We invite graduate researchers currently working on any topic related to Latin America to join us for a Trouble Shooting Session. Students are invited to bring along any problems or difficulties with their research.

Interested students will have 5 minutes to introduce their research and explain their concerns and struggles regarding their academic work. Then we will spend the next 5-10 minutes discussing these in a peer-to-peer, informal environment.

There are two ways of participating:

• As a speaker: if you want to share your research and have support from your peers in an interdisciplinary context;

• As a listener: if you want to join us and help your peers with your experience, or simply come along and listen to the discussion.

Date: Wednesday 24 June, 1:30 PM - 3 PM
Venue: tbc

Indigenist Fictions: Indigenismo and Print Culture in the Americas
curated by Mariana Rodríguez Barreno

The first half of the twentieth century was a dynamic and prolific period for avant-garde arts and ideas. In the Americas, these movements often turned their attention to Indigenous communities, which became central to modern cultural imaginaries, as reflected in the work of many artists.Interest in Indigenous peoples extended beyond scientific inquiry,  emerging as a powerful source of aesthetic inspiration that transcended its American origins.
During this period, little magazines, travel guides, art books, and other periodicals became key platforms for exploring indigeneity from multiple perspectives—popular arts, education, cultural practices, and more.

This exhibition examines how different avant-garde groups in the Americas portrayed Indigenous cultures through a wide range of printed materials circulating in the modern world. Each piece offers a distinct interpretation of what “the Indigenous” meant in a modernising context—especially as movements like indigenismo shaped cultural identities across the continent.

Highlighting well-known examples like Amauta (1926-1930) magazine but also other rare and striking pieces from Peru (José Sabogal’s “El kero”, “Mates burilados”, etc. or Elena Izcue’s “El arte peruano en la escuela”), Mexico (Frances Toor’s “Guide to Mexico”, Moisés Sáenz “Mexico Íntegro”, or Annita Brenner’s “Mexico Today”), the United States, and England, the exhibition offers a cross-cultural view of how these portrayals varied and intersected. Bringing them together allows audiences to experience this diversity as a whole— contrasting with the fragmented way they are usually approached.

At its core, the exhibition asks: How much of what we see in these portrayals reflects the lived realities of Indigenous cultures, and how much is a fiction shaped by the modern imagination? Together, these materials open a space to reconsider the impact of indigenismo within a

transnational panorama.

FREE entry.