Talk

Thoughts on Exhibitions From a Latin-American Perspective

Museums and exhibitions are an arrangement of objects, peoples, art works, archeological findings, scientific instruments, etc., specially conceived to show knowledge, display possessions and new acquisitions. They are visibility platforms from where it is possible not only to reflect, but also to affect reality.

Museums, their collections and exhibitions became central spaces in the task of representing the world—an encyclopedic vision of the world. They became a medium of communication that constructs representations through a system of inclusion and exclusion. This has determined the western perception of the world and of art throughout history.

Under this light, what could be the implications and responsibilities of exhibitions as mediums of communication, as political forums, when seen from a Latin-American perspective?

Mariangela Mendez Prencke is curator at Röda Sten Konsthall in Gothenburg. She has a Master in Curatorial Studies from the Center of Curatorial Studies at Bard College in New York. She is PhD candidate in Philosophy, Arts and Critical Thought at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland and has previously worked as an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá). She has curated many exhibitions in Colombia and abroad. She is also a lecturer and writer: in 2015 published her book Seduction: Extreme realism in the 70’s decade in Colombia and in 2016 she received a stipend from the Swedish Authors’ Fund.

Mariangela Mendez Prencke is invited by Lisa Rosendahl, Associate Professor of Exhibition Studies at the Academy of Fine Art, as part of the course Exhibition Histories.