Mapping Space and Time: Migration, Landscape, and Extractivism in the Work of Latin American Women Artists.

Inaugural event of the European Network on Latin American Art Studies (ENLAAS).

"Mapping Space and Time: Migration, Landscape, and Extractivism in the Work of Latin American Women Artists" is an artistic research project, focused on the following topics: migration, cartographies, landscape, and extractivism.
We will depart from the work by two Latin American women artists who are based in Berlin, Daniela Lehmann Carrasco and Marina Camargo. During the programme, we will engage with the topics proposed by the artists in their artist talks and workshops, analyse historical and contemporary artistic practices by different Latin American women artists, and contribute to the project with artistic and scholarly responses.
In this project, we will examine the notions of autoethnography, memory, and forced migration, taking as a basis the work of Daniela Lehmann Carrasco; as well as different ways to explore issues surrounding the concepts of landscape, extractivism and cartography, following Marina Camargo’s practice. While Lehmann Carrasco’s practice recreates maps according to different spatial references and locations found in her research about her family’s archives, in Camargo’s work the maps lose their original meaning and form. They are foldable, soft and their structure resembles that of a skin or an empty body. Instead of giving an orientation in space, her maps question the official cartography, opening new interpretations of how to address territories.
"Mapping Space and Time" connects the idea of cartography and its temporality, and sheds light on how maps – once created to give orientation and divide territories, as part of colonial and imperialist agendas – have been changing in time due to different political and social circumstances, becoming more porous and fragile. One of the aims of this project is to reflect on current geopolitical shifts, such as the ones resulting from wars or climate change, which have given rise to migration movements in different parts of the world. At the same time, these movements have created new unofficial maps and routes, which are in constant transformation. We are interested in recalling historical accounts in which maps were intimately associated with colonial history, which started in the Americas in the fifteenth century, marking the beginning of modernity.

The project is supported by Forum Transregionale Studien and Bardo Projektraum.

About ENLAAS
The European Network on Latin American Art Studies (ENLAAS) focuses on researching and disseminating Latin American art across Europe. The network seeks to connect scholars, curators, artists, and organisations in Europe and Latin America, promote academic research, and raise public awareness about Latin American art.
Latin American art is a thriving and expanding subfield in global art history. Despite this, only a few initiatives in Europe are dedicated to its study. In fact, the majority of the research and activities related to Latin American art in Europe have taken place in Spain, while in the rest of Europe this field is underrepresented. By making this field visible in academic centres and art institutions, we strive to achieve a better comprehension of the region’s artistic contributions and tackle historical imbalances in art history.

Programme:

Wednesday, 4 June 2025, Bardo Projektraum, Jessnerstraße 33, 10247 Berlin

15:00 - 17:00 h
“Mapping Time: Andreasplatz 5 / Kleine Andreasstraße 11”
Workshop with the artist Daniela Lehmann Carrasco

18:00 - 19:30 h
Artists’ talk with the artists Marina Camargo and Daniela Lehmann Carrasco

Thursday, 5 June 2025, Forum Transregionale Studien, Wallotstraße 14, 14193 Berlin

18:00 - 19:30 h Lecture programme:
Dr Laura Karp Lugo (Beaux-Arts de Paris & Université de Lorraine)
“Tracing Roots and Routes: Life and Work of Gertrudis Chale”

Dr Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra (Birkbeck University)
“Whose is the Word? On Mirtha Dermisache’s Asemic Writings at CAyC”

Dr Katerina Valdivia Bruch (independent researcher, Berlin)
“Political Correctness or True Inclusion?: Indigenous Art in Contemporary Art Exhibitions”

Friday, 6 June 2025, Forum Transregionale Studien, Wallotstraße 14, 14193 Berlin

16:00 - 17:30 h Workshop on art history and curating Latin American art
“Rediscovering or Rewriting? On the Legacy of Teresa Burga”
Workshop conducted by Dr Katerina Valdivia Bruch

18:00 - 19:30 h Lecture programme:
Dr Margarida Brito Alves (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)
“On Research and Distance: The Artists and Radical Education in Latin America (1960s-1970s) Project”

Dr Katarzyna Cytlak (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń)
“Conceptual Architecture: Reviewing ‘Latin American Conceptual Art’”

Dr Giulia Lamoni (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)
“Heliophytic Art”

Chair of the programme and moderation: Dr Katerina Valdivia Bruch

Participation in the programme is free of charge. However, registrations are mandatory. Please email us indicating which part of the schedule you wish to attend.

Registrations: enlaas.networkgmail.com