English Articles
Vinculación Académica, Artística y Comunitaria de Arquetopia
(VAACA)
El área de Vinculación Académica, Artística y Comunitaria de Arquetopia (VAACA) es un pilar esencial de la misión de nuestra fundación, impulsando el desarrollo de ecosistemas culturales sostenibles a través de la creación de espacios de colaboración, intercambio y aprendizaje. Mediante sus vértices —Pabellones, Ágoras y Binomios— buscamos reconectar diversos espacios productivos, educativos y culturales con el arte y el conocimiento de manera práctica y transformadora. Los Pabellones promueven espacios de creación y exhibición; las Ágoras son foros y encuentros dedicados al intercambio de ideas, perspectivas y conocimientos; y los Binomios representan alianzas y colaboraciones creativas que favorecen la innovación conjunta y el aprendizaje mutuo. Con este enfoque, Arquetopia no solo apoya la producción artística internacional, sino que también construye puentes entre actores locales y globales, y el sector público y privado, promoviendo el acceso a la educación y favoreciendo la transformación social.
En Arquetopia concebimos los ecosistemas culturales como tramas vivas y espacios dinámicos donde la cultura, el conocimiento y los sectores productivos se entrelazan de manera crítica y ética, creando espacios para el aprendizaje e innovación no tradicionales. La cultura no debe entenderse únicamente en términos de creación, sino de comprensión del conocimiento, reconociendo las estructuras que han forjado tecnologías y saberes que son parte integral de las prácticas culturales cotidianas y de la vida productiva de las personas. Con un enfoque de reciprocidad y aprendizaje situado, a través de sus vértices, la VAACA fomenta un diálogo reflexivo sobre el conocimiento local, abriendo nuevas posibilidades para habitar la cultura de manera más amplia. La cultura no se limita al arte y al entretenimiento; es un entramado de saberes, prácticas y formas de hacer que estructuran nuestra relación con el mundo. Desde tecnologías y oficios hasta modelos de producción e intercambio, la cultura moldea nuestra historia y posibilita la transformación social. En este contexto, tanto el sector público como el privado y las empresas son elementos clave en el fortalecimiento del tejido cultural, contribuyendo a la prosperidad compartida y al desarrollo económico, al mismo tiempo que juegan un papel fundamental en la producción cultural mediante la innovación y la aplicación práctica de conocimientos y tecnologías.
Programa de Ecosistemas Culturales de Arquetopia
El programa de Ecosistemas Culturales de Arquetopia se enfoca en la vinculación con la industria nacional y las empresas en diversos niveles para fortalecerlas a través de alianzas clave que promuevan el desarrollo, la investigación y la competitividad, integrando la innovación, el conocimiento local y las prácticas sostenibles. A través de colaboraciones, fomenta modelos que van más allá del patrocinio, generando diálogo, intercambio e innovación para generar un impacto social, tanto interno como externo, que refuerce los procesos productivos, así como las cadenas de consumo, siempre con una dimensión humana. Este programa facilita el acceso a recursos, formación y asesoría, impulsando la modernización de los procesos creativos y productivos, al integrar saberes locales y prácticas artísticas con el sector empresarial.
Al hacerlo, crea un entorno propicio para el crecimiento y la innovación, contribuyendo al bienestar social mientras impulsa el desarrollo de nuevas tecnologías y enfoques que transforman la producción y el intercambio cultural. Además, al incorporar la cultura en los modelos de negocio y establecer relaciones con la comunidad y el sector público, las empresas y los artistas pueden generar un impacto positivo en la sociedad, favoreciendo el bienestar colectivo y el desarrollo sostenible. De este modo, la relación entre cultura y sector privado se convierte en un espacio de aprendizaje mutuo que promueve la sostenibilidad a través del consumo local y la proyección internacional, beneficiando directamente a las empresas participantes.
Vértices
El Programa de Ecosistemas Culturales de Arquetopia se estructura a través de tres vértices clave:
1. Pabellón México: Este espacio de exhibición actúa como una plataforma de proyección internacional para los productos y la creatividad de las empresas participantes. A través de este pabellón, las empresas tienen la oportunidad de mostrar sus productos a una audiencia internacional, posicionando sus marcas en mercados transnacionales. La exhibición también permite a los participantes conectar con otras industrias y fomentar el intercambio cultural y comercial, destacando la riqueza de la cultura mexicana y sus innovaciones en diversos sectores
2. Ágora Empresarial: Este programa educativo y de difusión busca integrar la cultura y el arte en el ámbito empresarial. A través de conferencias, talleres y exposiciones, el Ágora Empresarial proporciona un espacio de reflexión y aprendizaje sobre cómo el arte y la cultura se vinculan con el sector empresarial, promoviendo prácticas responsables, sostenibles e innovadoras. Además, fomenta la colaboración entre empresarios, artistas y comunidades para generar un diálogo que impulse el desarrollo cultural y el crecimiento de las empresas en un contexto más amplio.
3. Binomios de Innovación: Son pequeños proyectos colaborativos que vinculan el arte con la vocación específica de cada empresa. A través de la experimentación y la investigación conjunta, los binomios permiten a las empresas explorar nuevas formas de innovar, combinando procesos artísticos con sus áreas de especialización. Estos proyectos buscan generar oportunidades innovadoras, productos únicos y redes colaborativas que puedan transformar tanto la producción empresarial como la forma en que se percibe la creatividad en el mundo corporativo, abriendo caminos hacia nuevas formas de participación y desarrollo en el ámbito de la innovación.
Para mayor información enviar un correo dirigido a Nayeli Hernández, Directora de Programas al correo This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Special Themed Residency Programs
Applications are processed and selected in the order in which they are received. Day of the Dead: Speaking, Tasting, Creating
Duration: 2 weeks – Program Dates:
October 20 to November 3, 2025; October 26 to November 9, 2026
Why is the concept of death so integral to our understanding of our experiences? From its profound implications with collectivity, to the grief experienced when losing loved ones, death has consistently been a central question in our shared history. In Mexico, the annual festivities of Day of the Dead occur at the end of October and the beginning of November symbolizing the culmination of the maize cultivation cycle, and the temporary return of deceased relatives and beloved individuals to Earth.
The Immersive Learning Program: Day of the Dead focuses on the significance of the Day of the Dead as a cornerstone of national identity, rooted in indigenous wisdom, and explores its impact on the development of Mexican modern art, as well as its transformation into a secularized element of popular culture. The program examines the performative nature of rituals in Mexico, with a particular focus on the mortuary celebrations. Within the context of this national holiday participants will engage in practical Spanish language lessons, culinary exploration, and hands-on art learning fostering a multidisciplinary approach encompassing art creation, culinary arts, and linguistic practice. Moreover, the program prompts critical inquiry into themes of eternity, nationalism, and identity, challenging preconceived notions surrounding death as a national symbol and questioning its portrayal as a morbid facet of identity construction.
The Arquetopia Immersive Learning Program is a 2-week intensive experience designed to provide competitive professional opportunities for emerging and mid-career artists, curators, art historians, and students aged 20 and above from around the world. This distinctive program offers critical perspectives on the representation of death in Mexico as a foundational element of national identity. By delving into the myths surrounding its origins, the program offers participants a nuanced understanding of the Day of the Dead celebrations. Its objective is to equip participants with the analytical tools necessary to comprehend the performative nature of these rituals, exploring intricate facets such as emotional portrayals, material culture, and the evolving historical significance of death. Participants will also have the opportunity to contextualize their own artistic practices by learning papier mâché techniques directly related to the creation of ofrendas (altars), which are central to the celebration of the Day of the Dead.
PROGRAM INCLUSIONS
This 2-week program includes 8 hours of instruction in Day of the Dead ephemeral art techniques, including paper, installation, and the edible dimension of the altar; as well as an exploration of José Guadalupe Posada’s imagery. Participants will have the opportunity to join guided tours and visits to prominent museums in Puebla, altars, graveyards, or relevant sites. Alongside these artistic endeavors, attendees will engage in 12 hours of Spanish language lessons, divided into 6 hours of grammar and 6 hours of immersive on-site language practice. They will also embark on food tours, a total of 4 hours, to savor the culinary delights of the region and spend 6 hours on academic visits to museums, altars, graveyards, and other relevant sites. Furthermore, participants will benefit from 2 hours of artistic mentoring sessions. Activities are designed to promote intense creative work and artistic dialogue; therefore, artists are expected to allocate self-directed studio hours as part of their weekly schedule. Reading materials are provided in English and workshop instruction is in Spanish.
- Each resident artist meets weekly with our directorial and curatorial staff for personalized mentoring, research assistance/resources, project guidance, and critique
Accommodation:
- Furnished, private bedroom
- 24-hour access to the kitchen for participants to prepare their own meals; meals/food are the participants' responsibility
- Wireless Internet
- Use of Arquetopia’s common spaces including outdoor terraces
- Shared, serviced (single) bathrooms with modern fixtures and showers
- Housekeeping
Studio Workspace:
- 24-hour access to large and bright, shared art studio with generous natural light
- Personal workspace with large table and wall space
- Some tools provided
- Materials and supplies for the instructional course provided
- Materials and supplies for extended project production are not included but are available for purchase locally
DURATION / TIME PERIOD
Session is 2 weeks, October 20 to November 3, 2025.
PROGRAM TUITION INFO & APPLICATION DEADLINES
E-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for tuition info and application deadlines for this program.
TO APPLY
Click here to apply for this instructional program.
IMMERSIVE LEARNING PROGRAM #2:
Botany and the Mapping of Ignorance
Duration: 2 Weeks — Program Dates: Flexible
The knowledge of plants in the Americas, deeply rooted in non-dominant epistemologies, offering a different approach to the notions of wellbeing by putting an emphasis on the relationships we establish with the environment. Drawing on diverse knowledge systems and native practices, herbalists cultivate a profound understanding of the interconnectedness between humans and the natural world. However, the historical relationship between plants and “Empire” has left a complex legacy, marked by the exploitation of botanical resources by colonial powers for economic gain and geopolitical control. This exploitation has often led to the erasure or marginalization of autochthonous knowledge via the prioritization of pharmaceutical interests over plant-based remedies. Moreover, agnotology, the study of culturally induced ignorance, highlights how knowledge about plants and their properties have been manipulated or suppressed to serve political, economic, or ideological agendas. Arquetopia Immersive Learning Program navigates a space where the pursuit of holistic practices intersects with efforts to decolonize healing practices, notions of the body and challenge dominant capitalistic paradigms of knowledge production and dissemination. Through reclaiming and revitalizing ancestral wisdom, helps identify diverse sources of knowledge to aid in the promotion socio-environmental justice and fostering a deeper connection with the diversity of environments.
The Immersive Learning Program: Botany and the Mapping of Ignorance is a 2-week intensive experience designed to provide competitive professional opportunities for emerging and mid-career artists, curators, art historians, and students aged 20 and over, from around the world. This distinctive program offers critical perspectives on non-dominant epistemologies and the diverse uses of plants. By delving into the complex relationship between plants and "Empire" and its legacy of colonial exploitation of botanical resources for economic gain and geopolitical control, the program challenges the notion of "traditional knowledge" versus science. It scrutinizes this dichotomy as a system that centers exploitation through the erasure of indigenous knowledges, while also reevaluating the concept of "the natural" to understand relationships with ecosystems as a complex symbiotic network.
The objective of the program is to equip participants with the analytical tools necessary to understand the concept of interspecies kinship and the ethical questions related to life, while introducing them to the knowledge of local plants from Mexico, their historical significance, and their complex uses. Participants will also have the opportunity to contextualize their own artistic practices by learning about herbalism and the uses of native plants, which are central to understanding non-dominant epistemologies. Through this interdisciplinary approach, the program fosters a deeper understanding of the intersections between art, culture, and local knowledge, inviting participants to engage critically with their creative practices within broader socio-environmental contexts.
PROGRAM INCLUSIONS
This 2-week program encompasses a comprehensive structure aimed at enriching participants' understanding of herbalist techniques and local plant knowledge, including their historical significance, all approached through the lens of agnotology. Participants will engage in 8 hours of instructional sessions, complemented by guided tours and visits to prominent botanical gardens, markets, and local stores in Puebla.
In addition to these immersive learning experiences, attendees will partake in 12 hours of Spanish language instruction, comprising 6 hours of grammar and 6 hours of immersive on-site language practice. Cultural tours, totaling 4 hours, will provide further insights into the local flora, with academic visits to gardens, markets, and relevant sites. Furthermore, participants will benefit from 2 hours of artistic mentoring sessions tailored to their creative development.
Activities are thoughtfully designed to foster intense creative work and artistic dialogue, with participants expected to allocate self-directed studio hours as part of their weekly schedule. Reading materials are provided in English, while workshop instruction is conducted in Spanish, ensuring a rich and immersive learning experience for all involved.
- Each resident artist meets weekly with our directorial and curatorial staff for personalized mentoring, research assistance/resources, project guidance, and critique
- Furnished, private bedroom
- 24-hour access to the kitchen for participants to prepare their own meals; meals/food are the participants' responsibility
- Wireless Internet
- Use of Arquetopia’s common spaces including outdoor terraces
- Shared, serviced (single) bathrooms with modern fixtures and showers
- Housekeeping
- 24-hour access to large and bright, shared art studio with generous natural light
- Personal workspace with large table and wall space
- Some tools provided
- Materials and supplies for the instructional course provided
- Materials and supplies for extended project production are not included but are available for purchase locally
DURATION / TIME PERIOD
Sessions are 2 weeks. Dates are not predetermined but are proposed by the applying artist.
Click here to apply for this instructional program.
Unmaking Power, Remaking Worlds
Duration: 2 Weeks — Program Dates: Flexible
The theme of Unmaking Power, Remaking Worlds frames this two-week guided art program. It speaks to the process of critically dismantling inherited structures of power—those embedded in artistic practices, materials, and histories—while imagining and constructing new cultural possibilities. This theme guides the residency, inviting participants to reexamine their creative processes in relation to broader cultural and social dynamics, and to envision ways of inhabiting the world otherwise.
At Arquetopia, we conceive cultural ecosystems as living networks—dynamic spaces where culture, knowledge, and productive sectors intertwine critically and ethically. Culture is not limited to artistic creation; it is also about how we understand and share knowledge. It embodies the structures that have shaped technologies and ways of knowing, woven into daily practices and the productive life of communities.
This program is designed as an active cultural ecosystem where art, knowledge, and community practices intersect to foster new ways of thinking and creating. Rooted in situated knowledge, it emphasizes reciprocity and collective learning, inviting participants to recognize local knowledges as living technologies that shape how we inhabit and transform the world. By linking academic and community spaces, participants experience how culture not only sustains history but also becomes a force for social transformation.
Participants engage in academic visits, site-based mentoring, studio practice, and collaborative sessions with local institutions such as ARPA BUAP. The program integrates reflection and action, moving between guided research, direct encounters with the local context, and structured critical dialogue.
A central component is the Movilizatorio, an experiential format developed by Arquetopia. Here, participants walk through the city and its cultural fabric, transforming the territory itself into a classroom. The Movilizatorio connects cultural and productive sectors, activating knowledge in motion and highlighting everyday practices as sources of innovation, ethical reflection, and collective learning.
PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
Week 1
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Arrival and Mapping: Orientation and contextual mapping of the cultural ecosystem.
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Academic Visits: Guided explorations introducing historical and contemporary perspectives.
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On-Site Mentoring: Individualized sessions connecting practice to local knowledge.
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Movilizatorio: A dynamic, community-centered dialogue space activating cultural and social knowledge.
Week 2
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Studio Work: Time dedicated to advancing participants’ projects while engaging with critical perspectives.
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Academic Visits: Further contextual encounters with local institutions and knowledge bearers.
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Open Process Session with ARPA BUAP: A collaborative exchange with students and faculty, broadening the dialogue.
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Movilizatorio: Collective closing through shared discussion and reflection with the community.
COMMUNITY COMPONENT
The program emphasizes not only individual artistic growth but also collective processes of learning. Through the Movilizatorio and the Open Process session with ARPA BUAP, participants engage in dialogue with local communities and institutions. These encounters encourage participants to rethink artistic practice in relation to broader cultural and social contexts, nurturing reciprocity and shared responsibility.
Duration: 2 weeks
Minimum: 2 participants
- Each resident artist meets weekly with our directorial and curatorial staff for personalized mentoring, research resources, project guidance, and critique.
Accommodation:
- Furnished, private bedroom
- 24-hour access to the kitchen for participants to prepare their own meals; meals/food are the participants' responsibility
- Wireless Internet
- Use of Arquetopia’s common spaces including outdoor terraces
- Shared, serviced (single) bathrooms with modern fixtures and showers
- Housekeeping
Studio Workspace:
- 24-hour access to large and bright, shared art studio with generous natural light
- Personal workspace with large table and wall space
DURATION / TIME PERIOD
Sessions are 2 weeks. Dates are not predetermined but are proposed by the applying artist.
Click here to apply for this instructional program.
The Silvered Spiral:
Mexican Jewelry & Silversmithing Instructional Program
Applications are processed and selected in the order in which they are received.
Since the 16th century, silver from the Americas has been associated with wealth and global exchange. Munitions, shipping equipment, and other metal goods, along with Chinese silks, Indian cottons, porcelain, spices, and wax, were all traded for silver extracted from the mines of New Spain (Mexico) and Peru. From the Manila Galleon to the vessels of the Atlantic trade route, returning ships were so heavily laden with silver that it became the monetary standard across much of Asia. While the mining industry fueled commercial expansion, it also drove the transatlantic slave trade and the exploitation of Indigenous and African labor.
Beyond its role in trade, silver from the Americas, and particularly from New Spain, played a crucial part in shaping the cultural and artistic landscape of Europe. The vast wealth extracted from Mexican mines such as Zacatecas and Guanajuato was funneled into the coffers of the Spanish Crown, financing military campaigns and supporting the grandeur of the Habsburg and Bourbon courts. This influx of silver not only sustained the economic dominance of Spain but also funded the Renaissance and later the Baroque period across Europe. The opulence of the Baroque, with its dramatic compositions and intricate ornamentation, was made possible by the immense resources extracted from the colonies.
This transatlantic silver trade is visibly reflected in the art of the period, particularly in Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas (1656), where the wealth of the Spanish court is on full display. The elaborate textiles, the refined objects, and even the luminosity of the painting itself bear witness to the silver trade’s impact. The presence of a red búcaro (a small clay vessel from the Americas, often used by noblewomen) in the hands of the menina María Agustina Sarmiento hints at the global networks sustained by silver, as these objects were exchanged alongside precious metals. The Spanish court, adorned in lavish fabrics and immersed in a culture of patronage, owed much of its splendor to the riches of New Spain, making American silver an essential force behind the artistic and architectural marvels of the Baroque era.
Mexican silver has a complex and fascinating history that spans centuries and remains a unique symbol of taste. From the intricate Baroque designs of Oaxaca to the glamorous Art Deco silver of Taxco in the 1920s and 1930s, silver’s versatility, beauty, and malleability have allowed it to adapt to a wide range of techniques, from textiles to jewelry and beyond. Filigree, in particular, is a delicate metalworking technique resembling lace, which migrated from the Islamic world to Europe and eventually to the Americas. Introduced to Mexican silversmiths in the 1600s, filigree evolved into a distinctive style, shaping the rich tradition of Oaxacan jewelry and silversmithing.
1. The Connectivity of Concepts
The Mexican Jewelry & Silversmithing Instructional Program integrates history, material culture, and artistic practice, fostering a deeper understanding of how silver has shaped social, economic, and artistic landscapes. Through academic visits and hands-on engagement with traditional silversmithing techniques, participants connect the tactile experience of working with silver to larger conceptual frameworks, exploring its role in global trade, colonial economies, and cultural identity. This approach encourages participants to critically examine how silver, from its extraction in New Spain to its circulation across Europe and Asia, fueled artistic production, wealth accumulation, and power structures. By investigating its historical significance—from religious artifacts and luxury objects to contemporary applications—artists gain insight into how silver continues to influence visual culture and artistic practices today.
2. The Practice of Unlearning
This program challenges participants to dismantle preconceived notions about art and material culture by critically examining silver’s symbolism and the extractive practices tied to its production. By interrogating how silver has been commodified, recontextualized, and embedded within global power structures, participants engage in a process of unlearning. They question dominant narratives surrounding wealth, colonial economies, and the material’s association with status and spirituality, reorienting their practice toward a more conscious and nuanced relationship with materials, craftsmanship, and sustainability. This approach emphasizes how artistic practice—beyond aesthetic outcomes—can serve as a means to challenge historical ideologies and engage with contemporary discussions on labor, value, and environmental impact.
3. The Rhythm of Creating
In this program, rhythm becomes a space where participants explore the relationship between the body, labor, and the creative process, using both research and intuition to challenge historical narratives surrounding silver and its cultural implications. The hands-on exploration of traditional silversmithing techniques, particularly Oaxacan filigree, encourages participants to engage in a dynamic process where making, questioning, and discovering unfold in constant dialogue. By working with the intricate lace-like metalwork of filigree—introduced to Mexico in the 17th century and transformed by Indigenous artisans into a distinctive tradition—participants gain a deeper material understanding of silver’s adaptability and cultural significance. This approach transforms artistic practice into a site of active inquiry, where intuition serves as a method for rethinking the ideological legacies embedded in silver craftsmanship, forging new connections between past and present—especially regarding themes of wealth, colonial trade, and extractive economies.
4. The Ethics of Movement
The process of creation, as Elsa Barkley Brown describes through the concept of rhythm, is not linear but multidirectional, requiring movement between different perspectives, histories, and experiences. This program emphasizes the ethics of movement by asking participants to consider the responsibility that comes with engaging with images, particularly silver and its symbolism, and their potential to shape perception. Whether through the physical act of working with silver, the transmission of knowledge, or the cultural significance of silver objects—such as Oaxacan filigree jewelry—participants are invited to reflect on how artistic practice can navigate difference, reciprocity, and responsibility. Additionally, the encounter with the viewer through the work becomes an ethical opportunity to engage with critical questions, prompting a deeper reflection on how artistic choices—especially those involving materials historically tied to extraction, colonial economies, and labor exploitation—shape understanding, challenge dominant narratives, and open spaces for dialogue.
The Mexican Jewelry & Silversmithing Instructional Program is a 3-week mentored production program that includes 27 hours of instruction by a prominent master silversmith. Participants will learn the technique of using wire as a frame, shaping their designs by curling, twisting, and plating silver wire to create intricate metal threads. As part of the process, they will also learn how to melt a silver troy ounce—provided as part of the program’s materials—to create their own silver wire. Instruction is conducted in Spanish, though participants do not need to speak Spanish to successfully complete the course. Individual mentoring is provided by our directorial and curatorial staff for personalized research assistance, project guidance, and critique. In addition to their instruction, participants also work independently in our spaces.
PROGRAM DURATION / TIME PERIOD
WHAT THIS COMPREHENSIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM INCLUDES
- 27 hours master instruction, at 9 hours per week
- A weekly meeting with our directorial and curatorial staff for personalized mentoring, research assistance, project guidance, and critique
- Furnished, private bedroom
- 24-hour access to the kitchen for participants to prepare their own meals; meals/food are the participants' responsibility
- Wireless Internet
- Use of Arquetopia’s common spaces
- Shared, serviced (single) bathrooms with modern fixtures and showers
- Housekeeping
- Downtown arrival pickup and departure dropoff transportation provided
- Affordable, everyday public transportation is available from the program vicinity into the city. Participants receive an orientation regarding the local transportation system upon arrival
- 24-hour access to shared studio
- Personal workspace with a large table
- Some tools provided
- Materials and supplies for the instructional course provided
- Materials and supplies for extended project production not included but available for purchase locally
PROGRAM TUITION INFO & APPLICATION DEADLINES
Click here to apply for this instructional program.
The Pulsing Ink:
Electroetching Instructional Program
Arquetopia Location: Puebla, Mexico
Applications are processed and selected in the order in which they are received.
This comprehensive, customized residency program offers competitive professional opportunities for emerging and mid-career, national and international artists and designers age 20 and over.
The obsession with gold during medieval times led to the science of the physical transformation of metals. Alchemy would eventually evolve into chemistry, as knowledge from Islamic cultures was translated into Latin, coopted by the Catholic Church, banned for the general public, and eventually monopolized by regional powers in Europe. The 17th century is recognized as the period when European empires consolidated modern science, paving the way for the codification of electrochemistry in the 1800s. Soon after, the British Empire would monopolize the art of electroplating, fulfilling the dream of King Midas to turn everything into gold. The first patent for engraving metals using voltaic electricity was granted in 1840, and electro-deposition became a widely used technique for reproducing printing plates, plating metal objects, decorating silverware, and marking cutlery.
Printmaking is one of the oldest traditions in the modern world. From the reproduction of books to the production of currency, it became a technology that enabled the mass reproduction of information and facilitated transactions, becoming an integral part of everyday life. As Benedict Anderson wrote, print technology made possible a new form of imagined community, creating the language of power and setting the stage for the modern nation. In this sense, modernity and its language facilitated the irrational exploitation and pollution of the environment, with most art techniques being no exception.
This unique program offers a non-toxic approach to expand the possibilities of printmaking, specifically intaglio techniques, while rethinking our responsibility in the image-making process. This method avoids the use of acids, highly toxic substances, and harsh chemicals, replacing them with the electroetching technique. Electroetching uses electric current in an electrolyte solution, along with an anode and cathode, to etch a metal plate. This process does not produce fumes or toxic gases during etching. The result is a uniform, porous structure on the metal surface, which is more precise and allows for greater control over intensity and speed compared to traditional acid etching.
The Electroetching Instructional Program integrates history, material culture, and artistic practice, fostering a deeper understanding of how printmaking techniques intersect with broader environmental, social, and historical contexts. Through academic visits and direct engagement with the local context, participants connect the tactile experience of working with electroetching to larger conceptual frameworks, exploring visual culture and the impact of slow violence on the environment, as described by Rob Nixon. This approach encourages participants to reflect on how artistic practices contribute to, and can challenge, the environmental narratives shaping our contemporary world.
2. The Practice of Unlearning
This program challenges participants to dismantle preconceived notions about printmaking techniques, materials, and artistic authorship by critically examining the ideological legacies carried by images. By interrogating how these images have been commodified, recontextualized, and embedded with power structures over time, participants engage in a process of unlearning. They question dominant narratives and reorient their practice toward a more conscious and nuanced relationship with materials, craftsmanship, and the environment. This approach emphasizes how artistic practice, rather than just art itself, can offer new ways to understand and address environmental issues.
3. The Rhythm of Creating
In this program, rhythm becomes a space where participants explore the relationship between the body, labor, and the process of creating, using both research and intuition to challenge historical narratives and expand local knowledge. The hands-on exploration of electroetching techniques encourages participants to engage in a dynamic process where making, questioning, and discovering unfold in constant dialogue. This approach transforms artistic practice into a site of active inquiry, where intuition serves as a method for rethinking the ideological legacies embedded in images, deepening material understanding, and forging new connections between the past and present.
4. The Ethics of Movement
The process of creation, as Rancière describes through the concept of the "emancipated spectator," transforms both the artist and the viewer into active participants in the act of meaning-making. This program emphasizes the ethics of movement by asking participants to consider the responsibility that comes with engaging with images and their potential to shape perception. Whether through the physical act of electroetching, the transmission of knowledge, or the cultural significance of imagery, participants are invited to reflect on how artistic practice can navigate difference, reciprocity, and responsibility. Additionally, the encounter with the viewer through the work becomes an ethical opportunity to engage with questions, prompting a deeper reflection on how artistic choices shape understanding, challenge narratives, and open spaces for dialogue.
The Electroetching Instructional Program is a 3-week mentored production program in printmaking that includes 27 hours of instruction specifically in electroetching, led by a prominent master printer. Participants learn the technique of electroetching and explore its diverse qualities and possibilities for printmaking. As part of the process, participants learn the electrochemistry applied to metal plates, the use of electrolyte solutions, anodes and cathodes, and the variations in direct electric currents. The program includes the necessary solutions, and two metal plates are provided as part of the program. Instruction is in Spanish, though participants do not need to speak Spanish in order to successfully complete the course. Individual mentoring is provided by our directorial and curatorial staff for personalized research assistance/resources, project guidance, and critique. This program also offers some printmaking materials and access to our printmaking studio to produce work on-site at Arquetopia. The maximum size for the etching press is 24 x 45 inches.
PROGRAM DURATION / TIME PERIOD
Sessions are 3 weeks, with option to extend for 1-2 more weeks of continued production as a standard Printmaking Program. Dates are not predetermined but are proposed by the applying artist.
WHAT THIS COMPREHENSIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM INCLUDES
- 27 hours master instruction, at 9 hours per week
- A weekly meeting with our directorial and curatorial staff for personalized mentoring, research assistance, project guidance, and critique
- Furnished, private bedroom
- 24-hour access to the kitchen for participants to prepare their own meals; meals/food are the participant’s responsibility
- Wireless Internet
- Use of Arquetopia’s residency common spaces including outdoor terraces
- Shared, serviced (single) bathrooms with modern fixtures and showers
- Housekeeping
- Bright and spacious on-site printmaking facility with 24-hour access
- 24-hour access to large and bright, shared art studio with generous natural light
- Personal workspace with a large table and wall space
- Some tools provided
- Materials and supplies for the instructional course provided
- Materials and supplies for extended project production are not included but are available for purchase locally
- Some printmaking materials are not included (paper, plates, certain inks, screens); artists bring these or purchase them locally
Click here to apply for this instructional program.
The End of the Grand Tour?
Virtual Symposium on Artist Residencies: Future, Place and State
please scroll down to the program section below.
Virtual Symposium on Artist Residencies: Future, Place and State
June 3 to July 27, 2020
It is indisputable that artist residencies have become crucial nodes for the art world, as they have expanded worldwide and exponentially in numbers in the last decades. Artist residencies provide much needed infrastructure and networks for the cultural sector; therefore, they have become sites of production and experimentation, spaces for research and sharing, and places where multiple artists and diverse ideas circulate. However, residencies are also burdened with the weight of history; they are subject to economic, geopolitical, and ideological pressures while constantly being reminded of the challenges of self-sustainability.
Theodoor Galle (after Johannes Stradanus) “The Discovery of America,” from Nova Reperta, c. 1600, engraving, published by Philips Galle, 27 x 20 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Joaquin Torres García, América Invertida (Inverted America), 1943, ink on paper, 22 x 16 cm (Fundación Torres García, Montevideo)
In the book, Contemporary Artist Residencies: Reclaiming Time and Space, editors Taru Elfving and Irmeli Kokko urgently convey us to continue critical discussions and radical experimentation in the face of uncertainty, which couldn’t be more relevant than today. The End of the Grand Tour? Virtual Symposium on Artist Residencies: Future, Place and State, organized by Arquetopia Foundation and Synergy Artist Residency Network, in collaboration with multiple institutions around the globe, is the conversation that follows such a departing point, in an effort to continue the critical dialogue on the subject of artist residencies. Although the Grand Tour is a fairly vague construction that changed through the centuries, it has shaped ideas about destinations and gave origin to a long-lasting practice of traveling for education, personal development and culture, a tradition that continues to resonate and that artist residencies have reclaimed. Nevertheless, and especially in these tumultuous times, it is necessary to re‑examine with a magnifying glass the limitations of sustainability alongside the legacy of history, including the dark implications of art in the invention of place, as a fantasy product of the mutual investment of power and images.
“Picture Gallery with Views of Modern Rome”, Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Oil on canvas, 170.2 x 244.5 cm. 1757
“An uncertain future” is what would closely describe the reality that artist residencies are facing after the events of the year 2020. We have all been forced to rethink our relationship to place and history, and to re-examine our sense of community. More than ever, borders have proven to be a fragile invention; however, the restrictions on mobility have been experienced by everyone. This is an opportunity to explore new collaborations across borders, reimagine our communities and expand the possibilities of our interconnectivity. In the words of Audre Lorde, “Without community there is no liberation.”
This virtual symposium is organized in sessions that will include virtual keynotes and round tables through a series of panels that will include the perspectives and experiences from artist residencies and cultural institutions, as well as the expertise of scholars from diverse backgrounds and different locations around the globe. Each participant has been carefully selected considering mission, scope of programs, relevance in the field, community engagement and geographical location to ensure a multiplicity of perspectives and experiences. Arquetopia is organizing this event for free, providing the technology and logistical support, hosting each session as a video call with a keynote speaker or a scholar as guest moderator that will facilitate the discussion of the specific topic to engage the participant organizations. All sessions will be privately recorded to control the audio and video quality and broadcasted in social media to ensure accessibility for different audiences in multiple countries.
Monday, June 8, 2020 – CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS SESSION
WELCOME – Francisco GUEVARA , Co-Executive Director, Arquetopia Foundation (Mexico, Peru, Italy)
Place and History: An Imaginative Distortion of the Encounter
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es Salaam, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
Friday, June 12, 2020 – CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS SESSION
OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS – Dr. Kirsten Pai BUICK, The University of New Mexico
The Thrill of It All: Cultures of Consent and Fantasies of Conquest in the Artist Residency Experience
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es Salaam, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
Wednesday, June 17, 2020 – CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS SESSION
PANEL DISCUSSION #1 – Karim KATTAN (Palestine), Moderator
Mobility and the Legacy of the Grand Tour: Tourism, Residencies, and Other Fantasies
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es Salaam, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
Panelists: Jesse GERARD MPANGO, Nafasi Art Space (Tanzania) – Francisco GUEVARA, Arquetopia Foundation (Mexico, Peru, Italy) – Emily JACIR, Dar Yusuf Nasri Jacir for Art and Research (Palestine) – Ankica MITROVSKA, Brashnar Creative Project (Macedonia)
Although the Grand Tour is a fairly vague construction that changed through the centuries, it has shaped ideas about destinations and gave origin to a long-lasting practice of traveling for education, personal development and culture, a tradition that continues to resonate and that artist residencies have reclaimed. The idea of the world becoming more mobile is a masquerade for the differences in which we experience mobility; therefore cultural mobility has deep historical implications with long-lasting and damaging consequences in many regions around the world, most often concealing a skewed perspective on these regions while romanticizing the transformative potential of art in regard to the processes of art making and international encounters. Because art and power are mutually implicated, in cultural mobility, they very often enact a fantasy that creates distortions, inequalities, ideological biases, and blind spots, especially when engaging local communities and international artists (Bolton, 2010; Cash, Buick and Rojas, 2016; Holland, 2012; Nochlin, 1989; Jones and Stephenson, 1999; Rancière, 2009). How can we establish distance between the fantasies of the Grand Tour and the fetishes of mobility, to rethink cultural cooperation while interrupting the tradition of movement at the expense of exploitation?
Wednesday, June 24, 2020 – CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS SESSION
PANEL DISCUSSION #2 – Dr. Emmanuel ORTEGA (USA), Moderator
Facing Differences: Residencies Beyond the Art World
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es Salaam, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
Panelists: Shaarbek AMANKUL, Б’Art Contemporary (Kyrgyzstan) – Kaitlyn D. HAMILTON & Joni JUDÉN, Tuo Tuo (Finland) – Jupiter PRADHAN, Space A (Nepal) – Pooja SOOD, Khoj (India)
It is indisputable that artist residencies have become crucial nodes for the art world, as they have expanded worldwide and exponentially in numbers in the last decades. Artist residencies provide much needed infrastructure and networks for the cultural sector (Smith, 2012); therefore, they have become sites of production and experimentation, spaces for research and sharing, and places where multiple artists and diverse ideas circulate. Nevertheless, residencies are also burdened with the weight of history; they are subject to economic, geopolitical, and ideological pressures while constantly being reminded of the challenges of self-sustainability (Guevara, 2019). Although residency models and their roles are numerous and diverse, especially considering their contexts and missions, anyone around the world who engages with them is confronted with the question of difference. In the work of Audre Lorde, we find that differences should not be understood as tolerance, but as necessary to generate power and actively “be” in the world; in her own words, “Divide and conquer, in our world, must become define and empower.” What is the function of residencies as spaces where communities intersect and negotiate difference? How can we achieve sustainability without sacrificing our ethical commitment to our communities?
Monday, June 29, 2020 – CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS SESSION
KEYNOTE ADDRESS – Dr. Sharon P. HOLLAND, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"Hum.animal.blackness: a New Approach to Animal Studies"
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es Salaam, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
This talk presents Dr. Holland’s most recent work, which explores vulnerability, accident, and love, at the intersection of the Racial Contract, a particular pattern of localized and global cognitive dysfunctions, as defined by Charles Mills. By examining Heidegger’s notion that humans “die” while animals “perish,” she reads across a theoretical spectrum of works on the human/animal distinction. “The animal is a necessary reminder of the limits of the human; its historical and ontological contingency; of the precariousness of the human as a state of being, a condition of sovereignty, or an ideal of self-regulation.” –Elizabeth Grosz, Becoming Undone: Darwinian Reflections on Life, Politics and Art. Dr. Holland’s research touches on the early incarnation of MOVE, organization internationally known through its activism in the 1970s and 80s, and in particular, their animal liberation stance, one that has gone largely unrecognized. Through her presentation, Dr. Holland asks questions about what activism means to the struggle for animal life and human dignity at large in the context of work in Animal Studies.
Wednesday, July 1, 2020 – CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS SESSION
PANEL DISCUSSION #3 – Francisco GUEVARA , Moderator
Local Knowledge: Dignity, Solidarity, Sustainability, Social Justice
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es Salaam, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
Panelists: Tony EVANKO, Casa Tres Patios (Colombia) – Dr. Jeffreen HAYES (USA) – Mami KATSUYA, Kyoto Art Center (Japan) – Liudmyla NYCHAI, Nazar Voitovich Art Residence (Ukraine) – Shih Yun YEO, Instinc Art Space (Singapore)
Violence, oppression, and even colonization can’t be interpreted as pure and simple domination, especially considering that contestation and resistance has always been a counter reaction that has continuously allowed communities to transform themselves. Boaventura de Sousa Santos explains that the power of communities reside in “the construction and validation of knowledge born in struggle, of ways of knowing, developed by social groups as part of their resistance against systematic injustices and oppressions caused by capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy.” In that sense, artist residencies around the globe and the multiplicity of their models, have allowed them to effectively adapt to the local artistic and cultural needs, while gaining traction to impact the development of artistic discourses at a global scale (Smith 2012, Guevara 2019). In the book Contemporary Artist Residencies: Reclaiming Time and Space, editors Taru Elfving and Irmeli Kokko urgently convey us to continue critical discussions and radical experimentation in the face of uncertainty; more than ever, concepts such as dignity, solidarity, sustainability and social justice are relevant to the practice of artist residencies. What have we learned locally that could be implement interculturally and transnationally?
Wednesday, July 8, 2020 – CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS SESSION
PANEL DISCUSSION #4 – Dr. Emmanuel ORTEGA , Moderator
Gaze and Place: The Act of Travel and the Invention of Destinations
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es Salaam, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
Panelists: Rebecca COREY, Nafasi Art Space (Tanzania) – Karim KATTAN (Palestine) – Mary SHERMAN, TransCultural Exchange (USA) – Ryan Elisabeth REID & Lance L. SMITH, Rogers Art Loft (USA)
Place is a verb rather than a noun; it is a resource and a symbol, an instrument of power that naturalizes a cultural and social construction (Buick, 2019) and it is always contingent to gaze. Several examples associated with place have been ideologically invented through history including “nature,” “landscape,” and “geography.” In her famous essay “The Imaginary Orient,” Linda Nochlin explains that all colonial and touristic presences are dependent on their apparent absences while also bringing into existence the notion of place through their controlling gazes. This how places are invented, “a world of timeless, atemporal customs and rituals, untouched by the historical processes” (Nochlin, 1989). In that sense, artists residencies become mediators of history and place, and are constantly being forced to negotiate with the art world while being challenged by their own local context. What happens when an artist engages with artistic processes while immersed in a community where its culture, people, and even the place itself have been imagined and reimagined by art history and, in general, the dominant visual culture?
Wednesday, July 15, 2020 – CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS SESSION
PANEL DISCUSSION #5 – Francisco GUEVARA , Moderator
How Do We Move From Here: Rethinking Community
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es Salaam, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
Panelists: Nathalie ANGLÈS, Residency Unlimited (USA) – Yang CHUN-SEN, TESACC (Taiwan) – Sheng-Li CHILIAN, Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Audiovisuales ARPA-BUAP (Mexico) – Junpei MORI, Paradise Air (Japan) – Gordana ZIKIC, Belgrade Artist in Residence (Serbia)
“An uncertain future” is what would closely describe the reality that artist residencies are facing after the events of the year 2020. We have all been forced to rethink our relationship to place and history, and to re-examine our sense of community. More than ever, borders have proven to be a fragile invention; however, the restrictions on mobility have been experienced by everyone. Emmanuel Levinas, the preeminent philosopher of ethics, wrote, “the Other concerns me as a neighbor” (Bolton, 2010) and thus, this is an opportunity to explore new collaborations across borders, beyond traditional residency networks, to reimagine our communities and expand the possibilities of our interconnectivity. In the words of Audre Lorde, “Without community there is no liberation.” How can residencies become an affront to “the order of things” and seize the opportunity to interrupt the violent continuity of history? How do we move together from here?
Friday, July 17, 2020 – CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS SESSION
BOOK PRESENTATION – Francisco GUEVARA, Moderator
Contemporary Artist Residencies Reclaiming Time and Space – CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE BOOK
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es Salaam, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
Panelists: Irmeli KOKKO (Finland), Taru ELFVING (Finland)
Artist residencies provide space, time, and concentration for making art, doing research and for reflection. Residencies are crucial nodes in international circulation and career development, but also invaluable infrastructures for critical thinking and artistic experimentation, cross- cultural collaboration, interdisciplinary knowledge production, and site-specific research. The globalization process and the demands of the creative economy have had an impact on artist residencies. Ecological and geopolitical urgencies are now also affecting them more and more. In response, many residencies today actively search for more sustainable alternatives than the current neoliberal condition allows for artistic practice. With a range of critical insights from the field of residencies, this book asks what the present role of artist residencies is in relation to artists and the art ecosystem amid transformations in society.
Wednesday, July 22, 2020 – CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS SESSION
PANEL DISCUSSION #6 – Dr. Emmanuel ORTEGA, Moderator
Acknowledging the Fault Line of Cultural Exchanges: In the Search of Reciprocity Beyond Geography
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es Salaam, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
Panelists: Francisco GUEVARA, Arquetopia Foundation (Mexico, Peru, Italy) – Susanna GYULAMIRIYAN, Art and Cultural Studies Laboratory ACSL (Armenia) – John LUI, In-Situ (Hong Kong) – Christina PESTOVA, CCI FABRIKA (Russia)
Although the dynamism of the 21st century could suggest a positive impact for international exchanges due to mobility, geography and its ideological implications remain as an ordering pattern that regulate encounters, connections, communications, and even organize international cooperation. As a result, international cultural mechanisms, conferences, educational institutions, and even residency networks function as authorities overseeing exchanges between geographical regions; thus, cultural exchanges can become quite often a fantasy performance of mutual exchange and reciprocity, and cooperation becomes co-optation and appropriation (Buick, 2018), especially at artist residencies, where historical disparities play such an important role in locality and mobility. No discussion about cultural mobility or cultural exchanges is complete without taking into account the implications of ideology and history. To present an alternative to the issue of cultural mobility in the context and legacy of the Grand Tour, means a commitment to unraveling history from its investment with the grandiose narratives of citizenship, rights, nation-state, and public and private spheres (Chakrabarty, 2008), allowing us to problematize our practice as artist residencies. How can we facilitate movement in the cultural sector, making sure cultural mobility does not become cultural trafficking and movement at the expense of exploitation? How can we exercise reciprocity and solidarity among our artist residencies?
Friday, July 24, 2020 – CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS SESSION
CLOSING KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Dr. Dipesh CHAKRABARTY – The University of Chicago
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es Salaam, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
Monday, July 27, 2020
TEQUIO LAB
Collaborative Session Exploring Alternative Economies
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es 27, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
Program Keynote Speakers
DR. KIRSTEN BUICK
Kirsten Pai Buick, Ph.D., was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Buick specializes in art of the United States, focusing her research on African-American art, the impact of race and gender on the history of art, representations of the American landscape, the visual and material cultures of the first British Empire, and the history of women as patrons and collectors of the arts. She has advanced scholarship of the work of numerous African American artists through publications. Buick is a tenured, full professor at the University of New Mexico, where she has taught since 2001. She earned her bachelor’s degree in art history and Italian literature in 1985 from the University of Chicago. She earned her master and doctorate degrees in art history from the University of Michigan. Her book Child of the Fire: Mary Edmonia Lewis and the Problem of Art History’s Black and Indian Subject was published by Duke University Press; and her second book, In Authenticity: ‘Kara Walker’ and the Eidetics of Racism, is in progress. Her published articles include studies on the work of artists including Daniel Coburn, Patrick Nagatani, Joseph Delaney, Aaron Douglas, Horace Pippin, and Kehinde Wiley. Buick has earned numerous academic, professional, and scholarly awards and grants including the Driskell Prize, Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Predoctoral Fellowship, the Charles Gaius Bolin Fellowship at Williams College, Rhoades Foundation Visiting Lectureship, and the UNM University Libraries Faculty Acknowledgement Award.
DR. DIPESH CHAKRABARTY
Dipesh Chakrabarty holds a BSc (physics honors) degree from Presidency College, University of Calcutta, a postgraduate Diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and a PhD (history) from the Australian National University. He is currently the Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in History, South Asian Languages and Civilizations, and the College. He is the faculty director, University of Chicago Center in Delhi, a faculty fellow of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory, an associate of the Department of English, and by courtesy, a faculty member in the Law School. Chakrabarty is the recipient of the 2014 Toynbee Foundation Prize for his contributions to global history. He was awarded a DLitt honoris causa by the University of London (conferred at Goldsmiths) in 2010 and an honorary doctorate by the University of Antwerp in 2011. Chakrabarty’s research is currently focused on two areas: he is working on a book project on the implications of the science of climate change for historical and political thought and is working on two long-term projects: one on democracy and political thought in South Asia and the other on a cultural history of Muslim-Bengali nationalism.
DR. SHARON P. HOLLAND
Sharon P. Holland is a graduate of Princeton University (1986) and holds a Ph.D. in English and African American Studies from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1992). She is the author of RAISING THE DEAD: READINGS OF DEATH AND (BLACK) SUBJECTIVITY (Duke UP, 2000), which won the Lora Romero 1st Book Prize from the American Studies Association (ASA) in 2002. She is also co-author of a collection of trans-Atlantic Afro-Native criticism with Professor Tiya Miles (American Culture, UM, Ann Arbor) entitled Crossing Waters/ Crossing Worlds: The African Diaspora in Indian Country (Duke University Press, 2006). She is the author of The Erotic Life of Racism (Duke University Press, 2012), a theoretical project that explores the intersection of Critical Race, Feminist, and Queer Theory. She is also working on a book project entitled “Perishment,” a theoretical study that takes German philosopher Martin Heidegger’s notion that humans “die” while animals “perish,” and reads across the theoretical spectrum of works on the human/animal distinction in order to arrive at a fundamental question: what is the relationship of “blackness” to discourse on the animal? Do black humans “die” or do we “perish”? Her work is grounded in the 20th century and encompasses multiple intersections.
Program Moderators
FRANCISCO GUEVARA
Francisco Guevara, is a visual artist, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Arquetopia Foundation. He specializes in Levinasian ethics applied to the design of transcultural artistic projects and the analysis of performativity in contemporary art practices. His experience spans nearly 20 years of designing, curating, and managing art projects through visual arts education and historiography of art, facilitating Development, sustainability and social transformation. Guevara received his title of Expert in Management and Planning of Development Aid Projects in the Fields of Education, Science and Culture from UNED, OEI and CIDEAL, a postgraduate degree in Cultural Management and Communication from FLACSO, and studied “Race, Gender and the Historiographies of Art” at the University of New Mexico.
KARIM KATTAN
Karim Kattan is a writer who lives between Bethlehem and Paris, where he is completing a Ph.D. in comparative literature. In 2014, he cofounded el-Atlal, an international residency for artists and writers in Jericho, Palestine. He has written, among others, for The Paris Review, Vice's i-D, and The Funambulist. His first collection of short stories, Préliminaires pour un verger futur, was published in 2017 by Elyzad, and It was positively reviewed by national and local newspapers, radio and television shows in France and abroad, including Libération, l’Humanité, Radio France International and TV5.
DR. EMMANUEL ORTEGA
Emmanuel Ortega (Ph.D., Art History, University of New Mexico) is a curator, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Ortega has lectured nationally and internationally on the topics of images of autos-de-fe, nineteenth-century Mexican landscape painting, and visual representations of the New Mexico Pueblo peoples in Novohispanic Franciscans martyr paintings. In 2015, Ortega partnered with the Museo de Arte Religioso Ex-Convento de Santa Mónica in Puebla, Mexico to curate two art exhibitions based on recently restored paintings from their collection, one of which is now part of their permanent galleries. His essay titled, “Spanish Colonial Art History and the Work of Empire,” was published in Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture by the University of California Press in the summer of 2019.
