Indigineous Knowledge and the Making of Colonial Latin America

This symposium brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars to explore the ways in which indigenous knowledge contributed to the making of colonial Latin America. A dozen talks will examine practices related to art, architecture, science, medicine, governance, and the study of the past, among other topics.

This event is related to two exhibitions that showcase magnificent examples of work by indigenous artists and authors: Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas, at the Getty Center, and Visual Voyages: Images of Latin American Nature from Columbus to Darwin, at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, which form part of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA. This program is generously supported by the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute, the Seaver Institute and the Getty Research Institute.

Conference Organizers:
Daniela Bleichmar, University of Southern California
Kim Richter, Getty Research Institute

Friday, December 8, 2017

8:30 a.m. REGISTRATION

9:30 a.m. WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS

Thomas W. Gaehtgens, Getty Research Institute
Peter C. Mancall, University of Southern California

INTRODUCTION

Daniela Bleichmar, University of Southern California
Kim Richter, Getty Research Institute

9:45 a.m. SESSION I
Moderator: Jeanette Favrot Peterson, University of California, Santa Barbara

Conquest Accounts, Native Knowledge, and the Trope of Authenticity
Amber Brian, University of Iowa

Reframing the Relaciones Geográficas of Colonial Mexico: A Corpus View of Indigenous Knowledges
Kelly McDonough, University of Texas at Austin

11:15 a.m. BREAK

11:30 a.m. SESSION II
Moderator: Megan O’Neil, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Colors of Knowledge, Knowledge of Colors
Davide Domenici, Università di Bologna

To Think About Nothing: Native Creativity between Material Practices and Representations in the Southern Andes
Gabriela Siracusano, Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero

1:00 p.m. LUNCH

2:30 p.m. SESSION III
Moderator: Manuel Aguilar-Moreno, California State University, Los Angeles

Indigenous Knowledge in the Home: Domestic Textiles in Colonial Peru and Mexico
Maya Stanfield-Mazzi, University of Florida

Recalling Conquest(s): Amazonian Feathers in the Making of Multicultural Colonial Peru
Claudia Brosseder, University of Illinois

4:00 p.m. END OF DAY

Saturday, December 9, 2017

8:30 a.m. REGISTRATION

9:30 a.m. SESSION IV
Moderator: Xochitl Flores-Marcial, California State University, Northridge

The Legible Image: Translating Pictorial Knowledge in Early Colonial Mexico
Daniela Bleichmar, University of Southern California

Indigenous Knowledge in Dutch Brazil: From Territorial Conquest to Natural History in the Historia Naturalis Brasiliae
Mariana De Campos Françozo, Universiteit Leiden

11:00 a.m. BREAK

11:15 a.m. SESSION V
Moderator: Rebecca Dufendach, Getty Research Institute

A Caribbean Natural History: Amerindians and the Creation of the New World
Pablo F. Gómez, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“These Noxious, Evil Little Animals”: Locust Swarms, Insect Extermination Campaigns, and the Politics of Indigenous Knowledge in Colonial Mesoamerica
Martha Few, Pennsylvania State University

12:45 p.m. LUNCH

2:00 p.m. SESSION VI
Moderator: Kim Richter, Getty Research Institute

Seasons of Gold: Rethinking Indigenous Knowledge Production in the Siglo de Oro
Allison Bigelow, University of Virginia

Beyond El Dorado: Indigenous Knowledge of Mines and Metals in Early Colombia and Ecuador
Kris Lane, Tulane University

3:30 p.m. BREAK

3:45 p.m. CLOSING ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

Daniela Bleichmar, University of Southern California
Diana Magaloni, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Peter C. Mancall, University of Southern California
Kim Richter, Getty Research Institute
Kevin Terraciano, University of California, Los Angeles

5:00 p.m. CLOSING RECEPTION

Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA is an initiative of the Getty with arts institutions across Southern California. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America.