Ever since it was founded, the CAYC (Centro de Arte y Comunicación), helmed by the cultural promoter, artist, and businessman Jorge Glusberg, was intended as an interdisciplinary space where an experimental art movement could flourish. The establishment of collaborative networks connecting local and international artists and critics played an important role in this process. The CAYC promoted experimental practices, appropriating a variety of examples of Argentine art from the 1960s.
In addition to the shows that were staged at the openings of some of the exhibitions (GT-21; doc. no. pending, GT-158; doc. no. 1476342, GT-161; doc. no. 1478696, GT-162; doc. no. 1478697, GT-180; doc. no. 1477992, GT-196; doc. no. 1478750), the Center also scheduled performances and programs that showcased a variety of performance and experimental practices.
These unconventional events became more prevalent in mid-1973, leading to the development of a program of experimental theater. Participating groups shared a common aesthetic that was based on an interaction between actor and audience and a minimalist approach to stage sets, as pioneered by Jerzy Grotowski (1933-99) and his “poor theater.”
This newsletter announces a performance of Ritual misterioso en casa de Antonino Monigotte [Mysterious Ritual at the Home of Antonino Monigotte], a show created by the Teatrocirco group in April 1975, to be performed at the CAYC. The members of the group, Herrán Gutiérrez, Lorenzo Quinteros, Tina Serrano, and Rubén Szuchmacher produced this play, a classic example of experimental theater in Buenos Aires, and it was a success. The group claimed that their aesthetic was based on comedy sketches and the regional grotesque, two popular genres in the early days of theater in Argentina. The group combined the genres to present a parody of modern theater that is also a savage satire of the social situation in Argentina under a military dictatorship.
