Amazonart · Conquering Self-Representation: A Collaborative Approach to the Aesthetical-Political Dimension of Amazonian Contemporary Art

This project develops a novel theoretical and methodological approach to understand the work, trajectories and activism of indigenous Amazonian contemporary artists as they enter global art circuits and seeks to produce more suitable curatorial narratives. Over the last decade the field of contemporary art has expanded its boundaries through the integration of art practices from various parts of the globe including indigenous art. A significant scholarship has traced the practices and global articulations of Australian and North American indigenous artists, which have developed a strong circuit of art agents and stimulated readjustments in art historical narratives. Yet the global rise of other vibrant indigenous art practices requires immediate attention. This is the case of Amazonian contemporary art which is mobilising different aesthetics and agendas and proposing novel contributions to the arts and humanities at large. With a focus on Amazonian Peruvian artists, this project develops a novel approach to explore the work, trajectories and activism of indigenous Amazonian contemporary artists as they enter global art circuits. Its aim is to produce the first major study on Amazonian contemporary art that expands the current framework of analysis of art and shamanism to look at artists’ practices, agendas and mobility across the local, urban, national and global arenas and to propose more suitable vocabularies and curatorial narratives. It does this through an innovative collaborative methodology with Amazonian artists responding to their aim of self-representation. This MSCA action draws on my on-going collaborations with Amazonian artists and on my background in the fields of anthropology, museum studies and cultural policies. The participatory and interdisciplinary approach of this research seeks to contribute to dialogues amongst anthropology, art history and curatorial studies and benefit museum practices and policies in addressing indigenous art today.