In her essay, María Angélica Melendi discusses how Latin America fits into artistic and cultural grand narratives (grand-récits). In her opinion, the art produced in Latin America seeks to insert itself into these narratives in two different ways: either in search of its roots or in a projection of its future, thus attempting to define either its “identity” or its “place of origin.” An investigation of that “place” draws cartography into the process, providing Melendi with a means to review relevant examples of modern and contemporary art. In that vein, the essay goes on to discuss, in detail, three institutions and their specific practices: the Bienal do Mercosul, the Instituto Arte das Américas, and MALBA—the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires. Melendi explains how these institutions operate in terms of affirming Latin American art’s own particular space, and the need to evaluate it according to very precise criteria that encourage an internal dialogue (without ignoring external factors or resorting to obsequiousness or concessions).    

This essay was inspired by a series of discussions that focused on the “place” in which Latin American art actually operates, in an attempt to show the central role that the idea of “cartography” plays in the evaluation of artistic practices in the Americas. A review of Latin American art approached from that perspective would allow for a closer reading of its specifics, thus avoiding the stereotypes that have been constructed.  

The Argentine art historian María Angélica Melendi (who has lived in Brazil since 1975), has specialized in teaching and researching the visual arts, specifically those of a political nature (a pursuit that prompted her departure from her homeland). Melendi suggests that a review of the kind described above would open up a range of initiatives such as those undertaken by the Bienal do Mercosul (Porto Alegre, Brazil), the Instituto Arte das Américas (Belo Horizonte, Brazil), and MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires), three institutions that address questions concerning Latin American art as an integral part of their inquiries and their research.

As a related matter, it should be noted that “De adversidade vivemos”—the slogan from a well-known Parangolé by Hélio Oiticica (1965–69)—was used by Melendi as a referent in the title of her essay.

For further information on this subject, that was widely discussed at the time, and was Ivo Mesquita’s curatorial theme for Cartographies (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1994) [doc. no. 807646], see relevant essays by Brazilian critics as follows: by Annateresa Fabris, “Duas cartografias da América Latina: Joaquín Torres García e Anna Bella Geiger” in América Latina: territorialidades e práticas artísticas (Porto Alegre: Ed. UFRGS, 2002) [doc. no. 808407]; and by Paulo Herkenhoff, the linguistic complement to Mesquita’s curatorial proposal, “Incomplete glossary of sources of Latin American Art,” in Cartographies (1994) [doc. no. 808171].