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This document transcribes a poster that appeared in the window of a commercial gallery near the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella [Torcuato Di Tella Institute] in Buenos Aires. The text, dated 10 p.m. on September 30, 1966, mentions the idea of convening a “jurado popular” [“people’s jury”]; it criticizes the actions of the jury that selected—following its own“gusto pop” [“Pop taste”]—Susana Salgado’s work for the First Prize 1965, which the text considered to be a trivial work.
The Premio Instituto Torcuato Di Tella [Torcuato Di Tella Institute Prize] was established in 1960, a few months after the creation of the Centro de Arte del Instituto Torcuato Di Tella [The Art Center of the Torcuato Di Tella Institute] (ITDT). The latter organization was run by a board composed of Lionello Venturi, Ricardo Camino, Guido Di Tella and Jorge Romero Brest. The Centro was dedicated to the dissemination and promotion of the visual arts as well as to maintaining contact with other centers linked to national and foreign production. The Premio ITDT was created to award opportunities to young Argentinean artists to enrich their experiences abroad. The Premio ITDT not only awarded prizes/scholarships, but also favored the dissemination of international art within the local scene. This made it an important institution for the renaissance OR revival or growth? of the visual arts at the time. The prize was awarded to both national and international artists until 1967, with a few variations according to the given year. In 1967 it became known as the Experiencias Visuales [Visual Practices]. Later, in 1968 and 1969 it became known solely as Experiencias [Practices]. In 1963 Romero Brest resigned as director of the Museo National de Bellas Artes [National Museum of Fine Arts] and accepted the position of director of the Centro de Artes Visuales [Center of Visual Arts] of the ITDT.La Menesunda [Hodgepodge] was an exhibition based on a project by Marta Minujin and Rubén Santantonín, with the collaboration of Pablo Suárez, David Lamelas, Rodolfo Prayón, Floreal Amor and Leopoldo Maler. It took place from May 18 to June 6, 1965. It was composed of various environments that produced different situations: a half-lit room, a dark chamber, a glass capsule with rain made of torn paper, a cold vault, etc. It was conceived within the spirit of ¡Revuélquese y viva! [Roll Around and Live!], a work acquired by the ITDT from Minujín in 1964. La Menesunda attracted attention; it also allowed for a consideration of the controversies stirred up by Pop art in Argentina.This text documents the reception given the Premio Torcuato Di Tella [Torcuato Di Tella Prize], especially in relation to the public’s attitudes concerning the jury’s performance, as well as the ruptures with artistic language proposed by the works presented.