Introduction to the Dialogues on the Future of Radical Women

Abstract

This Dialogues takes the 2017–18 exhibition Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960–1985 as a starting point to discuss Latin American art today, addressing its history, legacy, and contribution to positive social change through the prism of feminism. Seeking to challenge hegemonic readings of the categories of “Latin America” and “feminism” while reinstating the contribution of Latin American women, Latina/Latinx, and Chicana/Chicanx artists to art and critical thought today, the exhibition Radical Women proposed novel ways of displaying art from the region by embracing multiplicity, attending to the particularity of different contexts, and bringing to the fore common threads of critical and creative practice. Building on that premise, these contributions expand on the original exhibition’s time frame and consider the persistence of feminism and its changing status in Latin American art after 1985. They explore recent artistic practices, curatorial projects, and art historical scholarship; reflect on strategies of display, audience engagement, societal concerns, and epistemological premises; and consider different ways of conceptualizing Latin American and feminist identities, legacies, and genealogies today. By doing so, this Dialogues seeks to enrich and diversify our understanding of past and current practices, as well as highlight the intricate connections and resonances that exist between the two. Contributions by curators (Fajardo-Hill, Rjeille), scholars (Fernández, Lamoni), and artists (Antivilo, Motta) span issues in political activism, ecology, technology, education, genealogy, colonization, heritage, and memory. What emerges is a sense of the field’s present concerns and the ways this is shaping the future direction of feminism in Latin American art and art history.