#Marta Traba

[wisegardenbluebird]

IDA VITALE CUMPLE CIEN AÑOS

EUFEMÉRIDES La poeta Ida Vitale, Premio Cervantes en 2018, cumple un  siglo de vida en plenas facultades Francisco R. Pastoriza          El abuelo paterno de Ida Vitale, Félix Vitale D’Amico, llegó a Uruguay desde Sicilia después de un viaje terrible en un barco destartalado. Había participado en las guerras de unificación de Italia formando parte de las brigadas de Garibaldi, y llegó…

[proustian-dream]

Beatriz Daza, Fragmentos de la tarde, 1966.

Ensamblaje de objetos, fragmentos de cerámica.

[ursula8a]

Visité la exposición Viceversa en el MAMBO de Bogotá y me encantó la museografía, el guion, y cómo en cada piso del museo se encontraban artistas de diferentes generaciones proponiendo encuentros formales lúdicos en cada uno de sus ejes curatoriales: Memoria, Identidad y Disonancias...

La exposición, sin duda, planteó toda una experiencia visual a través de una conexión de obras que daban forma a un gran catálogo de posibilidades, que desafiaban las convenciones narrativas que han determinado esta clase de exposiciones.

Por otro lado, le guste a unos o no, encontrarse con la figura de Marta Traba, poder rememorar y recordarla, siempre será encantador, pues sería de tontos no reconocer su papel en la historia del arte colombiano, y por supuesto, como fundadora del MAMBO. 🫶🏼

"Viceversa: posiciones y perspectivas de una colección reúne más de 400 obras de la Colección del Museo. Actualmente la Colección cuenta con más de 5.000 piezas de artistas nacionales e internacionales que tienen una especial relevancia en la historia del arte moderno colombiano y latinoamericano".

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Marta Traba

Art critic Marta Traba was born in 1930 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Traba was highly influential in the study of Latin American art and one of the most prominent contemporary art critics. Over the course of her career, she taught at over 20 universities, published 22 books on art history and criticism as well as over a thousand articles on topics related to art. Traba also wrote novels, the most famous of which was Conversación al Sur, a book about Argentina's Dirty War.

Marta Traba died in 1983 at the age of 53.

[house-onthe-hill]

Last five read:

The Plague - Albert Camus (eng)

Conversación Al Sur - Marta Traba (esp)

Sophie’s World - Jostein Gaarder (eng)

La muerte feliz de William Carlos Williams - Marta Aponte Alsina (esp)

The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes (eng)

[pharology101]

LOTD: Berlenga

~sorry for delay - meant for November 15th, 2023~

(from: https://www.ibiblio.org/lighthouse/prtc.htm)

Berlenga (Farol Duque de Bragança)1842. Active; focal plane 121 m (397 ft); white flash every 10 s. 29 m (95 ft) square stone tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1-story keeper's complex. Tower painted white with unpainted stone trim; lantern painted red. Fog horn (one 6 s blast every 28 s). Wikimedia has another good photo, Francisco Carmona has an excellent 2023 photo, Trabas has a photo by José da Palma, Marinas.com has aerial photos, Huelse has a historic postcard view, and Google has a satellite view. Berlenga Grande is the largest of three small islands about 9 km (5.5 mi) west northwest of Cabo Carvoeiro. There is an anchorage on the southeast side of the island, and transportation is available from Peniche. Because the islands lie directly on the coastal shipping lanes, the lighthouse has always been considered one of the most important in Portugal. In 1897 a hyperradiant Fresnel lens (larger than first order) was installed: one of only a few dozen such lenses ever built. The great lens was removed in 1985 when the light was electrified and a modern 400 mm (16 in) lens installed. One of the three panels of the lens is now on display at the Lighthouse Directorate's museum in Paço de Arcos, and another is displayed at the Santa Marta lighthouse near Lisbon. The light was solarized in 2000 without reducing its 43 km (27 mi) range. Located at the highest point of the western side of the island. Site open, lighthouse open on Wednesday afternoons. . ARLHS POR-004; PT-136; Admiralty D2086; NGA 3336.

(photo found here; ©F Nando on Wikimedia)

[rethinkingconceptualism]

Acts of Decontextualising Again: On the Risks of Auto-Exoticism in “O Quilombismo” at House of World Cultures

Katerina Valdivia Bruch

What do the Dalit in India have in common with indigenous art from the Amazonas region in Perú, the Mapuche from Chile or the Afro-communities in Brazil? Resistance, resistance, resistance. 

The exhibition “O Quilombismo” takes as a basis a book by Brazilian artist, scholar and politician Abdias do Nascimento, who wrote “O quilombismo: Documentos de uma militância Pan-Africanista” in 1980, while he was living in exile in the US. The notion encompasses the idea of a group of people, who escaped from slavery, establishing communities of “fraternal and free reunion, or encounter; solidarity, living together, and existential communion.”

In Berlin, under the term “Quilombismo” the exhibition presented works that refer to the Dalit, indigenous groups from the Amazonas region in Perú and the Mapuche in Chile, as if all have to do with the same cause. While the caste system existed before the British colony (ca. 1500 BC), the “quilombos” were communities created by Afro-Brazilians, who escaped from slavery in the sixteenth century. Another example of decontextualisation happens with the inclusion of art by popular artists from the Amazonas region (the shipibo-conibo community from Pucallpa). These and other indigenous groups suffered from the consequences of the rubber boom extractivism in the Amazon basin (ca. 1870-1920). Although they officially were not slaves, they were treated as such. The exhibition puts everything in the same basket, without differentiating the importance and the meaning of each one of these struggles. 

The display resembles a traditional folk craft fair, with batik textiles hanging from the ceiling, traditional “arte popular” (popular art) pottery displayed on a half-moon base structure with two levels, or hand-woven textiles attached on the walls. Although the exhibition offers a supposed “pluriverse,” for me it presents a closed circuit, in which minorities are presented as the idealised exotic other. The artists are reduced to their identity, although identities are newer static. They are always in constant transformation. The opening ceremony included a Voodoo ritual, convened by the Voodoo priest Jean-Daniel Lafontant from Haití. While this ritual might have had a transformative power in its original context; in Berlin after two or three beers and some selfies with friends (with the ritual in the background), Berliners would have probably forgotten about it. 

“We are coming in peace,” said Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, the newly appointed director and chief curator of House of World Cultures (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, HKW for its German acronym) during his opening speech. Although he has been active in the art scene for several years, his phrase appeared as if he and his team were arriving from a spaceship and landing at HKW to conquer the art scene with their “new” vision of the arts. However, his view of the arts is not new at all, as it is based on theories developed long time ago.

Beyond Abdias do Nascimento, throughout the 1970s and 1980s several Latin American art theorists discussed the importance of focusing on local contexts, which included reflecting on the local popular cultures with an anti-colonial and anti-imperialist tenor. Influenced by the theory of dependency, a group of Latin American theorists gathered in different international meetings and reflected on the creation of a social theory of art from a Latin Americanist perspective. Among them were Mirko Lauer, Juan Acha, Rita Eder, Aracy Amaral, Damián Bayón or Marta Traba. Although the discussions around “arte popular” (local popular art) were not exempt from contradictions, there were attempts to present popular art within contemporary exhibition settings. For instance, the first three editions of the Bienal de la Habana (1984, 1986 and 1989). Knowing this, I wonder why the curators at HKW did not invest more time in researching this Latin Americanist perspective, and present works that would be in tune with the localist and anti-colonial tendency of the arts of that time. 

Today, it is common in the art world to decontextualise, in order to present the past from a “new” and “different” perspective. In this show, instead of going deeper into what “Quilombismo” means, the exhibition mixes completely unrelated topics in the same show. Additionally, one needs to check the reader all the time to find out about the works and the artists. Instead of learning and understanding, I came out of the exhibition with a huge question mark, thinking of what it was all about. 

Although the art world is currently working hard on being “inclusive,” the fact is that we are experiencing censorship in the arts. This is exemplified in the constant exposure of the work by Ukrainian artists and Ukrainian flags waving on top of important museums; while Russian artists are not exhibited (since the current war in Ukraine, everything coming from Russia is considered as evil). While Berlin praises itself for being open to people from different cultural backgrounds, a week ago I witnessed a disappointing situation. On a rooftop terrace close to Berlin Zoo, two Muslim men were sitting in silence doing their afternoon prayer. After a few minutes, a waiter from the nearby bar came out and asked them to stop praying and leave the terrace. While the two men were not disturbing anyone, I wonder whose inclusion we are discussing.

In times of Chat GPT and AI, in the art world it is all about “our ancestors.” And yet, whose ancestors are we talking about? Did the ancestors do things better? Was there a paradise in the past that we need to recover? Paradoxically, the ancestors invented patriarchy and the caste system. Instead of putting people into boxes, defining them by their identity, and decontextualising the history of past social struggles, one shall think about what we have in common as human beings; collaborate despite our differences, and reflect on possibilities on how to do things better than our ancestors.

Image: Installation view of “O Quilombismo” at HKW. Photo: Katerina Valdivia Bruch

[artatak-texts]

Acts of Decontextualising Again: On the Risks of Auto-Exoticism in “O Quilombismo” at House of World Cultures

Katerina Valdivia Bruch

What do the Dalit in India have in common with indigenous art from the Amazonas region in Peru, the Mapuche from Chile or the Afro-communities in Brazil? Resistance, resistance, resistance. 

The exhibition “O Quilombismo” takes as a basis a book by Brazilian artist, scholar and politician Abdias do Nascimento, who wrote “O quilombismo: Documentos de uma militância Pan-Africanista” in 1980, while he was living in exile in the US. The notion encompasses the idea of a group of people, who escaped from slavery, establishing communities of “fraternal and free reunion, or encounter; solidarity, living together, and existential communion.”

In Berlin, under the term “Quilombismo” the exhibition presented works that refer to the Dalit, indigenous groups from the Amazonas region in Peru and the Mapuche in Chile, as if all have to do with the same cause. While the caste system existed before the British colony (ca. 1500 BC), the “quilombos” were communities created by Afro-Brazilians, who escaped from slavery in the sixteenth century. Another example of decontextualisation happens with the inclusion of art by popular artists from the Amazonas region (the shipibo-conibo community from Pucallpa). These and other indigenous groups suffered from the consequences of the rubber boom extractivism in the Amazon basin (ca. 1870-1920). Although they officially were not slaves, they were treated as such. The exhibition puts everything in the same basket, without differentiating the importance and the meaning of each one of these struggles. 

The display resembles a traditional folk craft fair, with batik textiles hanging from the ceiling, traditional “arte popular” (popular art) pottery displayed on a half-moon base structure with two levels, or hand-woven textiles attached on the walls. Although the exhibition offers a supposed “pluriverse,” for me it presents a closed circuit, in which minorities are presented as the idealised exotic other. The artists are reduced to their identity, although identities are never static. They are always in constant transformation. The opening ceremony included a Voodoo ritual, convened by the Voodoo priest Jean-Daniel Lafontant from Haiti. While this ritual might have had a transformative power in its original context; in Berlin after two or three beers and some selfies with friends (with the ritual in the background), Berliners would have probably forgotten about it. 

“We are coming in peace,” said Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, the newly appointed director and chief curator of House of World Cultures (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, HKW for its German acronym) during his opening speech. Although he has been active in the art scene for several years, his phrase appeared as if he and his team were arriving from a spaceship and landing at HKW to conquer the art scene with their “new” vision of the arts. However, his view of the arts is not new at all, as it is based on theories developed long time ago.

Beyond Abdias do Nascimento, throughout the 1970s and 1980s several Latin American art theorists discussed the importance of focusing on local contexts, which included reflecting on the local popular cultures with an anti-colonial and anti-imperialist tenor. Influenced by the theory of dependency, a group of Latin American theorists gathered in different international meetings and reflected on the creation of a social theory of art from a Latin Americanist perspective. Among them were Mirko Lauer, Juan Acha, Rita Eder, Aracy Amaral, Damián Bayón or Marta Traba. Although the discussions around “arte popular” (local popular art) were not exempt from contradictions, there were attempts to present popular art within contemporary exhibition settings. For instance, the first three editions of the Bienal de la Habana (1984, 1986 and 1989). Knowing this, I wonder why the curators at HKW did not invest more time in researching this Latin Americanist perspective, and present works that would be in tune with the localist and anti-colonial tendency of the arts of that time. 

Today, it is common in the art world to decontextualise, in order to present the past from a “new” and “different” perspective. In this show, instead of going deeper into what “Quilombismo” means, the exhibition mixes completely unrelated topics in the same show. Additionally, one needs to check the reader all the time to find out about the works and the artists. Instead of learning and understanding, I came out of the exhibition with a huge question mark, thinking of what it was all about. 

Although the art world is currently working hard on being “inclusive,” the fact is that we are experiencing censorship in the arts. This is exemplified in the constant exposure of the work by Ukrainian artists and Ukrainian flags waving on top of important museums; while Russian artists are not exhibited (since the current war in Ukraine, everything coming from Russia is considered as evil). While Berlin praises itself for being open to people from different cultural backgrounds, a week ago I witnessed a disappointing situation. On a rooftop terrace close to Berlin Zoo, two Muslim men were sitting in silence doing their afternoon prayer. After a few minutes, a waiter from the nearby bar came out and asked them to stop praying and leave the terrace. While the two men were not disturbing anyone, I wonder whose inclusion we are discussing.

In times of Chat GPT and AI, in the art world it is all about “our ancestors.” And yet, whose ancestors are we talking about? Did the ancestors do things better? Was there a paradise in the past that we need to recover? Paradoxically, the ancestors invented patriarchy and the caste system. Instead of putting people into boxes, defining them by their identity, and decontextualising the history of past social struggles, one shall think about what we have in common as human beings; collaborate despite our differences, and reflect on possibilities on how to do things better than our ancestors.

Photo: Installation view of “O Quilombismo” at HKW. © Katerina Valdivia Bruch

This article is also available on Medium.

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[qoctc]

Presenta IEC libro sobre el avionazo que cobró la vida de Ibargüengoitia y otros personajes de la cultura. A dos días del 95° aniversario del natalicio del escritor guanajuatenses Jorge Ibargüengoitia, el Instituto Estatal de la Cultura, a través de Ediciones La Rana, realizó la primera presentación en Guanajuato del libro “Olafo y los amigos. Jorge Ibargüengoitia y el avionazo de Avianca en 1983”. El Museo Palacio de los Poderes fue el escenario para el evento, que contó con la participación de Adriana Camarena de Obeso, directora del Instituto Estatal de la Cultura; Mauricio Vázquez González, director de Ediciones La Rana; Amaranta Caballero, compiladora y el escritor Ricardo García Muñoz, uno de los autores convocados al volumen. “Olafo y los amigos” no sólo habla de la pluma cuevanense, también está dedicado a otros personajes que fallecieron en aquel accidente, mientras viajaban al I Encuentro de la Cultura Hispanoamericana convocado en Colombia, como: Marta Traba, Ángel Rama, Manuel Scorza y Rosa Sabater. (en Palacio de los Poderes) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn5SU7CvjTf/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[artesvisuales501]

Marta Traba

[cinemaslife]

#49 Tres (2021)

Ce (Marta Nieto) es una ingeniera de sonido que está empezando a sentirse descompasada en la vida, esto le afecta en su trabajo y en su día a día, por lo que acude al médico que no le da muchas más opciones que hacerle un test genético o indicarle que, probablemente, sea estrés. Cosa que a Ce le parece un cuento chino.

Ce se tiene que ir de su casa, y vuelve a casa con su madre, con la que tampoco tiene mucho trato, su neuróloga le indica que la muestra que le dio de su madre, no coincide y que no puede ser su madre, a lo que ella no le da mayor importancia y decide hacer como si nada.

Parece ser que Ce de pequeña tuvo algunos problemas con el habla y con escuchar voces y fue tratada por un psicólogo y un pedagogo para intentar solucionar sus problemas, todo aquello parece que está volviendo a su vida de otra manera, y ahora se siente cada vez más desincronizada. Pese a que está de baja vuelve al trabajo, allí también trabaja su ex Iván (Miki Esparbé) con quien tiene una relación intermitente.

Su madre fallece repentinamente y ella se siente cada vez más desincronizada con la vida, ante esta perdida no sabe como continuar y le abruma la situación, por lo que decide medir con cuanto tiempo de retraso percibe la vida, y ve que es más de un minuto y medio.

Esto la lleva a un estado de ira, ya que al grabarse su voz se nota a sí misma lenta, como con delay. Se hace varias pruebas neurológicas, pero todas salen bien, intenta repasar su historial, pero no hay nada anterior a sus 11 años, y como no cuentan con su historial genético, la derivan a una clínica especializada en neurología para que la puedan ayudar, ya que la monitorizaran y la tendrán más controlada.

Queda con Iván para explicarle su situación y se comunican con una pizarra blanca.

Lo describe como que escucha un pasado aunque no haya estado allí y le pregunta si la cree.

Iván le redescubre el cine mudó y congenian mejor que nunca, pasan la noche juntos y Ce se da cuenta de que vuelve a estar sincronizada, sale a caminar de madrugada para poder demostrárselo a sí misma.

Ahora se siente preparada para escuchar las cintas que grababa con su logopeda, ya que su madre se lo pide como último deseo. Es una grabación con la voz de su madre.

En ella le explica que tuvo tres abortos y que el último la dejó incapaz de tener hijos... ahí la cinta se traba y se sale del casete, logra sincronizarse con la voz de su madre cuando grabó la cinta en su habitación.

En una aldea una niña se quedó embarazada de un chico de la orquesta, y los rumores decían que la chica no estaba bien de la cabeza, que escuchaba voces... Por lo que Ce decide ir a la aldea y buscar a esa chica. Espera fuera de la casa hasta que una mujer aparece con una caja de tomates, deja la puerta abierta para que ella entre cuando quiera. Allí puede sincronizarse con el día en que ella nació... y llora de emoción. Se reúne con la mujer en la cocina donde le ha preparado un café y sin hablarse se reconocen.

Decide mudarse a la aldea y comprar una casa allí, y trabajar desde casa, allí se da cuenta de que está embarazada y de que vuelve a estar desincronizada.

Para un análisis profundo consultad: https://codigocine.com/tres-pelicula-juanjo-gimenez/

[eucanthos]

Marta Traba  (1930 - 1983)

Hernán Díaz, c. 1962 - 63. Photographer’s archive.  Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango. El mundo como una pintura en rollo (exhibithion)

Art critic, writer, known for her contributions to Latin American art and literature. In the early 1960s she co-founded and directed the Museum of Modern Art of Bogotá, which was later moved to the campus of the National University of Colombia.

[wisegardenbluebird]

MARTA TRABA. IN MEMORIAM

MARTA TRABA. IN MEMORIAM

Se publica la primera novela de la escritora que murió en un accidente de aviación en Madrid Francisco R. Pastoriza          La madrugada del 27 de noviembre de 1983 un avión que cubría la línea París-Bogotá se estrelló en las inmediaciones del aeropuerto de Madrid-Barajas. Entre las víctimas del accidente se encontraban el escritor mexicano Jorge Ibargüengoitia, el peruano Manuel Scorza y el…

[communicants]

Read in 2017, #39-42

Marta Traba-Mothers and Shadows

Robert Walser-Girlfriends, Ghosts, and Other Stories

Charlotte Perkins Gilman-The Yellow Wallpaper

Thomas Ligotti-Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe

[wildwomanradfem]

"Yo estoy detrás de mí / inhallada, / aguardando." Marta Traba.