WEBVTT
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I'll turn over to you
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and you guys take it away!
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Ok, well thank you Neil
and also thank you to Jennifer Giuliano
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with whom I've corresponded
but not met.
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Thank you for helping me set up today
but also for the invitation
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to share a work in progress
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on the documents of 20th century
Latin American and Latino art
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in shorthand, just
The Documents Project
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is probably a bit easier.
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I'm Abbie McEwen, Assistant Professor
in the department of Art History
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here at Maryland.
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I'm very pleased to have two co-presenters
this afternoon.
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Olga Herrera
who is our team leader
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here in Washington DC
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hosting an inter-university program
on Latino research
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currently at Notre Dame
but moving to Texas?
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Moving to the University of Illinois
in Chicago, July 1st.
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Ah, ok.
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And then also [unclear]
an undergraduate student at Maryland.
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Already a graduate,
back for his second degree
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in Art History.
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He's a student, enrolled
in a directive study with me
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this spring, engaged with the documents
at the Archives of American Art.
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And then folding his research
into a paper I've hijacked
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for our art course.
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I've imagined this dialog I'm holding
maybe in four parts today.
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First we would like to introduce
the larger project
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based at the International Center
for the Arts of the Americas
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the ICAA, at the Museum of Fine Arts,
Houston.
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A project that was first conceived
back in 2002.
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It's absolutely an international,
inter-American kind of initiative
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and we'll speak a bit, too,
of the project's scope
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as a whole
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in part through a film,
which actually explains it
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visually in much greater detail
than I can.
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Then we'd like to talk
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about the work of the Washington
working group.
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Olga and I met, I think,
just about a year ago.
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We kind of talked about this collaboration
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we officially launched our project
in July.
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And so we're more than halfway
through the recovery project
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and we'll speak a bit to our work
and what we have targeted
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as the archives, the documents
to recover from this area.
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And third, I'd like to speak
a bit to the pedagogical aspect
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of this project.
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Not all of the teams have engaged
students
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both undergraduate
and graduate students, but here
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hopefully first in Colombia,
but certainly in Washington
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that has seemed to be
an essential part of our work
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and we have a number of students
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not only at Maryland,
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but at George Mason,
and American University,
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who are real contributors
to this project.
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And it's been exciting
and really rewarding, I think
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for all of us to involve our students
and our roles in teaching
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along with this kind of project.
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At the end, we would hope to have
a real dialog about...
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certainly on the one hand
the role and the purpose
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of this kind of recovery project
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but also with the challenges
that we have faced.
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Certainly conceptually, structurally.
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It is, after all, an edited archive.
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But also practically, on the ground.
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Fundraising, scanning, all of the
nitty gritty details
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that can be challenging, I guess.
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So, I guess we can get started.
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I should say, just on a kind of...
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of a primer to introducing the work
of the team at Houston
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this is I think the most recent poster
which presents the documents
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as real art objects,
almost in themselves.
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The sub-field of modern Latin American art
even within the field of Art History
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is rather new.
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It's come into its own
perhaps only in the last two decades
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or so.
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Certainly now it's one
of the hotter fields.
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We hope it's still continuing to trend
upward within the discipline.
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But what has impeded,
or held back scholarship
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has been the lack of access
to primary sources.
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And the lack of a kind of basic
taxonomy of the field.
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Who were the key players?
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Not only the artists, but the critics,
the curators
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from all of these parts of,
I guess we'll call it, art world
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that have shaped the 20th century
of the Americas.
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And that this impediment to scholarship,
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this lack of access
and knowledge was, I believe,
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really the jumping off point
for this archive.
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Which was conceived
by a real leader in our field
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Mari Carmen Ramirez, a curator,
since 2002
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at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
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She has really pioneered
her scholarship in the field
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in a way, shaped
current trends in research
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around modern and contemporary
Latin American art.
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Based through her real research.
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And it's a credit to her exhibitions
that she's put out
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in the past three years in Houston,
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and previously at
the Blanton Museum in Austin,
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that her shows have been bracketing,
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and really built up by
her serious scholarship
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In 2002, just about 10 years ago,
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she assembled, or began to assemble
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different teams across the Americas.
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And these are two maps.
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One, the more topical,
looking at the art movements
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and the other, with more speaking about--
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looking at the different teams
that have been assembled
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in these different cities
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stretching across the Americas,
from the United States
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down into Argentina and Chile.
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A couple of these teams
have already reported.
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- I think Mexico has reported?
- Ah, yes.
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Mexico and the US team,
the component from UCLA
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that managed the activities
in Puerto Rico, in Miami
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and New York and California, as well.
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And the other day we did
the Mid-West section of the country
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We have Mexico and Argentina as well.
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All the teams have completed the work,
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but it has the process
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of this documentation, takes 2 years
approximately, per team.
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So these are the documents
that have been uploaded now
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and are accessible to the public.
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The other teams have completed the work
such as the teams
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from Venezuela, from Peru
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and as well as Brazil
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that will be coming up
in the next two years
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we'll be adding periodically
to the database
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to building the digital archive.
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So, the work is in progress.
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I suppose we, in Washington,
are part of a second generation
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of teams that have been planned,
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and I think more teams, more projects
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already are targeted for coming years.
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I guess now, I'll check now...
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Certainly I can answer questions
that you may have
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about the larger project.
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It may be more helpful to hear
about the project from the creators
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just to say, Mari Carmen Ramirez
and you'll hear a few other voices
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in this film.
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♪ (Latin American guitar music) ♪
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(Mari Carmen Ramirez) The ICAA
stands for
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the International Center for the Art
of America.
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This is the only center of its kind
in the world.
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And initially we established the center
to promote the work
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of Latin American and Latino artists.
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To organize exhibitions,
to organize symposia
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and really serve as a kind of think tank
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about Latin American and Latino art.
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One of the main problems
is the lack of proper infrastructure
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commended to archives.
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And out of that came the idea
to establish a very ambitious initiative
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which is the ICAA Documents Project.
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(Peter Marzio) One of the very important
aspects of this project
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is that the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
is not collecting these documents.
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The documents are staying
in their home countries
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under the care of the archivists
or the librarians who are in charge of them.
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That's the beauty of the new technology.
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(Mari Carmen Ramirez) It's a kind of
super highway
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that allows us to connect
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all the major countries of the region
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through a network of professionals
that are dedicated
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towards recovering
the intellectual production
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of the artists and movements
of the region.
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Since 2004, we've had ten teams
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working as part of
the ICAA Documents Project.
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These teams have been operating
out of Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Santiago, Chile
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Sao Paolo, Brazil
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Lima, Peru
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Bogota, Colombia
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Caracas, Venezuela
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Mexico City, Mexico
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and in the United States,
out of Los Angeles at UCLA
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and Sound Bend, Indiana
at Notre Dame University.
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There have also been researchers
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affiliated to the UCLA
and Notre Dame teams
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operating out of San Juan,
Puerto Rico
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New York, Washington DC,
and Miami.
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The research from all these teams
is then funneled
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to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,
which is the headquarters for the ICAA.
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They were housed and supported
by a number of partner institutions
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that range from universities
to museums.
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Those teams are responsible
for recovering documents.
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Documents that have been written
by artists, critics and curators
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of the 20th century.
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And that provide us with the insight
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into the intellectual foundation
of that art.
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The central team in Houston is responsible
for processing those documents
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and putting them up into a website
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where they will be available to anyone
who wants to have access to them
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free of charge, anywhere in the world.
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(Peter Marzio) You get the information
out there,
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it touches a nerve, it excites people.
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People want to study more.
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Eventually they want to collect,
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they want to collect, trust me,
there'll be dealers there
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who will want them to collect.
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Eventually those works of art,
or some of them, anyway
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will find their ways into museums.
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You'll begin to develop departments
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of Latin American art
across the United States.
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With the departments
of Latin American art,
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you'll get more students.
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More students will lead to more patrons,
more patrons will lead to more dealers
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and so forth.
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It's almost like a forest fire
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if you get it going in the right way,
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and all starts with this simple project
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here at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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and that's what excites me about it.
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is that it's so catalytic.
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(Dr Edward Sullivan) Latin American art
certainly should become
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part of the worldwide project
of Modernism.
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And understanding the role
of the modern world
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in the manifestations of art
throughout the world
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whether it be Asia, Australia,
or the US, Americas
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and certain Latin America is a critical
component of this discourse
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this history and the access to documents
and the access to the actual material
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written at the moment when the art
was happening
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is a major tool.
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(Mari Carmen Herrera) In addition
to the digital archive
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we're also publishing a 13-volume
book series
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that accompanies the digital archive.
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It's called "Critical Documents
of Latin American and Latino Art"
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the books, in many ways, serve
as a guide to the archive.
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(Peter Marzio) There will be 13 published
volumes, which will be translated
00:12:19.351 --> 00:12:24.305
which serve as the leading
primary documents in the various fields
00:12:24.305 --> 00:12:26.084
of Latin American art.
00:12:26.230 --> 00:12:30.038
And my hope is that students in college,
00:12:30.038 --> 00:12:34.484
particularly freshmen who don't have
Portuguese or Spanish
00:12:34.484 --> 00:12:40.252
will be able to take a course
in 101 level Latin American art.
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That hasn't been possible until now.
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(Mari Carmen Herrera) We have
some of the sketches
00:12:49.674 --> 00:12:53.185
and particularly the color charts,
that Helio Oiticica used
00:12:53.476 --> 00:12:55.906
in the creation of his Grand Nucleus
which is a work
00:12:55.906 --> 00:12:57.425
that has been partially lost.
00:12:57.893 --> 00:13:02.147
So, these things will be of use
to researchers in the future.
00:13:02.420 --> 00:13:06.473
I'll go back and try to recreate
what this work was all about
00:13:06.473 --> 00:13:08.653
and how the artist made it work.
00:13:09.698 --> 00:13:12.016
We have other instances, for instance,
00:13:12.016 --> 00:13:14.784
in relation to the artist Leon Ferrari
00:13:14.784 --> 00:13:17.271
where we have a number
of documents in the archive
00:13:17.271 --> 00:13:20.434
where he is performing sketches
or other works
00:13:20.434 --> 00:13:24.099
or writing down thoughts
that pertain to works
00:13:24.099 --> 00:13:26.165
that he was in the process of creating.
00:13:26.377 --> 00:13:27.904
And there are many more instances
00:13:27.904 --> 00:13:30.701
of these kinds of documents
in the archive.
00:13:31.439 --> 00:13:34.021
♪ (Latin American guitar music) ♪
00:13:39.921 --> 00:13:42.276
I wouldn't say that there are new
movements and artists
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that have been discovered,
so much as artists
00:13:44.276 --> 00:13:47.420
that have been re-assessed
00:13:47.420 --> 00:13:50.754
as a result of this project.
00:13:50.754 --> 00:13:54.570
And, for instance, I can cite
the specific case
00:13:54.570 --> 00:13:58.466
of the Guatemalan artist Carlos Merida.
00:13:59.158 --> 00:14:02.181
who did most of his career
in Mexico City.
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And he's an artist that most of us
in the field knew
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as having been a producer.
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But I think very few people knew
the extent of his writing.
00:14:15.142 --> 00:14:17.850
And it turns out
that he was a very prolific writer.
00:14:17.850 --> 00:14:22.622
He had some very, very illuminating ideas
about the art of his times.
00:14:22.938 --> 00:14:26.283
And he was also writing about the art
of his contemporaries.
00:14:29.010 --> 00:14:31.651
People tend to associate
Latin American art
00:14:31.651 --> 00:14:35.624
with so-called "magic realism".
00:14:35.956 --> 00:14:40.084
The reality is, that ever since
the 1920s and 30s
00:14:40.484 --> 00:14:43.284
there have been many important
Latin American artists
00:14:43.284 --> 00:14:45.838
and many important groups of artists
00:14:45.838 --> 00:14:48.161
who set out to recover
00:14:48.161 --> 00:14:51.902
and to assimilate important aspects
of the avant garde
00:14:51.902 --> 00:14:54.025
in Europe and North America.
00:14:54.025 --> 00:14:57.043
And these artists not only assimilated
those principles
00:14:57.043 --> 00:14:59.684
but they also
did something new with it.
00:14:59.684 --> 00:15:03.982
And in many cases,
they anticipated developments
00:15:03.982 --> 00:15:05.669
in the United States and Europe
00:15:05.669 --> 00:15:08.996
so that there has been,
in Latin America,
00:15:08.996 --> 00:15:12.954
original thinking
and production of art.
00:15:13.257 --> 00:15:16.567
And that is, perhaps,
the biggest accomplishment
00:15:16.567 --> 00:15:18.856
that I hope this project can achieve.
00:15:18.856 --> 00:15:22.078
It's one thing to say,
"Latin American art is not derivative"
00:15:22.078 --> 00:15:25.433
but to really show
why it's not derivative
00:15:25.433 --> 00:15:28.472
and to provide the evidence,
the concrete evidence
00:15:28.472 --> 00:15:30.015
what these artists were thinking.
00:15:30.015 --> 00:15:31.996
That is what
we are setting out to do.
00:15:32.391 --> 00:15:34.364
♪ (Latin American guitar music) ♪
00:15:44.357 --> 00:15:47.017
(Dr. Edward Sullivan) For graduate
students, this project will be
00:15:47.017 --> 00:15:49.162
of immense use and immense interest.
00:15:49.162 --> 00:15:52.872
The access to documents,
and the access to the actual material
00:15:52.872 --> 00:15:55.729
written at the moment
when the art was happening
00:15:55.729 --> 00:15:59.930
is a major tool to understand
the developments
00:15:59.930 --> 00:16:01.874
of these art movements
in Latin America.
00:16:01.874 --> 00:16:04.670
(Mari Carmen Herrera) I see the ICAA
Documents Project
00:16:04.670 --> 00:16:09.598
as being really
just the beginning of this effort.
00:16:09.814 --> 00:16:12.533
We would like to find ways
to continue to expand the project.
00:16:12.533 --> 00:16:15.410
And it will be up to future scholars
00:16:15.410 --> 00:16:17.918
to really make something out of this
00:16:17.918 --> 00:16:23.783
and to continue to build what could
become a really true amazing resource
00:16:23.783 --> 00:16:25.688
for the development of the field.
00:16:26.618 --> 00:16:28.628
♪ (Latin American guitar music) ♪
00:16:38.727 --> 00:16:42.229
Ok, so that was
their presentation of the film.
00:16:44.427 --> 00:16:46.922
The film is available on Vimeo
00:16:46.922 --> 00:16:51.097
and also on the MFA Houston's webpage,
00:16:51.097 --> 00:16:54.908
should you wish to re-watch it.
00:16:55.272 --> 00:16:59.910
Certainly we can go now
or even later this afternoon
00:16:59.910 --> 00:17:01.785
to the webpage.
00:17:01.785 --> 00:17:06.165
This is a screenshot from last week.
00:17:06.165 --> 00:17:11.145
This is what it actually looks like
when you login to the document's homepage.
00:17:13.340 --> 00:17:17.134
There's a bit of background history
of the project.
00:17:17.496 --> 00:17:19.545
The documents, certainly,
00:17:19.545 --> 00:17:23.675
3,700 or so catalogued to date.
00:17:23.675 --> 00:17:28.249
I think the queue, Mari had told us,
was a few thousand this summer.
00:17:28.249 --> 00:17:31.752
I imagine it's even longer now.
00:17:32.043 --> 00:17:36.311
But this is some of the homepage
of the Documents Project
00:17:36.311 --> 00:17:42.525
as it has looked since the digital archive
launched a year ago January.
00:17:42.525 --> 00:17:44.592
So, we're just into the second year.
00:17:47.458 --> 00:17:50.687
Mari Carmen in the film mentioned that
there was also a print publication as well
00:17:50.687 --> 00:17:53.342
and I have this, below Olga.
00:17:53.342 --> 00:17:54.795
I've just a copy of the book.
00:17:54.795 --> 00:17:57.985
It's a pretty hefty volume!
00:17:58.895 --> 00:18:01.790
- Should I pass it?
- Yeah, absolutely.
00:18:02.234 --> 00:18:06.951
I will say it is a tremendous value
to have these sources translated.
00:18:07.238 --> 00:18:10.422
Certainly, for teaching,
these are documents
00:18:10.422 --> 00:18:13.594
that otherwise have not
at all been available.
00:18:14.523 --> 00:18:17.013
Certainly in this way.
00:18:17.696 --> 00:18:21.835
So this is the digital side,
that's the print version.
00:18:23.660 --> 00:18:27.176
This is probably the most important
00:18:28.607 --> 00:18:33.126
part of the webpage,
which is to say it's the search engine.
00:18:33.387 --> 00:18:38.899
I'll show you our cataloging system,
our protocols,
00:18:38.899 --> 00:18:43.497
so you can see how we're trying
to identify
00:18:45.009 --> 00:18:49.610
keywords artists so that our documents
will appear in these searches.
00:18:50.236 --> 00:18:54.840
But the archive is searchable
by artist name, by language
00:18:54.840 --> 00:18:56.346
by date, by country.
00:18:56.745 --> 00:18:59.827
With all of these different filters.
00:19:00.405 --> 00:19:03.722
Just as a kind of example
00:19:03.722 --> 00:19:07.889
I have pulled this document
00:19:08.933 --> 00:19:12.383
it's one by the Argentine artist
Leon Ferrari,
00:19:12.678 --> 00:19:16.499
just to show you
what it actually looks like
00:19:17.301 --> 00:19:20.282
with the cataloging
and information at the top
00:19:21.700 --> 00:19:25.137
and a synopsis and also an annotation.
00:19:25.646 --> 00:19:29.162
If you click over on the very top
right-hand corner
00:19:29.162 --> 00:19:34.413
you can also have this information
in Spanish, so it is a bilingual webpage.
00:19:34.789 --> 00:19:38.512
If you were to click
on underneath this small image
00:19:38.512 --> 00:19:40.006
of the document full text
00:19:40.868 --> 00:19:43.898
this is what one of the document,
that appears for you.
00:19:44.508 --> 00:19:47.048
Again, this is just as an example.
00:19:47.048 --> 00:19:51.990
And it comes up as a PDF
with the ICAA cover sheet.
00:19:51.990 --> 00:19:57.206
And then you do get within the document,
the image itself.
00:19:57.206 --> 00:20:00.500
Which is, for graduate students,
for scholars,
00:20:00.500 --> 00:20:05.635
actually a huge asset to this site.
00:20:09.613 --> 00:20:12.579
Mari Carmen referred to,
in the film,
00:20:12.579 --> 00:20:16.473
the editorial framework of the archive
00:20:16.473 --> 00:20:20.560
and to these different categories.
00:20:22.529 --> 00:20:25.668
I think it's worth noting
that researchers haven't been
00:20:25.668 --> 00:20:31.291
necessarily asked to go and draw up
all sorts of documents.
00:20:31.291 --> 00:20:37.291
And in fact, we've been tasked
to look more deliberately
00:20:37.291 --> 00:20:40.346
for documents that fall
within these categories.
00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:43.266
Certainly, these are
quite broad categories
00:20:43.930 --> 00:20:48.779
but there is certainly a curatorial
or curative aspect to the archive.
00:20:49.382 --> 00:20:51.276
Olga, did you want to speak
to some of these--
00:20:51.276 --> 00:20:55.571
Yes, these are some of the categories
that will form in the publication
00:20:55.571 --> 00:20:58.459
so these are, as Abbie said, pretty broad.
00:20:58.772 --> 00:21:00.624
They include, if you take them
one by one
00:21:00.624 --> 00:21:03.742
they include all the possibilities
within Latin American art
00:21:03.742 --> 00:21:05.722
but they're not limited to this.
00:21:06.128 --> 00:21:10.165
In fact, researchers are asked
to suggest new ones
00:21:10.165 --> 00:21:12.539
depending on the cases,
depending on the collections
00:21:12.539 --> 00:21:14.554
that we are looking at.
00:21:14.927 --> 00:21:16.856
For example, the collection
that we're looking at
00:21:16.856 --> 00:21:19.506
here in Washington DC,
the Jose Gomez Sicre
00:21:19.506 --> 00:21:21.705
and the Organization of American States
00:21:21.705 --> 00:21:23.856
that falls very much
into existing categories
00:21:23.856 --> 00:21:25.481
Latin American and Latino.
00:21:25.889 --> 00:21:29.463
He was an art critic
that was based here in Washington DC.
00:21:31.295 --> 00:21:34.534
He joined the Pan American Union
in 1946
00:21:34.779 --> 00:21:36.665
and retired in 1991.
00:21:36.959 --> 00:21:40.366
So he had a very long career
of promoting young talent
00:21:40.366 --> 00:21:41.429
from Latin America
00:21:41.429 --> 00:21:42.510
and introducing them
00:21:42.510 --> 00:21:46.002
as part of the mission of
the Pan American Union until 1948
00:21:46.002 --> 00:21:49.113
and then from 1948 on,
the Organization of American States.
00:21:49.485 --> 00:21:55.232
So, in his role, he's falling into this
looking at the hemisphere
00:21:55.500 --> 00:21:58.141
from the location of the US.
00:21:58.141 --> 00:21:59.740
Looking down at Latin America.
00:21:59.740 --> 00:22:04.185
But as he travels back and forth,
he is taking his knowledge.
00:22:04.185 --> 00:22:09.148
He's going to Argentina,
going to the [inaudible] Gallery
00:22:09.542 --> 00:22:12.640
collecting information,
presenting the artists here in Washington
00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:19.140
then going to São Paolo Biennial
exchanging information.
00:22:19.140 --> 00:22:22.531
So he's creating all this network
that goes
00:22:22.531 --> 00:22:25.889
into these different categories
of what is Latin American and Latino.
00:22:26.140 --> 00:22:30.285
In the first volume that is circulating,
the concluding remarks
00:22:30.285 --> 00:22:33.321
about this idea
of Latin American and Latino
00:22:33.321 --> 00:22:35.025
is that these are constructions.
00:22:35.025 --> 00:22:36.353
They do not exist.
00:22:36.353 --> 00:22:39.567
But they're very much constructions
to put together groups.
00:22:40.021 --> 00:22:41.839
Very heterogeneous groups.
00:22:42.089 --> 00:22:44.489
So, we think this project,
this category,
00:22:44.489 --> 00:22:47.091
the documents are challenging
those assumptions.
00:22:47.543 --> 00:22:49.856
In the National Imaginaries/
Cosmopolitan Identities
00:22:49.856 --> 00:22:51.078
that's the second volume
00:22:51.078 --> 00:22:53.973
that is looking very much at the idea
of the global and the local.
00:22:54.593 --> 00:22:57.478
Cosmopolitanism versus nationalism.
00:22:57.478 --> 00:23:01.622
The organization, the construction
of the modern nation states
00:23:01.622 --> 00:23:05.894
and how the artists are addressing
this building of the nations.
00:23:05.894 --> 00:23:09.527
Are they assuming a very nationalist tone?
Or do they want to be international?
00:23:09.527 --> 00:23:11.650
It's that national/international binary.
00:23:11.650 --> 00:23:15.213
Recycling and hydrating the arts
of Latino America
00:23:15.213 --> 00:23:20.323
that is something that relates
to the US Latino populations.
00:23:23.049 --> 00:23:27.739
Appropriating icons
and appropriating histories
00:23:27.739 --> 00:23:31.999
and recreating histories and myths
such as the mythical land of Aslam.
00:23:32.429 --> 00:23:34.743
And making it part of that nationalism.
00:23:34.743 --> 00:23:38.189
And others that follow along those lines
00:23:38.189 --> 00:23:40.996
in terms of pop art, as well,
in Argentina.
00:23:41.436 --> 00:23:45.149
In issues of race, class and gender,
that's very much what is happening
00:23:45.149 --> 00:23:46.443
in the different countries.
00:23:46.443 --> 00:23:48.346
One of the big issues here
that looks at
00:23:48.346 --> 00:23:52.785
is the presence of Afro-Latin American,
the Caribbean
00:23:52.785 --> 00:23:55.290
not only Caribbean, but other countries
that do not fall
00:23:55.290 --> 00:23:57.366
within that Caribbean basin.
00:23:57.366 --> 00:23:59.424
Art activism and social change.
00:23:59.997 --> 00:24:03.648
And that goes a little bit
with this idea of...
00:24:06.361 --> 00:24:07.589
graphic arts.
00:24:08.019 --> 00:24:11.920
This idea of graphic arts
as a more popular medium
00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:14.453
to pass on messages about art
00:24:14.872 --> 00:24:16.960
or using art to convey messages.
00:24:17.586 --> 00:24:20.393
Then super-realism, magic realism
and the fantastic.
00:24:20.393 --> 00:24:22.775
That is a category that would look
as an example
00:24:22.775 --> 00:24:26.958
the role of Roberto Matta, Wilfredo Lam
00:24:26.958 --> 00:24:29.918
and the relationship that they had
with Breton.
00:24:30.266 --> 00:24:33.768
Or Breton in Mexico with Frida Kahlo
or the others, and creating
00:24:34.043 --> 00:24:36.927
and putting together
the first realist exhibitions
00:24:36.927 --> 00:24:39.125
in Mexico in 1939 -1940.
00:24:39.125 --> 00:24:44.259
New world, American constructive utopias,
that's really Abbie's alley
00:24:44.259 --> 00:24:47.637
but it looks at those developments
that Mari Carmen mentions
00:24:47.637 --> 00:24:51.790
about the Argentinian Madi group, 1940s,
00:24:52.157 --> 00:24:57.566
really foretelling developments
that happened in the 1960s in the US.
00:24:57.912 --> 00:25:01.086
The breaking of the frame,
art experimentation with colors,
00:25:01.086 --> 00:25:06.276
sculptures, all these things
that were being explored
00:25:06.276 --> 00:25:09.528
not only by Argentinian artists
but by Brazilian as well, and others.
00:25:09.528 --> 00:25:11.144
And Venezuelans.
00:25:11.386 --> 00:25:13.921
Abstracts and figuratives
in the Cold War period.
00:25:13.921 --> 00:25:18.175
This is where Gomez Sicre wanted
to collect the collections
00:25:18.175 --> 00:25:19.541
that we're looking at in Washington.
00:25:19.541 --> 00:25:21.756
Really most of the documents
fall into this.
00:25:21.756 --> 00:25:23.153
He was...
00:25:24.663 --> 00:25:28.958
really the point for him
became the Cuban Revolution
00:25:29.837 --> 00:25:34.169
he had promoted a lot of figuration
during the 1950s.
00:25:34.529 --> 00:25:37.521
Beginning in 1960,
you start seeing the promotion
00:25:37.521 --> 00:25:41.105
of more abstraction in the artists
00:25:41.105 --> 00:25:43.877
even to the point that he,
for example,
00:25:44.285 --> 00:25:46.870
taking the case of Ecuador,
you have Guayasamin
00:25:46.870 --> 00:25:48.636
as one of the key artists.
00:25:48.902 --> 00:25:52.371
To the point that he presented
an exhibition of Guayasamin in the 1950s
00:25:52.371 --> 00:25:57.108
and then 1960s is a different generation,
totally obliterating
00:25:57.108 --> 00:26:00.982
the contribution of Guayasamin
in this debate
00:26:00.982 --> 00:26:03.861
and this documentation that he provides.
00:26:04.023 --> 00:26:06.029
But then again the graphic artists,
00:26:06.029 --> 00:26:08.931
this idea of art activism
and social change
00:26:08.931 --> 00:26:11.393
in a way they interrelate.
00:26:11.393 --> 00:26:15.180
Then we have the exile displacement
diaspora that has to be very much
00:26:15.180 --> 00:26:20.292
with artists from Latin American countries
coming to the US, moving to Europe.
00:26:20.687 --> 00:26:25.934
As part of self-exile
or forced exile displacement
00:26:25.934 --> 00:26:28.388
and the diaspora, the construction,
the migration to the US.
00:26:29.155 --> 00:26:33.903
These new diasporic communities
that start growing
00:26:33.903 --> 00:26:36.389
from the 1970s, 1960s on.
00:26:36.849 --> 00:26:42.455
Conceptualism, the reference
to Oiticica and others.
00:26:43.131 --> 00:26:44.893
Mass-media and technology in art
00:26:44.893 --> 00:26:47.423
what is happening,
especially with the groups in Argentina
00:26:47.423 --> 00:26:51.254
in late 1960s and early 1970s.
00:26:51.818 --> 00:26:56.415
That idea of using computers,
00:26:56.415 --> 00:26:59.182
using certain formats
could be regenerated.
00:26:59.565 --> 00:27:04.541
Very basic early 1970s technology
and traveling these exhibitions
00:27:04.541 --> 00:27:07.979
and putting a collective
of world artists together.
00:27:07.979 --> 00:27:10.626
Globalization and its Latin American
discontents.
00:27:10.626 --> 00:27:13.094
This really looks at
more recent developments
00:27:13.094 --> 00:27:16.694
in terms of the infrastructure
of the art field.
00:27:16.875 --> 00:27:20.600
In terms of the new fairs,
the new biennials.
00:27:20.600 --> 00:27:23.541
The circulation of global artists.
00:27:23.541 --> 00:27:28.546
So, those are really very few examples
of what we could encounter
00:27:28.546 --> 00:27:30.353
in these different categories.
00:27:30.353 --> 00:27:35.307
But they're broad in their description
and they try to follow
00:27:35.307 --> 00:27:40.448
more a model of identity,
very fluid, very organic coming in, out
00:27:40.448 --> 00:27:45.400
and in the document series,
they sometimes do not fit
00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:47.485
neatly into one category.
00:27:47.485 --> 00:27:53.422
So they fit into several ones
and it's a way to present
00:27:53.422 --> 00:27:56.937
a more wider perspective
of the movement of art
00:27:57.189 --> 00:27:59.177
in Latin America.
00:28:01.083 --> 00:28:04.120
The diversity of these topics
really speaks to the point
00:28:04.120 --> 00:28:07.621
that Mari Carmen made in the film
about moving the idea
00:28:07.621 --> 00:28:11.800
of Latin American art
away from its stereotyped identity
00:28:11.800 --> 00:28:14.841
is just being about art activism
and social change
00:28:14.841 --> 00:28:19.598
or as being so closely connected
to Diego Rivero, Frida Kahlo.
00:28:19.598 --> 00:28:23.056
Though certainly major figures
within this history
00:28:23.056 --> 00:28:25.327
but certainly they weren't the only actors
00:28:25.327 --> 00:28:27.891
in the Americas across the 20th century.
00:28:28.067 --> 00:28:29.573
And the idea
00:28:30.373 --> 00:28:32.101
coming out of Houston,
I think expressed
00:28:32.101 --> 00:28:33.633
by all of these different teams
has been
00:28:33.633 --> 00:28:38.330
to allow a more expansive idea of what
00:28:38.330 --> 00:28:41.939
American or Latin American, or Latino art
00:28:41.939 --> 00:28:47.004
might actually have to offer, and to say.
00:28:49.941 --> 00:28:54.673
There are four pages of the cataloging
entry forms
00:28:54.673 --> 00:28:58.691
and I just thought I would show them here
to you just to give you a sense
00:28:58.691 --> 00:29:03.217
of what the actual work is
to get a document if we find
00:29:03.217 --> 00:29:08.692
for instance, an exhibition catalog
that is only five sentences of text,
00:29:08.692 --> 00:29:14.276
how that actually becomes part
of the documenting process.
00:29:14.974 --> 00:29:19.382
These are the empty documents
that we're giving to our students here
00:29:19.382 --> 00:29:22.640
at Maryland and elsewhere
and asking them
00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:27.361
to categorize
within this editorial framework
00:29:27.361 --> 00:29:32.352
but also to do some of this other
data analysis
00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:37.837
as it were, to think of these documents
and to catalog them.
00:29:37.837 --> 00:29:44.256
And to do this work
as well as the interpretive analysis.
00:29:44.827 --> 00:29:49.473
This is the second pages,
00:29:49.473 --> 00:29:53.625
the third and fourth page
of our entry form.
00:29:57.477 --> 00:30:00.317
This is shifting over to our...
00:30:00.317 --> 00:30:05.228
with our Washington team
and our working group here.
00:30:06.590 --> 00:30:11.508
I suppose if there are any questions
about the larger project in Houston
00:30:11.508 --> 00:30:15.043
this might be a good time
to answer--
00:30:15.241 --> 00:30:16.066
Yes?
00:30:16.216 --> 00:30:19.459
(audience member 1) So I saw
on the main webpage
00:30:19.459 --> 00:30:22.325
it said something sorta, I think "my",
it said something "my"...
00:30:22.325 --> 00:30:24.425
- my argu--
- (Abbie) Oh, my documents
00:30:24.425 --> 00:30:25.744
- (audience member 1) My documents?
- (Abbie) Yes.
00:30:25.744 --> 00:30:28.512
(audience member 1) And looking
at the categories,
00:30:28.512 --> 00:30:31.286
I wonder, is it possible to resort,
00:30:31.286 --> 00:30:35.187
can a user coming there,
can they effectively...
00:30:35.187 --> 00:30:37.204
as carefully as you've worked out
these categories
00:30:37.204 --> 00:30:41.466
can they start to play with,
and stretch, and re-stretch the categories
00:30:41.466 --> 00:30:44.406
and make things fit into different--
00:30:44.406 --> 00:30:46.609
because I see the "my documents" and...
00:30:46.609 --> 00:30:48.802
And sort of a related question was,
00:30:48.802 --> 00:30:51.444
you're going through
the different collections,
00:30:51.444 --> 00:30:53.086
and I'm wondering if there are some things
00:30:53.086 --> 00:30:54.725
that just fit no categories,
00:30:54.725 --> 00:30:58.392
and so they don't end up in this,
even though they're part of...
00:30:59.457 --> 00:31:03.143
identified, and part of
a rich collection,
00:31:03.419 --> 00:31:08.739
but there may be some things
that are just so much ephemera?
00:31:09.445 --> 00:31:12.549
So, those are two kind of questions.
00:31:13.329 --> 00:31:15.617
(Abbie) I can try
to answer them, I suppose.
00:31:15.617 --> 00:31:18.815
My documents, we can play with that
a little bit on the webpage.
00:31:19.961 --> 00:31:23.448
If you create a user account
and it's absolutely free to do this,
00:31:24.051 --> 00:31:28.078
then you can tab the documents
and sort them into...
00:31:29.142 --> 00:31:31.821
different larger folders,
as it were,
00:31:31.821 --> 00:31:32.837
and we give them a heading.
00:31:32.837 --> 00:31:36.299
So, if you wanted to look at
just Mexican muralism
00:31:36.299 --> 00:31:38.709
or Cuban abstraction
you could create a folder
00:31:38.709 --> 00:31:41.179
and then insert these documents there.
00:31:41.447 --> 00:31:43.540
And you have the option of making
these folders public
00:31:43.540 --> 00:31:45.090
and sharing them.
00:31:45.090 --> 00:31:47.198
So, if you wanted to say,
"Well these are all documents
00:31:47.198 --> 00:31:50.082
pertaining to muralism in the 1930s",
00:31:50.877 --> 00:31:53.869
I've gone in and found them
and I'm going to make them available
00:31:53.869 --> 00:31:57.243
to you, just as a collegial thing
to do, that's one option.
00:31:58.414 --> 00:32:00.850
I've done this on a small scale
for my teaching.
00:32:00.850 --> 00:32:03.862
If I've wanted to go in
and ask students to work
00:32:03.862 --> 00:32:06.846
on this question of Latino
versus Latin American identity
00:32:06.846 --> 00:32:09.393
and say, "Well, these are a few documents,
00:32:10.209 --> 00:32:13.864
perhaps select two out of these
and construct an argument.
00:32:13.864 --> 00:32:15.737
What are these different authors saying?"
00:32:16.034 --> 00:32:18.284
There's that possibility.
00:32:18.284 --> 00:32:22.450
I don't know that users can change
categorizations
00:32:22.450 --> 00:32:25.362
although that might be
an interesting feature.
00:32:25.362 --> 00:32:29.645
But that's the "my documents"
is only a personal site
00:32:29.645 --> 00:32:32.816
within the larger project.
00:32:33.419 --> 00:32:37.372
This other question about ephemeral
or one-off documents
00:32:37.372 --> 00:32:41.908
is one that I also have thought about.
00:32:42.464 --> 00:32:44.960
I think that the answer
that Maria Gaztambide,
00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:48.142
she's the head of the ICAA at Houston,
00:32:48.142 --> 00:32:51.413
she gave to us last summer
when she oriented me in the project,
00:32:51.413 --> 00:32:53.764
all that has been oriented
probably many times
00:32:53.764 --> 00:32:55.017
she's a real veteran.
00:32:57.106 --> 00:33:01.406
Was if there does seem to be a document
that doesn't have an obvious artist
00:33:01.406 --> 00:33:06.064
who is maybe kind of to the side
of one category or the other,
00:33:06.064 --> 00:33:08.100
perhaps the strategy
might be to collect
00:33:08.100 --> 00:33:11.094
a small set of documents,
four or five,
00:33:11.094 --> 00:33:15.048
that would allow this artist
or this topic to be
00:33:15.048 --> 00:33:18.336
in a way, more fully-explained
that one document in itself
00:33:18.336 --> 00:33:19.709
might be able to do
00:33:19.709 --> 00:33:22.504
and then to add those documents
together.
00:33:23.384 --> 00:33:27.628
I don't know if this has happened,
but Maria says it's on the way
00:33:28.197 --> 00:33:30.442
is for documents to link to each other.
00:33:30.442 --> 00:33:34.233
And so if you pull up a document
on Frida Kahlo
00:33:34.233 --> 00:33:38.215
there might be a way to bracket off
another document.
00:33:38.488 --> 00:33:42.203
And so for artists, especially artists
who are lesser-known than Kahlo
00:33:42.203 --> 00:33:45.578
to be able then to link an artist
who's an awkward fit, perhaps,
00:33:45.578 --> 00:33:48.585
to something that is more major
or even to other documents
00:33:48.585 --> 00:33:53.320
that explain this moment,
or this history
00:33:53.320 --> 00:33:57.933
it's a way of including
sideways, as it were,
00:33:57.933 --> 00:34:02.934
these even more marginal figures
within the larger narrative.
00:34:03.376 --> 00:34:04.833
Does that sound about right?
00:34:05.996 --> 00:34:08.877
You know your question is very important
because these categories
00:34:08.877 --> 00:34:12.288
that were decided in 2004,
so it's nine years ago.
00:34:12.288 --> 00:34:14.342
The field is changing and definitely,
00:34:14.342 --> 00:34:17.447
but they are very open, that is something
that of my understanding
00:34:17.447 --> 00:34:21.202
there is a way to communicate with them
to suggest new categories.
00:34:21.202 --> 00:34:24.545
And I think this is going to generate
new categories by itself.
00:34:24.545 --> 00:34:26.286
The availability of the documents,
00:34:26.286 --> 00:34:29.223
the new reassessments
of the collections of artists
00:34:29.223 --> 00:34:31.030
will generate newer themes.
00:34:31.376 --> 00:34:33.748
For example, one of the last categories
00:34:33.748 --> 00:34:36.661
that we had was the globalization
and its discontents
00:34:36.661 --> 00:34:39.356
but you don't hear so much
about globalization
00:34:40.277 --> 00:34:42.539
at the end of neoliberalism.
00:34:42.539 --> 00:34:48.422
Now it's the idea of the backwards
globalization, no longer there
00:34:48.422 --> 00:34:51.293
so it's just where is globalization
right now, and that's one of the points,
00:34:51.293 --> 00:34:55.637
because that's one of my fields
of research, globalization.
00:34:55.637 --> 00:34:57.665
So, right now it's very difficult.
00:34:57.665 --> 00:35:02.566
So, is that the valid field right now?
Maybe it isn't.
00:35:02.566 --> 00:35:06.892
So that's something that I think
it is set up to be more fluid,
00:35:06.892 --> 00:35:10.841
and absolutely, they would consider
new fields
00:35:10.841 --> 00:35:13.204
something else for
the researchers to suggest.
00:35:13.204 --> 00:35:16.480
In terms of the documents,
that's something that we usually
00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:18.027
if there's no--
00:35:18.671 --> 00:35:22.066
if they don't fit neatly
within these categories
00:35:22.066 --> 00:35:27.121
we write a note to the project
and then they reassess
00:35:27.121 --> 00:35:28.755
and figure out where to put it.
00:35:28.755 --> 00:35:31.301
For example, in the publication,
the book,
00:35:31.712 --> 00:35:35.956
there are some documents
that are not really art-related,
00:35:35.956 --> 00:35:39.412
but they're more into the concept
of what Latin America was.
00:35:39.412 --> 00:35:45.794
For example, they have the original
poems from 1856
00:35:46.422 --> 00:35:50.432
of Caicedo, Jose Maria Caicedo,
when he refers for the first time
00:35:50.909 --> 00:35:53.335
to the continent as Latin America.
00:35:53.335 --> 00:35:54.938
It's very much, it comes from--
00:35:54.938 --> 00:35:57.965
It's a French construction
rather than an American,
00:35:57.965 --> 00:36:01.042
The American usage of the Americas
00:36:01.042 --> 00:36:04.573
was the older American republics
up until 1945.
00:36:04.883 --> 00:36:09.732
And that's what you see in the official
documents from the national archives
00:36:09.732 --> 00:36:13.118
related to art exchanges
with Latin America.
00:36:13.487 --> 00:36:15.759
It's very much
the older American republics.
00:36:17.121 --> 00:36:21.628
So it is definitely changing,
but that's something very interesting.
00:36:22.257 --> 00:36:24.791
So if you are using it in the future
and see something that you want
00:36:24.791 --> 00:36:28.812
to suggest, by all means,
that would be very welcome!
00:36:32.768 --> 00:36:34.903
If there are no more questions
about the Washington part of it.
00:36:34.903 --> 00:36:37.472
We can certainly
cycle back.
00:36:37.959 --> 00:36:42.142
This is just a brief overview
of the Washington team.
00:36:42.927 --> 00:36:47.689
I guess it's an introduction
of the different partner institutions
00:36:48.378 --> 00:36:52.252
of their research team and then
an incomplete list of students.
00:36:52.252 --> 00:36:58.031
We have still to add the six students
in my graduate seminar this term.
00:37:00.986 --> 00:37:05.347
The idea of bringing the Documents Project
to Washington was really Olga's.
00:37:06.529 --> 00:37:11.610
And perhaps you would want to speak
to your idea of bringing it here?
00:37:11.944 --> 00:37:14.539
Well, yes, this is something
very interesting
00:37:14.539 --> 00:37:17.916
and it's a conversation that has been
going on since about 2006.
00:37:18.451 --> 00:37:22.805
When the current director of
the Documents Project, Maria Gaztambide
00:37:22.805 --> 00:37:27.228
worked for the Archives of American Art
in the late 1990s,
00:37:27.228 --> 00:37:30.745
she completed surveys
of Latin American, Latino artists
00:37:30.745 --> 00:37:32.344
in New York and Puerto Rico,
00:37:32.344 --> 00:37:34.401
and someone else did it for Florida.
00:37:34.401 --> 00:37:38.264
So there was that foundation,
previous year of work
00:37:38.640 --> 00:37:43.528
Previous years always come together,
so Maria was very much aware
00:37:43.528 --> 00:37:45.849
of what was at the Archives
of American Art
00:37:45.849 --> 00:37:50.014
in terms of this Mari Carmen
was very knowledgeable
00:37:50.014 --> 00:37:53.900
about the work of Jose Gomez Sicre
and the lack of documents
00:37:53.900 --> 00:37:55.234
about his criticism.
00:37:55.234 --> 00:38:00.427
There were some articles in newspapers
as well as some of the essays
00:38:00.427 --> 00:38:03.632
that he would write for the bulletin,
the Artes Visuales
00:38:03.632 --> 00:38:06.050
of the Pan American union
of the OAS.
00:38:06.050 --> 00:38:08.191
But other than that
there was not much
00:38:08.191 --> 00:38:12.375
and when he passed away in 1991,
00:38:12.590 --> 00:38:17.228
he retired from the Museum
of the Art of the Americas in 1981
00:38:17.804 --> 00:38:20.891
and fortunately, and this is the issue
with archives
00:38:20.891 --> 00:38:24.216
and with the technology
that really is amazing
00:38:24.216 --> 00:38:26.743
there's usually one person
that really values
00:38:26.743 --> 00:38:28.771
these collections of papers
at the same time.
00:38:28.771 --> 00:38:32.213
So, in this case, they were put
in bankers' boxes,
00:38:32.213 --> 00:38:35.373
13 of them, and we, for this project,
00:38:35.373 --> 00:38:39.070
the idea was to go over these 13 boxes,
00:38:39.422 --> 00:38:42.796
catalog them, put them in archival boxes,
00:38:42.796 --> 00:38:46.164
create the finding aids, and then
scan them and digitize them.
00:38:46.164 --> 00:38:49.717
So, that's been the work that we've been
doing since July.
00:38:50.283 --> 00:38:54.881
So, the knowledge of these collections
at the Archives of American Art was there,
00:38:54.881 --> 00:38:58.195
Washington was an important point
for the introduction
00:38:58.195 --> 00:39:00.081
of Latin American artists.
00:39:00.081 --> 00:39:03.228
Of course, we have that connections
from Mexico to New York,
00:39:03.228 --> 00:39:06.651
the galleries, the development
of the 1920s
00:39:06.651 --> 00:39:10.727
the interest in the mural movement
and priority at the World Fairs.
00:39:10.727 --> 00:39:15.739
Those were really huge windows
into showing Latin American culture
00:39:15.739 --> 00:39:19.328
from different countries
to the world.
00:39:19.328 --> 00:39:22.208
But Washington was that special place
00:39:22.208 --> 00:39:26.172
and the idea, the conversation
really started in 2006.
00:39:26.172 --> 00:39:29.805
They tried to engage
the Smithsonian Institution,
00:39:29.805 --> 00:39:32.145
were not very successful,
and at that time,
00:39:32.145 --> 00:39:33.495
at the University of Notre Dame,
00:39:33.495 --> 00:39:35.878
we were doing the Midwest project,
and recording
00:39:35.878 --> 00:39:39.936
which was really going house-to-house,
visiting artist-to-artist,
00:39:39.936 --> 00:39:44.407
organizations, and going to the basements,
pulling the archival collections,
00:39:44.407 --> 00:39:45.642
digitizing them.
00:39:45.642 --> 00:39:49.111
So, we had that experience
and this was a conversation
00:39:49.111 --> 00:39:50.377
that continued after that.
00:39:50.377 --> 00:39:52.263
Why don't we do Washington DC?
00:39:52.868 --> 00:39:56.017
So, the opportunity really arose
last year,
00:39:56.017 --> 00:39:59.237
and we said "if we don't do it this year,
it's not going to get done."
00:39:59.474 --> 00:40:02.949
And this, the DC Project,
00:40:02.949 --> 00:40:07.013
along with the Uruguay Project
are the last ones.
00:40:07.013 --> 00:40:11.108
They were planning to do one in New York,
but it hasn't been solidified
00:40:11.943 --> 00:40:15.360
in looking at the different
Latin American organizations
00:40:15.360 --> 00:40:16.981
that existed, and galleries.
00:40:16.981 --> 00:40:21.057
Some papers strong, very fragile galleries,
00:40:21.057 --> 00:40:26.382
very small control centers
that are always at risk of disappearing.
00:40:26.629 --> 00:40:30.312
So, this is one of the freelance projects
that we're doing.
00:40:30.584 --> 00:40:35.324
And with this, the idea
for the consortium was Maria's
00:40:35.536 --> 00:40:40.757
based on the success
of the Colombian team project
00:40:40.757 --> 00:40:43.793
that engaged students from
Universidad de los Andes,
00:40:44.334 --> 00:40:46.554
from Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano,
00:40:46.554 --> 00:40:50.573
they were very involved, and that was part
of the goal of the project itself,
00:40:50.573 --> 00:40:54.181
to try to bring new scholars,
to try to engage students
00:40:54.181 --> 00:40:55.710
into the project.
00:40:55.710 --> 00:41:00.032
So, this has been the idea
to include the universities.
00:41:00.334 --> 00:41:03.927
Michelle Greet is
at George Mason University.
00:41:03.927 --> 00:41:08.541
She was out... she has had...
00:41:09.625 --> 00:41:12.327
she is working on a project,
so she had one year off.
00:41:12.327 --> 00:41:15.327
So, I taught a class
at George Mason University
00:41:15.327 --> 00:41:18.881
on 20th century Latin American art
last semester
00:41:18.881 --> 00:41:20.919
and engaged the students
from George Mason.
00:41:20.919 --> 00:41:23.648
We still have one working with us
this semester
00:41:23.648 --> 00:41:26.305
so that has been the participation
with George Mason.
00:41:26.305 --> 00:41:28.430
With the University of Maryland,
we're very thankful
00:41:28.430 --> 00:41:32.183
to Abbie and to the department
because we have wonderful our students
00:41:32.183 --> 00:41:36.175
working along, and one of them is Eloy,
00:41:36.420 --> 00:41:39.639
who is working with the collections
of the Archives of American Art.
00:41:39.639 --> 00:41:42.144
And basically we're engaging
Alejandro Anreus
00:41:42.144 --> 00:41:44.912
who's the chair of the art department
at William Paterson.
00:41:44.912 --> 00:41:48.484
He worked at the Organization
of American States
00:41:48.484 --> 00:41:53.699
he did conduct some long interviews
with Gomez Sicre
00:41:53.699 --> 00:41:59.930
so he has followed that idea
of publicizing what his curatorial vision was.
00:42:00.357 --> 00:42:03.171
Michelle Greet, as I mentioned,
George Mason University,
00:42:03.171 --> 00:42:07.230
Liza Kirwin, who is the acting director
of the Archives of American Art,
00:42:07.639 --> 00:42:12.118
Adriana Ospina, who is the registrar
at the Art Museum of the Americas
00:42:12.118 --> 00:42:17.322
I've been working with her
in terms of cataloging the archives.
00:42:18.080 --> 00:42:22.550
We have a list of some of the consortium
of graduate students as students,
00:42:22.550 --> 00:42:27.003
we had Rebecca Cosgrove
from Maryland as well, last semester.
00:42:27.003 --> 00:42:32.300
And we have this semester, Eloy,
and a longer list that Abbie has
00:42:32.300 --> 00:42:35.247
of the names of the students
from Maryland.
00:42:37.186 --> 00:42:39.439
(Abbie) These are just, again,
some screenshots
00:42:39.439 --> 00:42:41.905
of the Archives of American Art
00:42:41.905 --> 00:42:46.871
where Eloy is working
on the Giulio Blanc papers.
00:42:46.871 --> 00:42:51.934
Blanc was a major curator and writer
of Cuban, Cuban-American art.
00:42:51.934 --> 00:42:55.464
Unfortunately passed away very young,
but his archive
00:42:55.464 --> 00:42:57.782
is actually quite a tremendous asset.
00:42:57.782 --> 00:43:00.783
And this is just the webpage,
00:43:00.783 --> 00:43:04.260
as it looks at
the Art Museum of the Americas,
00:43:04.638 --> 00:43:07.793
just off the National Mall
in Washington.
00:43:08.209 --> 00:43:10.189
In addition to the Gomez Sicre archives,
00:43:10.189 --> 00:43:15.107
they do actually have incredible
country files, artist files.
00:43:15.678 --> 00:43:19.202
Unfortunately, not cataloged
and not very well organized,
00:43:19.202 --> 00:43:26.061
but as a resource for Latin American art
the actual documents,
00:43:26.061 --> 00:43:31.923
newspaper clippings, from all of the OAS
offices across these cities,
00:43:31.923 --> 00:43:36.099
across the Americas,
are actually incredibly valuable.
00:43:36.099 --> 00:43:39.177
But this is just if you were to go
to these sites, you could click through
00:43:39.177 --> 00:43:41.583
and see the different papers and records
00:43:41.583 --> 00:43:43.428
and archives and so on.
00:43:43.969 --> 00:43:47.447
This is just an example of one document
that one of our graduate students,
00:43:47.447 --> 00:43:50.978
Caroline Shields, is actually working on.
00:43:50.978 --> 00:43:53.783
The documents are often quite short.
00:43:53.783 --> 00:43:56.777
There isn't always a lot of text.
00:43:56.777 --> 00:44:00.718
But in a way, in targeting Gomez Sicre,
in making him the big focus
00:44:00.718 --> 00:44:03.661
of the project in Washington,
00:44:03.661 --> 00:44:07.377
even what seemed to be
almost a minor document
00:44:07.377 --> 00:44:09.459
with very little analysis
00:44:10.653 --> 00:44:16.055
seen in numbers of 20 or 50,
they begin to articulate
00:44:16.055 --> 00:44:20.523
a curatorial vision,
or even an agenda.
00:44:20.523 --> 00:44:26.436
Gomez Sicre is often criticized as being
a Cold Warrior, as it were.
00:44:26.436 --> 00:44:30.566
But we can see that shifts
in his own ideas
00:44:30.566 --> 00:44:35.362
in his own philosophy
about abstraction and figuration
00:44:35.362 --> 00:44:39.271
through the changing in the tone
of some of these texts.
00:44:39.271 --> 00:44:43.895
And so, to have them not just
as a one-off, but as 20, as 50,
00:44:43.895 --> 00:44:47.614
you begin to get a bigger picture
of him as a writer.
00:44:47.614 --> 00:44:49.590
But this is just one example.
00:44:49.590 --> 00:44:54.480
This is another example,
this is one that I'll be writing up.
00:44:54.480 --> 00:44:59.660
I'll say that,
particularly I'm very excited
00:44:59.660 --> 00:45:02.301
to be part of the Documents Project.
00:45:02.301 --> 00:45:05.081
For me, it's been a bit
of a reacquaintance
00:45:05.081 --> 00:45:06.618
with actually some of these documents
00:45:06.618 --> 00:45:09.514
because I've already
gone through the archives
00:45:09.514 --> 00:45:13.815
or have seen these documents
in the course of my own research
00:45:13.815 --> 00:45:17.125
and, certainly the idea
of the Documents Project
00:45:17.125 --> 00:45:21.030
isn't just to kind of
assemble the documents
00:45:21.030 --> 00:45:26.514
but also to see them as a catalyst
for research, scholarship and publication.
00:45:26.810 --> 00:45:29.218
to get the document, and a way,
to put the documents
00:45:29.218 --> 00:45:32.340
into art historical use.
00:45:32.798 --> 00:45:35.580
Albizu was a Puerto Rican artist
who Gomez Sicre
00:45:35.580 --> 00:45:41.206
was really the first to introduce
to the United States-based audience.
00:45:41.770 --> 00:45:46.215
She fell, almost immediately,
into a kind of obscurity.
00:45:46.215 --> 00:45:49.157
This is a very early exhibition.
00:45:50.761 --> 00:45:55.513
Albizu, I think is about to have
a bit of a resurgence.
00:45:55.513 --> 00:46:00.104
This is a work of art,
a fantastic painting
00:46:00.104 --> 00:46:03.519
that JP Morgan has just donated
to the Smithsonian,
00:46:03.519 --> 00:46:05.504
I think just earlier this year.
00:46:05.504 --> 00:46:10.432
It will be a real highlight
of the exhibition of Our America
00:46:10.432 --> 00:46:14.251
that Carmen Ramos is preparing
right now, as we speak,
00:46:14.251 --> 00:46:20.042
scheduled to open in October
of this year at the Smithsonian.
00:46:20.663 --> 00:46:23.457
It's significant, in part, because Albizu
00:46:23.457 --> 00:46:26.009
has not always been considered
an American artist
00:46:26.674 --> 00:46:29.113
even though Puerto Rico
is certainly a commonwealth.
00:46:29.113 --> 00:46:32.976
She's an artist who spent her career
in New York.
00:46:32.976 --> 00:46:39.161
But to see her becoming recognized
through acquisition
00:46:39.161 --> 00:46:42.176
but also through,
and at the documentary level,
00:46:42.176 --> 00:46:45.838
have seen the history of Albizu
in Washington or New York.
00:46:45.838 --> 00:46:48.382
It's a way of rounding out
a former picture of this artist
00:46:48.382 --> 00:46:50.307
and who she was.
00:46:51.454 --> 00:46:53.084
This is another example, again,
of a document
00:46:53.084 --> 00:46:57.619
that I'll be writing up,
of again, for me, a Cuban artist,
00:46:57.619 --> 00:47:02.275
Agustin Fernandez, who also had
one of his very early
00:47:02.275 --> 00:47:08.387
and important exhibitions
at the Pan-American Union,
00:47:08.387 --> 00:47:09.810
as it was.
00:47:10.459 --> 00:47:13.687
Then I've featured Fernandez, in part,
00:47:13.687 --> 00:47:17.212
to also mention
the Agustin Fernandez Foundation.
00:47:18.045 --> 00:47:23.692
One of the great opportunities
that the Documents Project has afforded
00:47:23.692 --> 00:47:28.593
is for otherwise obscure,
and very little known artist foundations
00:47:28.593 --> 00:47:31.870
and estates, to have a bit
of extra publicity.
00:47:32.729 --> 00:47:34.912
It's possible,
and certainly this will be the case
00:47:34.912 --> 00:47:40.561
where Fernandez, for the document entries
to make reference to the estate
00:47:40.561 --> 00:47:46.372
to a foundation, for them to be listed
as also a collaborator.
00:47:46.372 --> 00:47:50.175
And for so many of these artists'
families, the artists themselves
00:47:50.175 --> 00:47:55.244
the foundations, it's a real boost
to have this kind of recognition
00:47:55.244 --> 00:47:59.669
and attention, which can otherwise
be very difficult, unfortunately,
00:47:59.669 --> 00:48:01.074
to come by.
00:48:02.985 --> 00:48:07.617
These are two documents that Eloy
has actually identified
00:48:07.617 --> 00:48:09.881
from the Archives of American Art.
00:48:10.113 --> 00:48:14.157
Both on a Cuban artist, again,
Amelia Pelaez.
00:48:16.579 --> 00:48:18.111
(Eloy) Yeah,
I was going to say.
00:48:18.111 --> 00:48:20.178
Basically there was a lot
of information there,
00:48:20.178 --> 00:48:24.449
so I really had to narrow it down
to something that is doable.
00:48:25.110 --> 00:48:27.898
And I narrowed it down to the
Julio Blanc papers.
00:48:28.490 --> 00:48:32.723
Which has a lot of information
about different Latin American artists.
00:48:33.587 --> 00:48:36.122
And further, there, I had to
narrow it down
00:48:36.122 --> 00:48:38.948
to one particular artist.
00:48:38.948 --> 00:48:40.657
I actually looked at Wilfredo Lam
00:48:40.657 --> 00:48:43.441
and there's some interesting
material there for him.
00:48:43.441 --> 00:48:47.357
And there was actually some audio
material that I listened to
00:48:47.357 --> 00:48:51.187
that was by Lydia Cabrera,
who is actually a sociologist
00:48:52.225 --> 00:48:56.342
in Afro-Cuban culture,
00:48:57.083 --> 00:48:59.312
and collaborated very much
with Wilfredo Lam,
00:48:59.312 --> 00:49:01.282
and has some of his works.
00:49:01.282 --> 00:49:03.403
And that was actually interesting,
listening to her.
00:49:03.403 --> 00:49:05.725
Of course, at the time
when the interview was made
00:49:05.725 --> 00:49:08.397
she was probably in her eighties
at the time.
00:49:09.457 --> 00:49:12.210
But then I began to concentrate
on Amelia Pelaez
00:49:12.210 --> 00:49:14.428
mainly because I wasn't sure
00:49:14.428 --> 00:49:16.507
how much material
there was out there.
00:49:17.926 --> 00:49:21.915
And the collection has
00:49:21.915 --> 00:49:26.724
a series of things from catalogs,
exhibition catalogs
00:49:26.724 --> 00:49:30.412
including her first exhibition in Paris
back in 1933.
00:49:31.020 --> 00:49:33.618
And it goes on
through different exhibitions
00:49:33.618 --> 00:49:37.986
including some posthumous exhibitions
here in the United States.
00:49:37.986 --> 00:49:41.636
as well as one in Cuba,
starting in the late 60s,
00:49:42.151 --> 00:49:43.751
'68, after she died.
00:49:44.220 --> 00:49:46.643
Newspaper clippings, articles.
00:49:47.044 --> 00:49:50.623
So what you see here is,
believe this first one is...
00:49:51.968 --> 00:49:56.214
is actually by Giulio Blanc,
a paper that Giulio Blanc started writing.
00:49:56.214 --> 00:50:00.316
And this is his draft, obviously,
and that's recorded there.
00:50:00.908 --> 00:50:05.470
The next one that you see was one that was
actually written by Jose Gomez Sicre,
00:50:05.470 --> 00:50:06.755
in a...
00:50:07.917 --> 00:50:12.059
I guess it was a journal
called The Metropolitan
00:50:12.501 --> 00:50:14.338
which is actually associated with the--
00:50:15.449 --> 00:50:18.278
it was actually not in New York,
that's one of the things I found out,
00:50:18.278 --> 00:50:19.993
because it involves a lot of research
00:50:19.993 --> 00:50:23.144
when you start writing
the annotations later.
00:50:23.144 --> 00:50:27.601
But it's in Miami,
it started actually in Coral Gables
00:50:27.917 --> 00:50:29.294
and then later became part of
00:50:29.294 --> 00:50:32.206
the Museum of Modern Art in Miami.
00:50:32.206 --> 00:50:34.978
And then that section got closed
and that was part of the...
00:50:38.852 --> 00:50:40.948
FIU in Miami.
00:50:42.086 --> 00:50:45.258
So, what I do is I go through these
00:50:45.258 --> 00:50:47.848
and I basically end up
filling out the forms
00:50:47.848 --> 00:50:50.606
that were shown earlier.
00:50:50.782 --> 00:50:55.253
And what really takes a lot of the work
aside from just the description
00:50:55.253 --> 00:50:59.712
is the actual looking at the annotations
and doing the research, and trying to--
00:50:59.712 --> 00:51:01.255
But it's very interesting.
00:51:02.392 --> 00:51:06.912
in some of them I was telling Olga earlier,
that I saw one of the catalogs
00:51:06.912 --> 00:51:11.499
that was actually done in Cuba
in November of 1968,
00:51:13.227 --> 00:51:14.896
shortly after she died.
00:51:14.896 --> 00:51:16.323
It was very comprehensive.
00:51:16.323 --> 00:51:20.089
And it actually has pictures
that go back to her time in Paris
00:51:20.769 --> 00:51:26.977
along with other Cuban artists
there that were co-students
00:51:26.977 --> 00:51:28.538
with her in Paris.
00:51:29.073 --> 00:51:33.752
It also shows her, aside from a lot
of the paintings that she has done
00:51:33.752 --> 00:51:37.505
she also did ceramics
and she had a workshop in Havana
00:51:38.047 --> 00:51:39.903
so it shows a lot of her ceramics.
00:51:39.903 --> 00:51:42.288
That's something that a lot of times
you don't get to see.
00:51:42.590 --> 00:51:44.717
So, it's been very interesting.
00:51:44.717 --> 00:51:48.317
I, myself, come--I'm a neophyte,
really, to this, to the art history.
00:51:48.317 --> 00:51:51.294
I come more from
the practicing artist end
00:51:51.294 --> 00:51:54.197
and so it's very interesting
to see all of these works
00:51:54.197 --> 00:51:57.827
which actually end up
influencing you as an artist, as well.
00:52:00.471 --> 00:52:02.139
- Yes?
- (audience member 2) Can I jump in?
00:52:02.139 --> 00:52:04.324
So, I was fascinated listening to how
00:52:04.324 --> 00:52:06.512
you narrowed down
to this particular artist
00:52:06.512 --> 00:52:10.553
and it sounds like you are swimming
in a sea of documents
00:52:10.553 --> 00:52:14.973
and trying to bite off
and masticate that one portion.
00:52:15.766 --> 00:52:18.290
Are you making notes
about all the other things
00:52:18.290 --> 00:52:20.294
that you don't end up focusing on?
00:52:20.294 --> 00:52:23.095
So that others can narrow their searches?
00:52:23.095 --> 00:52:25.752
(Eloy) That's a good question,
it's a very difficult one to answer
00:52:25.752 --> 00:52:29.428
because there is so much material in there
as you go through it.
00:52:29.428 --> 00:52:31.661
And some of it is a little bit
clearer to see
00:52:31.661 --> 00:52:34.782
than others, just because of the quality
of the microfilm
00:52:34.782 --> 00:52:38.276
but I'm basically using
my own judgment in there
00:52:39.722 --> 00:52:42.353
And I talk with Olga sometimes
and there are some things that--
00:52:42.353 --> 00:52:47.425
I make a list of different things
and then she can call it further,
00:52:47.425 --> 00:52:50.849
and say "This, I think it's good
to concentrate on."
00:52:50.849 --> 00:52:55.542
But it's very easy to spend
tons of time on that
00:52:55.542 --> 00:52:57.477
so at some point,
in order to actually be productive
00:52:57.477 --> 00:53:00.223
and produce something
you have to use your own judgment.
00:53:01.036 --> 00:53:04.575
I should tell you a little bit
why I chose--
00:53:04.575 --> 00:53:07.445
why I narrowed it down
to these two artists,
00:53:07.445 --> 00:53:08.972
and especially to Amelia Pelaez.
00:53:08.972 --> 00:53:13.161
I'm originally from Cuba,
so I have some knowledge
00:53:14.537 --> 00:53:15.785
about the culture.
00:53:15.785 --> 00:53:19.960
I grew up there and then came
to the United States in the 60s.
00:53:20.827 --> 00:53:25.342
So, some of the things that I read
are a little bit easier
00:53:25.342 --> 00:53:28.310
to associate with and to understand.
00:53:28.310 --> 00:53:30.688
A lot of the material
is actually in Spanish.
00:53:30.688 --> 00:53:32.121
These two happen to be in English,
00:53:32.121 --> 00:53:33.950
but there's a lot of others
that are in Spanish.
00:53:33.950 --> 00:53:35.913
Some of it is also in French.
00:53:36.589 --> 00:53:39.993
So, as I write about the documents
I also end up translating them.
00:53:40.524 --> 00:53:44.424
But yeah, you're right,
it's a matter of choice
00:53:44.424 --> 00:53:46.593
and judgment.
00:53:48.601 --> 00:53:50.089
I don't know if
I've answered your question.
00:53:50.089 --> 00:53:51.735
(audience member 2) No, no,
that's perfectly fine.
00:53:51.735 --> 00:53:53.422
That's what I figured
you were going to say!
00:53:53.422 --> 00:53:55.498
I was just curious how the--
00:53:55.498 --> 00:53:58.109
You don't want those little,
that flotsam and jetsam
00:53:58.109 --> 00:54:00.573
to be flotsam and jetsam,
to be lost forever--
00:54:00.573 --> 00:54:05.481
(Eloy) And some of it's a little bit...
of a reputation, for example,
00:54:06.698 --> 00:54:09.071
I read something,
and then I read something later,
00:54:09.071 --> 00:54:12.484
another newspaper article
and it repeats it.
00:54:12.484 --> 00:54:16.644
For example, the case of Pelaez,
later in the 90s, I believe,
00:54:16.644 --> 00:54:19.557
when they started doing some shows
in Miami
00:54:19.557 --> 00:54:23.089
there was some antagonism
from a certain group
00:54:23.089 --> 00:54:25.575
a more conservative group
of the Cuban community
00:54:25.575 --> 00:54:26.731
that opposed that,
00:54:26.731 --> 00:54:29.986
because she was obviously from Cuba
and she died in Cuba.
00:54:30.709 --> 00:54:33.276
And there were some
newspaper articles on that.
00:54:33.276 --> 00:54:37.061
But then there was also movement
from within the Miami community
00:54:37.061 --> 00:54:39.653
that said, "Hey, you know,
this is not fair, this is not right.
00:54:39.653 --> 00:54:40.708
Let's...Let's...
00:54:42.902 --> 00:54:45.989
Let's pay homage to this woman."
00:54:46.433 --> 00:54:49.441
And I think one of the things that Olga
mentioned about Jose Gomez Sicre,
00:54:49.441 --> 00:54:51.540
I think you implied that there was a--
00:54:51.540 --> 00:54:53.676
I think you used the term Cold Warrior...
00:54:54.778 --> 00:54:58.090
in there, and there was also
some articles about him.
00:54:58.090 --> 00:55:02.762
For example, he actually was
very favorable towards Amelia Pelaez
00:55:02.762 --> 00:55:06.661
because most of her art
is really non-political.
00:55:07.139 --> 00:55:10.024
He was not as favorable,
I think in some cases
00:55:10.024 --> 00:55:13.165
than was [Wilfredo Lam],
who tended to be more...
00:55:15.310 --> 00:55:17.111
leaning socialist, and all that.
00:55:17.111 --> 00:55:20.729
So that's one of the things
that I do find in doing this research
00:55:20.729 --> 00:55:25.199
is how the politics
begin to play in here.
00:55:26.837 --> 00:55:29.621
(Mari Carmen) Yeah, and for
Gomez Sicre, the politics,
00:55:29.621 --> 00:55:31.569
you have to take into consideration
00:55:31.569 --> 00:55:34.763
that he is of the Organization
of American States,
00:55:36.435 --> 00:55:38.051
he is an employee,
00:55:38.051 --> 00:55:42.215
so he has to follow
this political position
00:55:42.215 --> 00:55:44.297
within the organization itself,
00:55:44.297 --> 00:55:48.319
even though he worked from 1946 on,
but he's so many things.
00:55:48.319 --> 00:55:54.450
He was part of, he saw McCarthyism,
then he saw the Cold War
00:55:54.450 --> 00:55:58.319
the changes to the Alliance for Progress
in Latin America and those shifts.
00:55:58.319 --> 00:56:00.689
So, he would see money coming in,
money taken out,
00:56:00.689 --> 00:56:01.917
money coming in...
00:56:01.917 --> 00:56:04.473
The foundations themselves,
the Rockefeller Foundation
00:56:04.473 --> 00:56:07.005
giving him money in the 1960s,
00:56:07.005 --> 00:56:10.265
and the Rockefeller Foundation
giving money in 1945,
00:56:10.265 --> 00:56:13.504
prior to him joining
the Pan-American Union
00:56:13.504 --> 00:56:16.072
to create the archive,
the actual archive
00:56:16.072 --> 00:56:19.048
to what we see today
at the Art Museum of the Americas
00:56:19.048 --> 00:56:21.748
that came as a grant
from the Rockefeller Foundation
00:56:21.748 --> 00:56:23.465
during World War II.
00:56:23.465 --> 00:56:28.124
So, that is something that we,
in reading between the lines,
00:56:28.124 --> 00:56:30.528
as Abbie said, these are very short
documents,
00:56:30.528 --> 00:56:32.380
but when we put them together
as a group
00:56:32.380 --> 00:56:36.404
we start seeing what was happening
in terms of his politics.
00:56:36.404 --> 00:56:39.842
One of the surprises
in the archives for us
00:56:39.842 --> 00:56:43.235
was finding newspapers from Cuba
00:56:43.235 --> 00:56:47.472
from between 1963 and 1964
which at the time
00:56:47.472 --> 00:56:52.328
seems that he was being investigated
at the FBI, at the CIA.
00:56:52.328 --> 00:56:56.337
But he had this relationship
with Alejandro Carpentier
00:56:56.337 --> 00:57:00.083
that went all the way 20 years back
and he was the one
00:57:00.083 --> 00:57:03.676
sending these newspapers
that were coming to his residence
00:57:03.676 --> 00:57:07.140
and he would move
into the OAS for protection.
00:57:07.140 --> 00:57:10.249
So, there's a little bit of that
Cold Warrior...
00:57:10.249 --> 00:57:13.873
in the public imagination, but I think
this opened more lines of inquiry
00:57:13.873 --> 00:57:17.579
to really looking at what is,
from the institutional point of view,
00:57:17.579 --> 00:57:21.267
what is happening
and how he's choosing his politics.
00:57:22.060 --> 00:57:26.173
Hard to understand certain curatorial
normals that he's following.
00:57:26.173 --> 00:57:28.228
(Eloy) And there's that,
and there's other issues,
00:57:28.228 --> 00:57:31.271
for example, one newspaper article,
I didn't actually document that,
00:57:31.271 --> 00:57:35.293
but then I found it was from
Wilfred Lam's wife,
00:57:35.853 --> 00:57:40.295
in which she basically said
that in Cuba, actually,
00:57:40.555 --> 00:57:45.089
in a hotel, I think it was, it probably
used to be the Hotel Nacional,
00:57:45.089 --> 00:57:47.419
and now it's called Habana Libre,
00:57:47.419 --> 00:57:51.820
in a store there they were selling
fakes of Wilfredo Lam.
00:57:51.820 --> 00:57:55.824
And so that came to her attention
and she ended up writing a letter
00:57:55.824 --> 00:58:00.273
that basically said unless it has a seal
that I have actually signed,
00:58:02.570 --> 00:58:08.886
do not consider it to be
a genuine Wilfredo Lam.
00:58:09.301 --> 00:58:12.586
So it's... I'm just kind of giving you
some of the things I find
00:58:12.586 --> 00:58:15.905
that may not make it
into all of this information.
00:58:15.905 --> 00:58:18.482
But it's just interesting to see
that it's going on,
00:58:18.482 --> 00:58:19.979
that it's happening.
00:58:20.692 --> 00:58:25.761
I will say that this year-long project
has focused on the Gomez Sicre papers
00:58:25.761 --> 00:58:29.417
and to a small degree, with [inaudible]
Eloy and the Giulio Blanc papers,
00:58:29.417 --> 00:58:32.134
but at both the Archives of American Art
and certainly
00:58:32.134 --> 00:58:34.254
at the Organization of American States,
00:58:34.254 --> 00:58:37.289
there are many other archives,
and for this project
00:58:37.289 --> 00:58:42.178
to be funded for additional years,
there's actually an incredible amount of work
00:58:42.178 --> 00:58:44.523
and documents to be recovered.
00:58:44.793 --> 00:58:49.311
But that's forecasting a bit ahead
to the future.
00:58:49.311 --> 00:58:52.355
But certainly, even in a year,
00:58:52.355 --> 00:58:56.611
we hope to have contributed
almost 400 documents
00:58:56.611 --> 00:59:00.096
but there are three and four times
that many, potentially,
00:59:00.096 --> 00:59:02.657
that could fall into this project.
00:59:03.135 --> 00:59:06.189
And just to kind of go on
with teaching a little bit.
00:59:06.189 --> 00:59:09.720
These are the six students
who are in my graduate seminar
00:59:09.720 --> 00:59:12.048
this spring,
and these are their assignments.
00:59:12.455 --> 00:59:16.862
And they each have, I guess,
between four and five documents
00:59:17.659 --> 00:59:20.163
I know Lindsey Muniak,
she's an undergraduate student
00:59:20.163 --> 00:59:23.292
in the department, who's hoping
to actually take on a bit more
00:59:23.292 --> 00:59:27.131
after her honors paper is concluded,
and perhaps to write a bit
00:59:27.131 --> 00:59:30.100
over the summer as well.
00:59:30.100 --> 00:59:34.705
And their topics range
from someone like Torres Garcia
00:59:34.728 --> 00:59:39.840
to a more contemporary figure,
Juan Downey, for instance,
00:59:40.649 --> 00:59:42.570
a video art pioneer.
00:59:42.984 --> 00:59:48.413
They are from the later 1940s
through the 1980s.
00:59:49.363 --> 00:59:53.783
I think in each case the documents
correspond at least in some way
00:59:53.783 --> 00:59:57.206
to the conference paper
the resource that they're putting together
00:59:57.206 --> 00:59:58.551
for the seminar.
00:59:58.551 --> 01:00:02.840
So I tried, in a way, to assign
or to suggest documents
01:00:02.840 --> 01:00:07.525
that have a significance
beyond just the Documents Project
01:00:07.525 --> 01:00:12.182
but that could, in a way,
feed into their other work,
01:00:12.182 --> 01:00:14.150
and their work for their coursework,
01:00:14.150 --> 01:00:17.929
and for me, within the department.
01:00:18.224 --> 01:00:22.809
I have to say, it's been interesting
for me to have had these students
01:00:23.939 --> 01:00:25.573
to involve in this project.
01:00:25.573 --> 01:00:28.242
It seemed like a good opportunity
for graduate students
01:00:28.242 --> 01:00:32.124
to give them an opportunity
to publish and to contribute to
01:00:32.124 --> 01:00:37.141
what I think is going to be a real key
document and archive in the field,
01:00:37.141 --> 01:00:41.714
and for them to be credited as authors,
both in the digital version
01:00:41.714 --> 01:00:45.103
and in the print form
of the Documents Project,
01:00:45.343 --> 01:00:47.127
but also to expose them
01:00:47.437 --> 01:00:50.970
to this digital humanities
initiative in general.
01:00:51.598 --> 01:00:54.609
To see what the process is
for cataloging
01:00:55.137 --> 01:00:58.597
even if they don't get into the selection
of documents.
01:00:58.597 --> 01:01:01.913
And then to write them up,
in two parts.
01:01:01.913 --> 01:01:03.710
I don't know if we explained this.
01:01:03.710 --> 01:01:07.058
There's a short synopsis,
perhaps 100-200 words
01:01:07.336 --> 01:01:10.057
and then a longer annotation,
300-400 words
01:01:10.406 --> 01:01:14.294
in which the students--and I think
the drafts I have received
01:01:14.294 --> 01:01:16.048
have been quite intelligent--
01:01:16.048 --> 01:01:20.880
The students then put their document
into the larger context
01:01:20.880 --> 01:01:23.988
both within the Gomez Sicre papers,
in their case,
01:01:24.542 --> 01:01:28.033
but then within the field itself,
of Latin American
01:01:28.033 --> 01:01:31.121
or just of modern art.
01:01:31.121 --> 01:01:34.222
So, I enjoyed working with these students.
01:01:34.222 --> 01:01:38.033
I'm just beginning to get the first drafts
of their documents in.
01:01:38.597 --> 01:01:40.590
We have a session coming up
in a couple of weeks
01:01:40.590 --> 01:01:44.215
where we'll workshop
these entries together in seminar,
01:01:44.824 --> 01:01:49.473
and kind of polish them to refine them,
before sending them to Olga!
01:01:50.018 --> 01:01:52.989
And then she will eventually send them
down to Houston
01:01:52.989 --> 01:01:56.334
and we'll look forward, of course,
to seeing them come out
01:01:56.334 --> 01:01:59.810
in digital and in print form.
01:02:01.652 --> 01:02:05.249
That's really the end of the presentation,
01:02:06.697 --> 01:02:09.152
my part, or our part of the presentation
that I had planned.
01:02:09.152 --> 01:02:13.138
These are just, again,
taking familiar images.
01:02:13.138 --> 01:02:17.116
I guess in the time that we have left,
I'd love to have a conversation about
01:02:18.610 --> 01:02:20.501
the challenges,
01:02:20.501 --> 01:02:23.753
the real meaning, the importance
of this kind of project,
01:02:24.204 --> 01:02:27.110
not only for Art History
but within the humanities.
01:02:27.387 --> 01:02:29.310
I'll say, I think I mentioned this
to someone earlier,
01:02:29.310 --> 01:02:31.038
this has been my first venture
01:02:31.038 --> 01:02:33.800
into anything digital in Art History.
01:02:33.800 --> 01:02:36.455
And I have to say, I confess
to a real ignorance on my part.
01:02:36.455 --> 01:02:42.533
I don't know that there are comparable
archives elsewhere in the humanities
01:02:42.533 --> 01:02:45.944
and how something like this
at a Museum of Houston
01:02:45.944 --> 01:02:50.324
might actually correlate to other efforts
within Latin America,
01:02:50.324 --> 01:02:54.225
as you were saying earlier,
with the libraries or other projects.
01:02:54.654 --> 01:02:57.800
Certainly more
[unclear] to take questions!
01:02:58.160 --> 01:03:00.849
(audience member 4) We only have
a few minutes left,
01:03:02.667 --> 01:03:04.852
but if you do have a question
or a comment
01:03:04.852 --> 01:03:06.259
please feel free.
01:03:06.521 --> 01:03:09.403
(audience member 5) I have a question
just about student participation
01:03:09.403 --> 01:03:10.737
in the project.
01:03:12.213 --> 01:03:17.137
It's always a tricky thing when students
are doing intellectual work for a project
01:03:17.137 --> 01:03:19.459
to make sure
that they get sufficient credit
01:03:20.506 --> 01:03:22.309
for the work that they do.
01:03:22.309 --> 01:03:25.784
So how will their work be recognized
in the larger archive
01:03:25.784 --> 01:03:29.117
once it moves through to it?
01:03:30.266 --> 01:03:34.966
(Mari Carmen) We are giving them credit
if the entries are outstanding.
01:03:35.453 --> 01:03:37.442
They appear as researchers.
01:03:37.442 --> 01:03:40.244
If they're fine, they appear
as collaborators
01:03:40.244 --> 01:03:44.118
after the name of the person
who looks at the reviews.
01:03:44.118 --> 01:03:49.196
So, for example, the synopsis
and annotations from Maryland
01:03:49.196 --> 01:03:52.041
if they're outstanding, they would be
by themselves.
01:03:52.041 --> 01:03:56.055
If not, they would have Abbie's name
and then their name, as collaborator.
01:03:56.279 --> 01:04:00.695
And that is part of the publishing idea,
and part of the project
01:04:00.695 --> 01:04:04.370
in motivating the engagement
or artists, of students,
01:04:04.370 --> 01:04:07.461
and creating these very young scholars
to start developing,
01:04:07.461 --> 01:04:09.787
and providing that foundation
for them
01:04:09.787 --> 01:04:13.306
in terms of publication and participating
in larger projects
01:04:13.306 --> 01:04:16.409
that are recognized in a scholarly
point of view.
01:04:16.409 --> 01:04:19.399
(audience member 5) I think
this kind of work is really important.
01:04:24.659 --> 01:04:27.434
(audience member 4) Any other questions,
comments, before we wrap?
01:04:30.680 --> 01:04:32.788
(audience member 6) You all mentioned
the importance of linking the documents,
01:04:32.788 --> 01:04:35.127
and that there was beginning
to be some work in that.
01:04:35.127 --> 01:04:40.093
I was curious as to, how is the group
considering linking them?
01:04:40.093 --> 01:04:41.980
Is it going to be in a more
curatorial process?
01:04:41.980 --> 01:04:45.955
or do they directly connect this work
to this other work explicitly?
01:04:45.955 --> 01:04:48.206
Or will it be through
a tagging system possibly?
01:04:48.206 --> 01:04:51.256
like grouping together
categories via tags?
01:04:53.103 --> 01:04:55.086
(Mari Carmen) In the forms
that are filled out,
01:04:55.086 --> 01:05:00.730
because this is digital,
but there's a lot of handwriting
01:05:00.730 --> 01:05:04.481
a lot of typing that goes into the
actual papers that we see.
01:05:04.481 --> 01:05:08.052
There are certain keywords
that we include for each document,
01:05:08.052 --> 01:05:13.088
so we're asked that we,
the researchers, include as many,
01:05:13.385 --> 01:05:15.602
could be locations,
could be workgroups
01:05:15.602 --> 01:05:17.830
could be dates, could be the countries.
01:05:17.830 --> 01:05:22.168
So there are wider keywords
for the searchable part
01:05:22.168 --> 01:05:26.285
of the search engine to work.
01:05:27.321 --> 01:05:31.573
That's the way that it is,
in terms of if you write...
01:05:33.906 --> 01:05:37.132
for example, a country, Chile,
01:05:37.132 --> 01:05:39.744
so that will pull all
the documents from Chile.
01:05:39.744 --> 01:05:42.403
If you say Downey,
then that will connect Downey
01:05:42.403 --> 01:05:45.576
with his presence, not only in Chile
but in Washington, DC.
01:05:45.753 --> 01:05:49.941
And the other way that we're doing it,
in looking at the overall, for example,
01:05:49.941 --> 01:05:52.611
for Washington DC,
especially these collections
01:05:52.611 --> 01:05:56.213
that interconnect, we are writing
in the annotation,
01:05:57.040 --> 01:05:59.313
"if you're interested in this topic,
see document..."
01:05:59.313 --> 01:06:03.870
and we provide the number of
the document, the database number,
01:06:03.870 --> 01:06:06.633
so people can look at
those documents as well.
01:06:06.633 --> 01:06:11.980
But I think that will be the next stage
of the development of the database
01:06:11.980 --> 01:06:16.083
which is a custom-made database
out of Sao Paolo, Brazil
01:06:16.083 --> 01:06:19.687
with a team of database designers.
01:06:20.299 --> 01:06:23.457
So, that's something that is constantly
evolving and I guess
01:06:23.457 --> 01:06:28.290
with the changes in technology,
we hopefully will see it.
01:06:28.290 --> 01:06:30.794
And I think they're considering it
at this moment.
01:06:32.279 --> 01:06:34.668
And, if not, we will let them know...
01:06:34.668 --> 01:06:35.762
(audience laughs)
01:06:35.762 --> 01:06:38.403
...about this presentation,
about these suggestions.
01:06:39.807 --> 01:06:43.276
(Abbie) Olga and I are working also
on adding a couple of sentences
01:06:43.276 --> 01:06:46.461
a short paragraph to all of the entries
that are coming out
01:06:46.461 --> 01:06:48.136
of the Gomez Sicre papers.
01:06:48.136 --> 01:06:51.060
Just so that the people
who maybe happen upon
01:06:51.060 --> 01:06:55.693
one of these documents,
not necessarily looking for them
01:06:56.115 --> 01:06:59.568
would know actually the site,
the repository from where it came.
01:06:59.568 --> 01:07:02.276
And so that they just don't see
these documents as well,
01:07:03.294 --> 01:07:05.758
this exhibition on Downey,
maybe it actually did come out of Santiago
01:07:05.758 --> 01:07:10.331
in fact, there's a very specific site,
site-specificity as it were,
01:07:10.331 --> 01:07:15.824
for these documents, and we want
to actually retain that in our annotation.
01:07:15.824 --> 01:07:18.836
Just to kind of recognize that,
and even call attention to it,
01:07:18.836 --> 01:07:20.759
even if it's given in the cataloging
information
01:07:20.759 --> 01:07:24.585
just to highlight its location.
01:07:26.577 --> 01:07:27.439
You had a question?
01:07:27.439 --> 01:07:28.613
(audience member) They're on next.
01:07:29.356 --> 01:07:32.994
(Mari Carmen) I wanted to comment
something on digital humanities.
01:07:32.994 --> 01:07:36.597
This project, there is a project
out of the University of Houston
01:07:36.597 --> 01:07:38.466
and it's Latino literature.
01:07:38.466 --> 01:07:43.353
And it follows certain similarities
in terms of the format
01:07:43.353 --> 01:07:45.239
of this project.
01:07:45.239 --> 01:07:50.165
That was started by
Nicolas Kanellos in the 1990s
01:07:50.165 --> 01:07:53.596
and it looks at US-Latino production
in literature.
01:07:54.656 --> 01:07:58.082
So, there's a conversation
between the Houston Museum
01:07:58.082 --> 01:08:02.577
and the University of Houston
in terms of exchanging the know-how
01:08:02.577 --> 01:08:05.496
and also the best practices.
01:08:06.347 --> 01:08:10.288
And [inaudible] Martin,
who was the first cataloger,
01:08:10.288 --> 01:08:11.798
she worked for the project
01:08:11.798 --> 01:08:13.982
and in fact she was recruited
after working there
01:08:13.982 --> 01:08:16.586
to come to work on this project.
So there's a little bit
01:08:16.586 --> 01:08:19.515
of that interconnection
in terms of the digital humanities.
01:08:22.299 --> 01:08:25.155
Well, with that,
let's thank our presenters
01:08:25.155 --> 01:08:27.579
for a very interesting presentation.
01:08:27.579 --> 01:08:29.207
(audience applauds)