Perverse Geography / Cursed Geographies
Symposium of the 22 Paiz Art Biennial - lost. in between. together
08.05.21, 9h - 16h (Guatemalan local time, UTC-6)
Online ESP - ENG

Register via bit.ly/simposio-22-arte-paiz

Organised in light of the opening of the 22nd Bienal de Arte Paiz - lost. in between. together, this symposium builds on the exhibition by offering a platform for discussion of Guatemala’s cultural context, looking into its ancestrality alongside its history of violence and cultural resistance to reflect on the present and the uncertain future of the Global South. Perverse geography / Cursed geographies presents indigenous culture as a central theme and will bring together international speakers from different areas of expertise. Historical violence, inequalities and current conflicts that Guatemalan society faces, as well as forms of ancestral survival, are some of the topics that will be addressed by the speakers, while presentations will also examine artistic proposals that respond to them and draw parallels between cases that afflict Latin America and the Global South more widely. Exploring these issues from the very indigeneity of the place, rather than from a foreign context, is fundamental. As a country where 60% of its total population is indigenous and where racism and genocide have been part of everyday life, Guatemala is a place of profound relevance to organise this debate. Furthermore, by proposing connections with international causes and experiences, the symposium also aims to emphasise the importance of strengthening strategies that articulate support networks and bring people together. The late Maya K’iche ’poet Humberto Ak’abal, who, as Miguel Rojas Mix says, thinks as we wish most people would think, has led the way in these debates.

Programme
9.00 GUA / 11.00 NYC / 16.00 LDN
Keynote performative lecture by Jonas Staal and Jan Fermon in Collectivize Facebook

10.45 GUA / 12.45 NYC / 17.45 LDN
The signs of the path: the historical violence
Gladys Turner Bosso
Hugo Quinto
moderated by: Anabella Acevedo

13.00 GUA / 15.00 NYC / 20.00 LDN
The divided paradise: the structural inequalities
María Jacinta Xón Riquiac
Julia Halperin
Rosina Cazali Escobar
moderated by: Beto Díaz Suárez

14.50 GUA / 16.50 NYC / 21.50 LDN
Where the sky begins: ancestrality and the heritage of resistance
Ayrson Heráclito
Alejandro Biguria
moderated by: Gabriel Rodríguez Pellece

16.00 GUA / 18.00 NYC / 23.00 LDN | Closing notes