Latina/o Studies, Art History, LASP, and CIAMS students and faculty headed to NYC on Saturday, September 26, to attend two important art exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the National Museum of the American Indian. Latina/o Studies teaching faculty and Associate Professor of Art History, Ananda Cohen-Aponte, is currently teaching Art and Architecture of the Pre-Columbian Americas this fall 2018 semester. In addition to covering the artistic traditions of Mesoamerica, the Andes, and the Caribbean prior to Columbus, professor Cohen-Aponte’s course also explores how Latinx artists have looked to the pre-Columbian past as a source of artistic inspiration and empowerment.
As teaching faculty of Latina/o Studies, Professor Cohen-Aponte wanted to provide students an opportunity to take in New York City and see two art exhibitions relevant to the Latina/o Studies minor. Partnering with Ella Diaz, Associate Professor of Latina/o Studies and English, they fundraised to extend the opportunity to Latina/o Studies students, many of whom wanted to attend as a way of connecting with their own identity through the visual arts. But everyone also wanted to go to New York City for a day! María Fernández, Associate Professor of Art History, also attended the trip, and offered a wealth of insights based on her own research and expertise in modern Latin American art.
Students got the chance to see two groundbreaking exhibitions in New York City: Taíno: Native Heritage and Identity in the Caribbean at the NMAI and Pacha, Llaqta, Wasichay: Indigenous Space, Modern Architecture, New Art at the Whitney Museum of Art, for which Cohen-Aponte wrote a widely-circulated review on the website Hyperallergic. The Whitney show is the first to feature emerging Latinx artists in a group show, signaling a critical shift in the ways that contemporary art museums define American art. The NMAI show is the first of its kind to consider the legacies of Taíno culture post-1492, dispelling the common assumption that indigenous cultures of the Caribbean were completely eradicated after Columbus’s arrival.
In addition to viewing the shows, students had some free time to explore New York City, with several making it all the way to the Met and Central Park. The trip was a huge success, and the faculty hope to offer a yearly opportunity for Latina/o Studies students to travel to New York City to see relevant exhibitions that showcase the rich artistic practices of Latinx artists and their predecessors, and to connect with students and faculty in related disciplines.
