March 5, 2020
Welcome to the new ICAA Documents Project Website and the Papelitos Blog!!
Eight years after the project’s public launch in 2012, we are pleased to make available to our digital audience a brand new platform that more accurately reflects the activities, events, and interdisciplinary programs of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s International Center for the Arts of the Americas (ICAA) and its flagship project Documents of Latin American and Latino Art (ICAA Documents Project). The new user-friendly site facilitates direct, immediate access to the more than 8,000 primary sources and critical texts that make up the ICAA Documents Project. It also encourages users to browse by “author,” “title,” “date” and “topic”, save their results in a “my documents” section and share them with friends and colleagues. Additionally, the platform allows the ICAA’s vetted partners to upload primary source materials directly to the site, thereby significantly expanding the recovery process which is a core function of any digital repository.
Much has happened at the ICAA since 2012 both in terms of the archive’s holdings and the project’s continually expanding scope and outreach efforts. All of these activities are reflected in this redesign, including: a new way to view, collect, and share documents of 20th and 21st century Latin American and Latinx art; an innovative partnership with the University of Houston focused on object-based learning; document recovery partnerships with Fundación AMA, Chile, the Cruz-Diez Art Foundation, Houston, and the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art; the establishment of the Peter C. Marzio Award for outstanding research by emerging scholars; the creation of the ICAA Ideas Council, an exclusive think tank that doubles as a patron group for the Center; the digitization of significant holdings from the Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art Archives; revised mission and submission guidelines for the ICAA Working Papers; the creation of the Papelitos Blog; and an ongoing robust publications series.
Papelitos is conceived as a less formal, dialogical space where ICAA staff, fellows, interns and project associates share ideas and insights into the activities and research-in-progress at the Center. We look forward to sharing here announcements of recent archive acquisitions, spotlight on new partnerships, texts by students and faculty participating in the ICAA and University of Houston Object-Based Learning seminar, and archive-driven artist projects. We also invite proposals from artists, scholars, and researchers that engage with the role of archives and field documents.
Through these core activities and enhanced platform the ICAA continues in its unrivaled mission to bring about a long-term transformation in the appreciation and understanding of Latin American and Latinx visual arts in the United States and abroad. The ICAA Documents Project is indeed the only initiative of its kind aimed at making available essential bibliographic resources free of charge to a global community of scholars, students and the general public.
This website is your digital platform for Latin American and Latino art. I invite you to re-discover it, share it with others and report back to us with your impressions.
Mari Carmen Ramírez
Founding Director, ICAA
Follow the Papelitos Blog to learn more about the ICAA’s programs, staff, and exciting, upcoming events. We encourage you to weigh in with your thoughts by responding to our posts. We also invite you to follow us on Instagram and to “re-tweet” our content!
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