This is the invitation to participate in the Festival de Arte Total CONTACTA 72; it is addressed to “Peruvian artists and artisans.” The event was scheduled to take place at the Parque de la Reserva in Lima, June 26–30, 1972, and it sought to “transcend the limitations of traditional museums, galleries, and of theaters [sic] and promote the full exposure of art in all its various guises to the general public.” In a nod to the broad parameters of the festival, the invitation states that “Imagination has no limits. The Contacta 72 exhibition is open to professionals and amateurs. The public may attend at any time, at no charge. Speak your mind, and say it with art!” The document is signed by the Dirección General de Organizaciones Profesionales y Culturales del SINAMOS (Sistema Nacional de Apoyo a la Movilización Social), an agency that reported to the Gobierno Revolucionario de las Fuerzas Armadas Peruanas (1968–75), the regime led by General Juan Velasco Alvarado.

This announcement appeared in La Nueva Crónica, the widely-read Lima newspaper that fully supported the military government of General Juan Velasco Alvarado (1968–75). The document briefly outlines the main goals of Contacta 72, whose most distinguished organizers were the Peruvian–Swiss artist Francisco Mariotti (b. 1943) and the painters Luis Arias Vera (1932–2016) and Luis Zevallos (b. 1933). It is interesting to note that the announcement was addressed to “Peruvian artists and artisans,” an indication of the original attempts made to unite the cultural values of both sectors. This second Contacta festival opened on Wednesday, July 26, 1972, and since it was designed to attract the general public, it was fully funded by the Peruvian government through its agency SINAMOS (Sistema Nacional de Apoyo a la Movilización Social). It was an experimental event, one of the first efforts to expose art in all its various guises to the Peruvian general public. Contacta 72 was the governmental political communications channel and thousands of people attended the event over the course of four days.

[As complementary reading about SINAMOS and Naylamp 72, see the following articles in the ICAA digital archive: (unattributed) “Revolución en la artesanía” (doc. no. 1139278); (unattributed) “Naylamp 72” (doc. no. 1139009); by Alfonso Castrillón, Leslie Lee, and Carlos Bernasconi “Fundamentación para el dictamen por mayoría simple a favor del artista popular Joaquín López Antay” (doc. no. 1135896); by Alfonso Bermúdez “Premio a López Antay suscita controversias. Unos: consagración del arte popular. Otros: una cosa es arte y otra artesanía” (doc. no. 1135879); by Francisco Abril de Vivero, Luis Cossío Marino, and Alberto Dávila “Artistas plásticos cuestionan premio” (doc. no. 1135960); and (unattributed) “‘No todos nos quieren ni en Lima ni en Ayacucho’: así comentó sobre cuestionamiento a premio” (doc. no. 1135930)].

[See also the following articles, all unattributed, about the multidisciplinary festivals organized by SINAMOS, such as Contacta 72 (1972) in “Arte libertario” (doc. no. 1138949), “Contacta 72 será una experiencia de significación” (doc. no. 1138979), and “Pueblo y arte se dieron la mano en Contacta 72: gran cita en el Parque de la Reserva” (doc. no. 1138994); about Inkari (1973) in “Reintegración. Inkari: un reencuentro esperado” (doc. no. 1139039); and about ORAMS IX (1975) in “Arte y Pueblo” (doc. no. 1139024)].