Art exhibition opens ‘window’ into South American culture

A comprehensive collection of South American art that will be the first of its kind in Australasia will be unveiled today.

Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America will showcase work from 41 of the region’s artists, spanning from the 1960s to now, at the Auckland Art Gallery.

The exhibition’s co-curator Zara Stanhope said there hadn’t been a history of art coming across the Pacific from South America, but welcomed the large collection of art, which had never before been displayed in Australasia.

“It’s not that there haven’t been South American artists showing here before, but this [exhibition] is the first of its kind that we can see [that is] from or focused on South America.”

Ms Stanhope said it was important to distinguish South America from the rest of Latin America as art from each culture had its own uniqueness and was different to the stereotypical view of Hispanic culture.

She hoped the exhibition would connect with New Zealanders because of the historical and cultural similarities the region has with Aotearoa.

“We have some commonalities in terms of having indigenous peoples in our countries that are considered important [and] being colonised by Europe, but beyond that, our cultures are so different that there’s a great opportunity to understand each other a little better through art.”

Brazilian artist Maria Nepomuceno, whose work is being exhibited, said a Māori cultural link is evident in her work.

“I work often with a group of women from Ceara, in the north-east of Brazil doing woven work. I could see in the museum and other places, the technique of weaving was strong,” said Ms Nepomuceno.

“I found many points which were common between our two indigenous cultures, like a bridge between our ancestral and indigenous people.”

Mirtha Alvarez, director of Letras Latinas, a Latin American organisation that focuses on the arts and literature, said the exhibition was a “window” for New Zealanders to look into South American culture.

“It’s not a window, let’s say, into the ideology of South America but rather a way of looking into the culture that represents us as a region. This is because art isn’t an ideology, art is culture and thus it is important that a window is opened.”

Ms Alvarez said the exhibition aimed to break down cultural stereotypes, and it was a step in the right direction for the Hispanic community of New Zealand.

Space to Dream: Recent Art runs from now until September 18 at the Auckland Art Gallery