Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

This text by architect Luis Saia discusses the collection of popular sculptures he put together during his trip to northern and northeastern Brazil in 1938. The architect presents a thesis on the African origin of the “miracle,” the name used for [...]

Darcy Ribeiro stresses the existence of a geographical, continental Latin America that has not yet become a political or linguistic unit. According to the author, the countries in the region do not live together as a single body; they “coexist” [...]

Gilberto Freyre’s essay highlights the importance of research into the origins of Brazilian culture and the Brazilian people, as well as their “interpersonal” and interregional relationships, noting that those who interpreted that data were [...]

In this communiqué-style essay written in Rio de Janeiro, Oswald de Andrade calls for the axiological rehabilitation of primitive man—understood as the communities or people that lived on this continent before the Eurocentrically-named & [...]

The catalogue for Arte e religiosidade afro-brasileira, the exhibition held at the Kunstverein Museum, in Frankfurt in 1994, introduces the work of contemporary artists of African descent or whose work is inspired by African culture. The exhibition [...]

In this text the anthropologist Pedro Mege challenges the label of “documentary” that is frequently applied to Juan Downey’s work. He suggests that Downey is an artist who presents his specific and subjective images while actively [...]

This is a summary of Gilberto Freyre’s thoughts on the subject of Latin America, with a focus on the cultural anthropological aspects of a hybrid civilization based on a blend of black, American Indian, and European traditions. The author discusses [...]

Gilberto Freyre defends the right of each country in the Americas to have its own form of government, as long as it refrains from causing any kind of violent disturbance elsewhere on the continent. His views are challenged by orthodox supporters of [...]

This text by Arthur Ramos is an overview of art of African origin in Brazil and its importance to the formation of the culture within the country. From a historical perspective, the text discusses Western contact with African art starting in the [...]

This essay is about the proposal of the author Gilberto Freyre about the need for teaching the sociology of art within a planned fine art curriculum, highlighting the importance of this and anthropology. In his opinion, one must try to understand a [...]

French Surrealist poet Benjamin Péret wrote this text on African religions after visiting Brazil. He establishes a counterpoint between Macumba and Candomblé rituals, which he considers “almost revelatory” poetic practices of “primitive and [...]

In this chapter of the book Hacia el indio y su mundo, by the Venezuelan indigenous scholar Gilberto Antolínez, the author presents the ideas that inform his anthropological research, as well as his critique of the Venezuelan American tradition. In [...]

This is a preface to the book O negro no Brasil. Trabalhos apresentados ao 2º Congresso afro-brasileiro da Bahia (11 a 20 de janeiro de 1937) consisting of a collection of lectures presented at the event. The sociologists Edson Carneiro and Aydano [...]

In this essay, the Brazilian sociologist Gilberto Freyre criticizes the exaggerated and mystic academicism of intellectual works produced by Brazilian universities that distance them from the concerns of society as a whole. Describing himself as a [...]

This is an excerpt from “Arte afro-brasileira,” a chapter in the book História Geral da Arte no Brasil. In it, the anthropologist Marianno Carneiro da Cunha stresses the importance of black artists and their art in the history of Brazilian [...]

In this article, Gilberto Freyre points out a common trait he sees among the peoples of the Americas and, especially, in the field of inter-American relationships. He refers to areas where he can affirm the people’s natural ability to combine unity [...]

The author wonders how indigenous American people compare to other civilizations. Darcy Ribeiro seeks to articulate a general theory to explain the formative and transformative processes that could provide an alternative to European ethnocentric [...]

This book illustrated in detail by painter Vicente do Rego Monteiro explores the legends, beliefs, and talismans of Amazonian natives. The artist offers vignettes, drawings of symbols, and illustrations based on indigenous motifs. It was published in [...]

Gilberto Freyre, the sociologist from Pernambuco, discusses the I Congresso Afro-Brasileiro, held in Recife in 1934. Freyre briefly refers to comments and discussions concerning the viability of the meeting and the informality of the event, among [...]

Colombian anthropologists Clara Isabel Botero and Jimena Perry Posada describe the influence of educational and cultural policies on scientific and artistic projects during what was called the República Liberal in Colombia. In the authors’ view, [...]

In this straightforward and intuitive profile of Colombian photographer Nereo López, eminent writer and researcher Manuel Zapata Olivella discusses Nereo López’s work and vision of art and photography. Nereo López eschews the aestheticism of [...]