keywords[br]for the searchable part

1:05:22.168,1:05:26.285
of the search engine to work.

1:05:27.321,1:05:31.573
That's the way that it is,[br]in terms of if you write...

1:05:33.906,1:05:37.132
for example, a country, Chile,

1:05:37.132,1:05:39.744
so that will pull all[br]the documents from Chile.

1:05:39.744,1:05:42.403
If you say <i>Downey</i>,[br]then that will connect Downey

1:05:42.403,1:05:45.576
with his presence, not only in Chile[br]but in Washington, DC.

1:05:45.753,1:05:49.941
And the other way that we're doing it,[br]in looking at the overall, for example,

1:05:49.941,1:05:52.611
for Washington DC,[br]especially these collections

1:05:52.611,1:05:56.213
that interconnect, we are writing[br]in the annotation,

1:05:57.040,1:05:59.313
"if you're interested in this topic,[br]see document..."

1:05:59.313,1:06:03.870
and we provide the number of[br]the document, the database number,

1:06:03.870,1:06:06.633
so people can look at[br]those documents as well.

1:06:06.633,1:06:11.980
But I think that will be the next stage[br]of the development of the database

1:06:11.980,1:06:16.083
which is a custom-made database[br]out of Sao Paolo, Brazil

1:06:16.083,1:06:19.687
with a team of database designers.

1:06:20.299,1:06:23.457
So, that's something that is constantly[br]evolving and I guess

1:06:23.457,1:06:28.290
with the changes in technology,[br]we hopefully will see it.

1:06:28.290,1:06:30.794
And I think they're considering it[br]at this moment.

1:06:32.279,1:06:34.668
And, if not, we will let them know...

1:06:34.668,1:06:35.762
(audience laughs)

1:06:35.762,1:06:38.403
...about this presentation,[br]about these suggestions.

1:06:39.807,1:06:43.276
(Abbie) Olga and I are working also[br]on adding a couple of sentences

1:06:43.276,1:06:46.461
a short paragraph to all of the entries[br]that are coming out

1:06:46.461,1:06:48.136
of the Gomez Sicre papers.

1:06:48.136,1:06:51.060
Just so that the people[br]who maybe happen upon

1:06:51.060,1:06:55.693
one of these documents,[br]not necessarily looking for them

1:06:56.115,1:06:59.568
would know actually the site,[br]the repository from where it came.

1:06:59.568,1:07:02.276
And so that they just don't see[br]these documents as well,

1:07:03.294,1:07:05.758
this exhibition on Downey,[br]maybe it actually did come out of Santiago

1:07:05.758,1:07:10.331
in fact, there's a very specific site,[br]site-specificity as it were,

1:07:10.331,1:07:15.824
for these documents, and we want[br]to actually retain that in our annotation.

1:07:15.824,1:07:18.836
Just to kind of recognize that,[br]and even call attention to it,

1:07:18.836,1:07:20.759
even if it's given in the cataloging[br]information

1:07:20.759,1:07:24.585
just to highlight its location.

1:07:26.577,1:07:27.439
You had a question?

1:07:27.439,1:07:28.613
(audience member) They're on next.

1:07:29.356,1:07:32.994
(Mari Carmen) I wanted to comment[br]something on digital humanities.

1:07:32.994,1:07:36.597
This project, there is a project[br]out of the University of Houston

1:07:36.597,1:07:38.466
and it's Latino literature.

1:07:38.466,1:07:43.353
And it follows certain similarities[br]in terms of the format

1:07:43.353,1:07:45.239
of this project.

1:07:45.239,1:07:50.165
That was started by[br]Nicolas Kanellos in the 1990s

1:07:50.165,1:07:53.596
and it looks at US-Latino production[br]in literature.

1:07:54.656,1:07:58.082
So, there's a conversation[br]between the Houston Museum

1:07:58.082,1:08:02.577
and the University of Houston[br]in terms of exchanging the know-how

1:08:02.577,1:08:05.496
and also the best practices.

1:08:06.347,1:08:10.288
And [inaudible] Martin,[br]who was the first cataloger,

1:08:10.288,1:08:11.798
she worked for the project

1:08:11.798,1:08:13.982
and in fact she was recruited[br]after working there

1:08:13.982,1:08:16.586
to come to work on this project.[br]So there's a little bit[br]

1:08:16.586,1:08:19.515
of that interconnection[br]in terms of the digital humanities.

1:08:22.299,1:08:25.155
Well, with that,[br]let's thank our presenters

1:08:25.155,1:08:27.579
for a very interesting presentation.

1:08:27.579,1:08:29.207
(audience applauds)