Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

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The first competition to create the official portrait of Túpac Amaru II was declared a “desert,” and in support of that declaration, the editor of Caretas magazine selected nine works by participating artists and sharply ridiculed them. Painter [...]

This article, published in Caretas magazine, provides a sarcastic report on the works submitted to the Concurso Nacional de Pintura, the national painting competition sponsored by the Gobierno Revolucionario de las Fuerzas Armadas (in its first phase [...]

This is the second article by the writer César Miró about efforts to create an official image of Túpac Amaru II, the indigenous hero of Peruvian independence, to be used as an icon during the first phase of the self-styled Gobierno Revolucionario [...]

This document is the official version of the press conference given by the de facto president, General Juan Velasco Alvarado, at the Palacio de Gobierno in Peru on June 24, 1972. While the issues addressed revolve around international relations of [...]

In this text, Manuel Araníbar voices his opinion about the controversies surrounding the image of the indigenous forefather of Peruvian independence, José Gabriel Condorcanqui, Túpac Amaru II. In Araníbar’s view, the movement to uphold the [...]

This is a protest against the “un-hierarchic” inclusion of Túpac Amaru II in the Monumento a los Próceres y Precursores de la Independencia del Perú [Monument to the Heroes and Harbingers of Peruvian Independence], by the Peruvian sculptor [...]

This brief but eloquent article reports on the ceremony in which General Juan Velasco Alvarado, the president of the military junta in power from 1968 to 1975, unveils the portrait of Túpac Amaru II, the indigenous forefather of Peruvian [...]

This article from El Comercio, a Cuzco newspaper, refers to the competition organized to choose a sculpture to honor Túpac Amaru II to be placed in Cuzco’s Plaza de Armas, and reports that the winning design had been rejected. The correspondent [...]

This newspaper article reports on the forum that was organized by the Instituto de Cultura Andina y Lenguas Aborígenes (INCALA) [Institute for Andean Culture and Indigenous Languages] to discuss the idea of erecting the equestrian statue of Túpac [...]

With this letter, Peruvian painter Milner Cajahuaringa rejects the honorable mention granted his work at the Concurso Nacional de Pintura [National Painting Contest] organized by the so-called Gobierno Revolucionario de las Fuerzas Armadas in 1970, [...]

The journalist Juan Paredes Castro recalls the indigenous independence hero Túpac Amaru II. He argues that the latter’s hard, selfless struggle on behalf of “the defense of the freedom of a race and a nation” qualifies him for sainthood. The [...]

This anonymous cultural affairs newspaper column reports on conflicting opinions regarding the decision to “void” the competition organized by the Gobierno Revolucionario de las Fuerzas Armadas (in its first phase, 1968–1975) to create an [...]

This anonymous cultural affairs newspaper column mentions Manuel Araníbar’s letter about the competition organized by the Gobierno Revolucionario de las Fuerzas Armadas [Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces] (in its first phase, 1968– [...]

This is the sleeve of the 45 RPM vinyl record on which the well-known poet and cultural critic Alejandro Romualdo recorded his most famous poem, Canto Coral a Túpac Amaru, que es la libertad. The cover art is a Pop version of a conventional image of [...]

This text was written by the art critic Alejandro Romualdo on the national contest that was organized to select the artist who would create a monument to Túpac Amaru II, the indigenous forefather of Peru’s independence at the Plaza de Armas of [...]

This enthusiastic article in the magazine Oiga reports on the replacement of the portrait of the Spanish conqueror of Peru for one of Túpac Amaru II, the indigenous forefather of independence in the main hall of the Palacio de Gobierno. The article [...]

In this text, Fernando de Szyszlo applauds “without reservation” the ideological sentiment behind the decision to replace the image of the conqueror of Peru with the image of the indigenous leader of the independence movement. Yet, “as a [...]

In this letter, intellectual Néstor Espinoza responds to the position held by fellow intellectual Fernando de Szyszlo on the portrait of the conqueror of Peru. Espinoza begins defending the decision of the so-called Gobierno Revolucionario de las [...]

In this letter, painter Cota Carvallo responds to position taken by painter Fernando de Szyszlo on the portrait of the conqueror of Peru. Carvallo defends the task of “discovering authentic national values.” She bemoans the ongoing presence of a [...]

In this essay, the writer Magda Portal applauds the official rehabilitation of Túpac Amaru, the indigenous harbinger of Peruvian independence, as a national icon to represent the first phase of the self-styled Gobierno Revolucionario de las Fuerzas [...]

This anonymous and comprehensive article was assumed to be the “official” response by the First Gobierno Revolucionario de las Fuerzas Armadas Peruanas (1968–75) on the controversy generated by a possible historical error relating to the [...]

This is the first article by the writer César Miró about efforts to create an official image of Túpac Amaru II, the indigenous hero of Peruvian independence, to be used as an icon during the first phase of the self-styled Gobierno Revolucionario [...]

This is an anonymous editorial published in the newspaper Expreso that describes the mistrust of the conservative sectors as a “conspiracy” against the revolutionary government (Gobierno Revolucionario de las Fuerzas Armadas) of Peru. The matter [...]

This newspaper article describes the formal characteristics and historical underpinnings of the project awarded at the Cuarto Concurso Nacional [Fourth National Contest], organized in order to erect a monument to José Gabriel Condorcanqui, Túpac [...]

This document is the official assessment of the projects submitted to the Cuarto Concurso Nacional [Fourth National Contest], organized in order to erect a monument to José Gabriel Condorcanqui, Túpac Amaru II, indigenous forefather of Peruvian [...]

This is the first article on the award bestowed to Álvaro Núñez Rebaza by the Tercer Concurso Nacional, the artist selected to erect a monument to Túpac Amaru II, the indigenous forefather of the independence of Peru, at the Plaza de Armas del [...]

This is the official report on the judging of submissions to the second national competition that was organized to choose a design for a statue of Túpac Amaru II, the indigenous hero of Peruvian independence, to be erected in the Plaza de Armas in [...]

This is the text of Decreto Ley Nº 18280, the decree that was published in the official journal El Peruano. This was the law that created the legal basis for the competition that was organized to erect a statue of Túpac Amarau II, the indigenous [...]

In this article, the cultural theorist Juan Acha discusses efforts to create an official image of Túpac Amaru II, the indigenous hero of Peruvian independence. In Acha’s opinion, the inability to achieve this goal takes an “emotional toll, due [...]

This is the first invitation to submit proposals to the official competition that was organized to design a statue of Túpac Amaru II, the indigenous hero of Peruvian independence, in the Plaza de Armas in Cuzco, where he was executed. The [...]

This document is the message to the nation given by General Juan Velasco Alvarado, president of the ruling military junta from 1968 to 1975, on the “Día del Indio, Día del Campesino” (June 25, 1969). The enactment of the historic Agrarian [...]

This is an interview with Milner Cajahuaringa regarding his renouncement of being honorably mentioned by the Concurso Nacional de Pintura established in tribute to Túpac Amaru II after the main prize of the competition was voided. The Peruvian [...]

In this article, Augusto Ortiz de Zevallos (Lima, b. 1949) voices his objections to the premises of the Concurso Nacional de Pintura [National Painting Contest] organized by the Ministerio de Educación in order to establish an official portrait of T [...]

This article by army general and historian Felipe de la Barra tries to describe the true appearance of José Gabriel Condorcanqui [Túpac Amaru II]. The article justifies the depiction of the forefather of Peruvian independence in a hat—the image [...]

On September 10, 1970, this call for submissions to the Concurso Nacional de Pintura was published in the government backed newspaper, El Peruano. The aim of the competition was to perpetuate the image of the forefather of Peruvian independence, Jos [...]