In 1958, Industrias Kaiser Argentina (IKA), [an auto manufacturer] whose headquarters were in the province of Córdoba, launched the I Salón IKA [1st IKA Salon], aimed at giving greater exposure to local artists and their work. The Salon was originally limited to artists from Córdoba, but in the four subsequent editions the scope was widened to include artists from other provinces as well. In 1961, IKA decided to expand the parameters of the event to include the whole country, and organized an international, biennial painting contest. These Latin American Art Biennials were not only promotional vehicles for IKA, they were also an expression of the company’s Pan-American policy, endorsed and promoted by the [Organization of American States] (OAS.)The 1st Latin American Art Biennial opened on June 26, 1962, at the Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Emilio A. Caraffa, in Córdoba. The jury was presided over by Herbert Read, and included José Gómez Sicre, representing the Visual Arts Department of the OAS, and a delegate from each of the participating countries: Augusto Borges Rodríguez, Brazil; Luis García Pardo, Uruguay; Antonio Romero, Chile, and Rafael Squirru, Argentina. According to this document, Jorge Romero Brest was also a member of the jury. Though he did sit on the selection committee for Argentine artists, Romero Brest was actually not one of the jurors at the Biennial since he was out of the country at the time. This document also records the names of the director of the Biennial, Luis M. Varela; the administrative secretary, Pedro Pont Vergés; the general organizer, Victor M. Infante; the organizer of the Brazilian representation, Carlos Eduardo de A. Alves de Souza—the Cultural Attaché from the Embassy of the United States of Brazil; and the organizer of the Chilean delegation, Victor Carvacho Herrera.