A Note from Mari Carmen Ramírez, Founding Director, ICAA
Since its establishment in 2001, the ICAA’s mission has been to make available to the global community key primary sources for the study of Latin American and Latino visual arts free of charge. That goal has led us to assemble a digital archive of more than 10,000 sources representative of countries like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela and the U.S. Latino communities. Such an arduous task would not have been possible without dynamic partnerships with key foundations, universities, and cultural institutions across the Americas. These partnerships contribute intellectual and creative capital to the goals that we set for the project thereby enhancing the range and quality of the sources that make up the digital repository.
The ICAA is thus honored to have partnered with Fundación AMA in the research and processing of valuable primary sources related to twentieth and twenty-first century Chilean art. Their participation has allowed us to complete and expand upon the work carried out early on in the project by the research team associated with the Universidad de Playa Ancha (2005-08). Our productive collaboration with Fundación AMA will allow users from all over the world to access the writings of scores of artists, critics, curators, and scholars from Chile. This is a groundbreaking achievement for a country that has produced great artists but whose art, until now, has lacked broad visibility on the world stage. By making available these sources of Chilean art, Fundación AMA and the ICAA are encouraging new research on the country’s leading artists and movements and their relationship to international currents. What may result from these endeavors is likely to position Chilean art in its rightful place in the history of Modernism and Post-Modernism.
We are extremely grateful to Juan Yarur for his vision and commitment to the promotion of Chilean art worldwide and to Bernardita Mandiola for her able execution of the partnership. Our thanks also to the project’s lead researcher, Sebastián Valenzuela, for the intelligence with which he engaged the task at hand.
As we move into Phase II of the ICAA Documents Project, our partnership with Fundación AMA will provide an exemplary model for future associations.
Mari Carmen Ramírez
Director, ICAA
