The essay “La puesta en escena internacional del arte latinoamericano: montaje, representaciones” [The International Staging of Latin American Art: Assembly, Presentations], by the French-Chilean cultural critic Nelly Richard, is in the archives of the XVII Coloquio Internacional de Historia del Arte [17th International Symposium on the History of Art], organized by the Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Zacatecas (1994). The invitation to the symposium defined the subject as “Art, History, and Identity in the Americas: Comparative Visions.” In her paper, Richard discussed the categories used as a basis for sanctioning the circulation and interpretation of Latin American artworks within the context of so-called postmodern culture, and wondered, “How does a representative of the international art circuit express an opinion concerning peripheral (Latin American) works of art with no understanding of the framework of references and meanings that define the Work?” She questioned well established ideas of “the other”—what is different, marginal, and peripheral—by referring to exhibitions held at metropolitan institutions and discussing their effects on expressions and translations that reinforce the concept of Latin American-ness as “magical,” “surreal,” and “fantastic,” which are categories that enjoy international success. She discussed those stereotypes in terms of how they are presented, and who controls the resources to sponsor the appropriate discourse. This new scenario thus allows non-represented areas to participate and leads to a reassessment of those that have been overrepresented. Richard states that the postmodern reevaluation is absolutely irrelevant “because the gesture that decrees it still emanates from the network that holds a symbolic-discursive monopoly.”

Nelly Richard (b. 1943)’s lecture was based on a review of the essential Latin American identity, interpreted in terms of periods and theories. In the essay mentioned above, she places the discussion within the context of postmodern culture in the 1990s, which, in her opinion, posits contradictions because the selection and definition of the image of Latin American art was left in the hands of those who were in charge of administering both metropolitan signs and aesthetic transactions. Richard explains that, though presentation strategies have been modified in terms of how works are assembled and dismantled, when transferred to the postmodern scenario of differences, the power of representation is still the problem at stake. Part of Richard’s talk focused on “Beyond the Fantastic; Framing Identity in US Exhibitions of Latin American Art” (Art Journal N° 51 - Winter, 1992), by the theoretician and curator Mari Carmen Ramírez (b. 1955), who discusses the level of knowledge about Latin American art among curators at international museums who are uninformed concerning the “language, the history, and the traditions of many countries in Latin America,” to carry out exhibitions on the subject-matter.The volumes of documents generated by the symposium are an invaluable source of information concerning studies of Latin American art because they draw attention to problems, errors and blunders such as the lack of knowledge about the discursive production in the region. One of the objectives of the symposium was specifically to improve communication on matters of this nature.