After the electoral victory of Salvador Allende and Unidad Popular in Chile (Allende was in office from 1970–73), bilateral ties between Chile and Cuba were strengthened in the cultural arena, among other areas. In 1971, a Chilean-Cuban biennial of painting, printmaking, and drawing to be held simultaneously in both countries was planned. Also in 1971, the Instituto de Arte Latinoamericano (IAL), directed by Miguel Rojas Mix, was founded in Santiago. The agenda of the Cuban-Chilean alliance included creating an anti-imperialist cultural movement of visual artists and writers. Indeed, that was the premise of the Congreso de Educación y Cultura held at Hotel Habana Libre in May 1971—an event that would give rise to the “Declaración de La Habana” and to the Primer Encuentro de Plástica Latinoamericana, jointly organized by the IAL and the Casa de las Américas, to be held in Havana in 1972. Prior to that meeting planned for Havana, the Primer Encuentro de Artistas Plásticos del Cono Sur was held in Santiago, Chile, in May 1972. That event in Chile is the topic of this interview with Jorge Damiani, who—along with fellow artists Amalia Polleri and Eugenio Darnet—represented Uruguay at it. The sizeable Argentinean delegation included Luis Felipe Noé, Víctor Grippo, Josefina Robirosa, Graciela Carnevale, Ricardo Carpani, Ignacio Colombres, León Ferrari, Antonio Berni, Ernesto Deira, Juan Pablo Renzi and others. Held at the Instituto de Arte Latinoamericano, the event was organized by Miguel Rojas Mix, an activist involved in the creation of the Museo de la Solidaridad founded in Santiago in May 1972. Mariano Rodríguez represented the Casa de las Américas. Brazilian critic Mario Pedrosa, who lived in Chile in exile at the time, presided over the event; Pedrosa was also the vice president of the International Association of Art Critics and president of the Comité Artístico de Solidaridad con Chile at the time.
