This article on the opening of the Exposición de arte indigenista escolar y popular contains a transcription of the speech that Luis E. Galván, director of Educación Indígena at the Peruvian Ministerio de Educación Pública, gave in the context of the event.
The first issues of the magazine Quipus were published in 1931 by the Dirección de Educación Indígena of the Ministerio de Educación Pública. Issue 4-5 (1932) was published independently by Luis E. Galván, after he had left his post as the director of Dirección de Educación Indígena (DEI). The Exposición de Arte Indigenista Escolar y Popular, held in November 1931, was initially geared solely to the school environment; its aim was “to study the artistic aptitudes of indigenous children, to stimulate teachers and students in their educational efforts, and to support exchange of manual works produced at schools that further the development […] of Peruvian art” (Quipus,No 2, Lima, 1931: 2-3). It was thanks to Indianist painter José Sabogal that the Primera Exposición de Artes Populares aplicadas e industriales was added to the project’s agenda (Quipus, No 3, Lima, December 1931: 4). In early 1932, a decree was issued establishing a single juried event; the members of the jury were Sabogal, Luis E. Valcárcel, and two representatives of the Instituto Pedagógico Nacional (IPN). This was the first exhibition of local popular art ever held in Lima; it formed part of the Indianist movement and illustrated its attempts to make native crafts part of a government-backed cultural agenda. The show was attended by the president of Peru, as well as a number of cabinet members and ambassadors, and representatives of important academic and artistic institutions.
There are many texts on Sabogal in the ICAA digital archive, including the following written by the painter himself: “Arquitectura peruana: la casona arequipeña (doc. no. 1173340), “La cúpula en América” (doc. no. 1125912), “Mariano Florez, artista burilador de "mates" peruanos, murió en Huancayo: José Sabogal su admirador y amigo, le rinde homenaje” (doc. no. 1136695), “Los mates burilados y las estampas del pintor criollo Pancho Fierro” (doc. no. 1173400), “Los 'mates' y el yaraví” (doc. no. 1126008), “La pintura mexicana moderna” (doc. no. 1051636), and “Sala de arte popular peruano en el Museo de la Cultura : selecciones de arte” (doc. no. 1173418).