Spain: Ecuadorean Artists Debut Modern Look on Latin America

In an effort to counter Europe’s view of Latin America, 16 Ecuadorean artists will exhibit their art in Madrid’s contemporary art museum La Neomudejar.

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A collection of paintings, photography, embroidery, sculptures, and performance is on debut during the “Geographical Accidents” which targets stereotypes carried over from Spanish colonialism and the “historical tensions” harbored between modern-day “conquistadors” of the industrial companies and Ecuadoreans.

The exhibit is meant to be a modern commentary of the perspectives demonstrated during the 1982 “Historic American Exhibition of Madrid,” which portrayed Ecuador as viewed by its European cousins, displaying collections of raw materials, indigenous crafts, and artifacts as well as mementos of “civilization flourishing” in Latin America.

According to curators Dayana Rivera and Fabiano Kueva, the event will “allow (visitors) to rethink the intimate and collective geographies of a country that is rarely really heard from the north.”

The event will stretch out over an open space, allowing visitors to enjoy a journey through Ecuador from a contemporary perspective which will exemplify the “complex geopolitical negotiations which transpired throughout history,” the pair of art experts said.

Over 20 pieces of artwork created in the mid-2000’s will be on display and include various examples of video-art, documentaries, as well as video-letters from Ecuadorean migrants, exchanged over the 20th and 21st centuries.

A series of photographs taken by Maria Teresa Ponce demonstrates the passage of oil pipelines as they travel from Argentina to Ecuador and finally Venezuela and their controversial presence in those territories.

“The destruction that we see, is like the balance between the absence and presence at the same time, including the economic effects. The oil industry has so much power and it interrupts the undiscovered landscapes and it’s these effects that no one ever sees,” Ponce said.

Inspired by her father, Ponce began her project in 2016 and wished to show the progress of the oil pipelines and demonstrate the important passage from two perspectives, both before and after its arrival, as well as its effects on the economic and social scale.

The Spanish museum of La Neomudejar is a Center of Arts which specializes in both creativity and experimentation. The exhibit “Geographical Accidents” which is funded in part by the Ecuadorean Ministry of Culture and Heritage and the Institute for the Promotion of Arts, Innovation, and Creativities will be open until August 5.