This newsletter invites readers to Hacia un perfil cultural latinoamericano, a conversation between Oscar A. Maggiolo and Alfredo Jadresic Vargas, who were selected by the magazine Ciencia Nueva, which was administered by the engineer Ricardo Ferraro. As part of the homonymous exhibition at the CAYC, this event reflected the center’s interest in linking theoretical thinking and the practice of art. On this occasion, the conversation would mainly address the subject of cultural problems in Latin America. 

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. In addition to the exhibitions, a program of different activities provided viewers with a greater chance of seeing the latest innovations in art and scientific thought. According to Glusberg, the coordination between theoretical thinking and artistic practice was a key factor in the achievement of social change.  

Technology, architecture, design, industry, and the hard (“exact”) sciences, as well as social and behavioral sciences were fundamental specializations in the CAYC’s interdisciplinary project and had been since its inception. In 1969, with its first exhibition, Arte y Cibernética, the CAYC established its experimental credentials, which were in line with ideas that had been presented on the international stage. The center hoped that this exhibition at the Galería Bonino in Buenos Aires would show what the new technologies could do for creative activity. 

This newsletter invites readers to Hacia un perfil cultural latinoamericano, a conversation between Oscar A. Maggiolo (1920–1980) and Alfredo Jadresic Vargas (1925–2021), who were selected by Ciencia Nueva, a magazine that covered scientific news in Latin America. The magazine was started by Manuel Sadosky and administered by Ricardo Ferraro, among others. They had taken part in the CAYC’s inaugural exhibition Arte y Cibernética. The magazine, which was published from 1970 to 1974, became a discussion forum for Pensamiento Latinoamericano en Ciencia, Tecnología y Desarrollo (PLACTED), a group devoted to Latin American thinking in the fields of science, technology, and development. 

This conversation, which was part of Hacia un perfil del arte latinoamericano, the exhibition that was installed at the CAYC at the time, was of interest to the center because it linked theoretical thinking in several different areas with the practice of art, generating ideas that addressed cultural problems.