This newsletter announces a performance by Gente, a theater group that included Graciela Juanico, Graciela Militano, and Ricardo Duro. Performative acting exercises such as this one were part of a series of theatrical explorations that took place at the CAYC in 1973 and 1974. This newsletter published a photo of one of Gente’s performances and a brief article in which the group explained the social impact of its aesthetic approach. This approach was in line with the CAYC’s goal of positioning itself as a promoter of an experimental and interdisciplinary avant-garde.          

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. As part of the interdisciplinary approach it had always encouraged, the CAYC promoted experimental practices, appropriating a variety of examples of Argentine art from the 1960s.  

The Ciclo de Investigaciones Teatrales 73–74 began at the CAYC with a performance by the group Nosotros Laboratorio de Teatro that was based on their production Trabajo n° 5 (GT-297; doc. no. 1478830, GT-301; doc. no. 1478985">1478985). The Grupo de Teatro del Encuentro also took part in the series with the play Ceremonia del segundo Nacimiento (GT-302; doc. no. 1478986, GT-317; doc. no. 1478987), Sensaciones, directed by Norberto Lavecchia together with the experimental theater dance company Dimensión 7 (GT-301; doc. no . 1478985">1478985, GT-427; doc. no. 1478901), and Agujas de coser, directed by Osvaldo Moro (GT-418; doc. no. 1478895). The participating groups shared a common aesthetic approach, which was based on the interaction between actors and audience and a minimal reliance on props. This style was inspired by Jerzy Grotowski (1933–1999) and his “poor theater” concept—using only the actors’ bodies and voices on an “empty” stage with no scenery. Teatro Pobre claimed a direct link to performance art, an experimental movement that Glusberg promoted in the local art scene.      

Grotowski’s ideas also influenced the work of the Grupo de los Trece, a visual artists’ collective organized at the CAYC. The original members of the group (the architects Jacques Bedel and Luis [Fernando] Benedit, Gregorio Dujovny, Carlos Ginzburg, Víctor Grippo, Jorge González Mir, Vicente Marotta, Luis Pazos, Alberto Pellegrini, Alfredo Portillos, Juan Carlos Romero, Julio Teich, and Glusberg) met the Polish theater director when he came to Buenos Aires in November 1971 (see GT-94; doc. no. 1478761).