Learn more about Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program
Adriana Zavala is a jointly appointed Associate Professor in the Department of History of Art and Architecture and Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts University.
Join the Livestream of the public lecture (active on the day of the event).
1:15-2:30: Visit to ARTH class "Twentieth Century Art: Art and Justice in the 20th
Century" (McMaster 214)
“Latinx Art, History, and Institutions”
In this workshop, I introduce students to some of my favorite contemporary artists.
We explore their cultural background and art, while also discussing Latinx art’s cultural
and political specificity and its flux in history and in relation to other art historical
categories like “American” art or “Latin American” art, as well as more specific group
identities like Chicana/o/x, Diasporican, Cuban-American, etc.
4:30-5:45: Public lecture: “Of bodies and borders”, McKissick Museum Theater
This lecture examines works by Latin American-descended visual artists living in the
United States, that is to say Latinx artists, whose lives have been marked by and
whose works explore the violence of colonialism, empire, and the ongoing politicization
of borders. Through a reading of art works by Adriana Corral, Teresita Fernández,
Guadalupe Maravilla, Carlos Martiel, Sandy Rodriguez, and Juan Sánchez, I explore
how racialization as a violent form of social differentiation cannot be separated
from the critical study of geopolitical power. As a scholar of both Mexican and U.S.
Latinx art and visual culture, I will address the necessity of intersectional scholarship
and praxis, and the importance of generosity, care, and witnessing in these troubled
times. *Note: because of the topic of this lecture, some of the works presented can
be challenging for some audiences.
9:40-10:30am: Visit to GEOG 210 class “People, Places, and Environment” (Callcott
011)
“Resurrecting Mexico-Tenochtitlan, 1521-2021”
Modern-day Mexico City sits atop the ruins of the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan,
which was founded in 1325, overthrown by Spanish invaders in 1521 and demolished in
1523. While fragments, or spolia, of Tenochtitlan’s physical remains had been present
within the city’s urban fabric since the sixteenth century, new archaeological findings
at the turn of the 20th century—such as the definitive identification of the site
of great teocalli (temple pyramid), captivated the minds and imaginations of some
of the country’s most prominent nationalist thinkers from author and statesman Alfonso
Reyes, to anthropologist Manuel Gamio, architect Ignacio Marquina, and visual artists
Diego Rivera and Juan O’Gorman. This lecture will explore key moments and articulations
of the modern “resurrection” of Tenochtitlan and will invite the public to reflect
on what lessons the 2021 quincentennial of Tenochtitlan’s capture and destruction
offer for us today.
Noon: Lunch and Q&A at Carolina International House at Maxcy College (advance registration
required)
Talk and Q&A on Frida Kahlo’s Creativity: Staging Art, Staging Life
In this lecture I explore Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s creativity in the context of
the cultural renaissance that followed the Mexican Revolution. Springing from the
exhibition Frida Kahlo: Art Garden Life, which I curated at the New York Botanical
Garden (2015), I offer a close examination of several of the artist’s most important
paintings to explain how Kahlo’s self-adornment and the artful arrangement of her
home and garden were equally important modes of creative expression. The presentation
concludes by touching upon the ways that other artists, ranging from Diego Rivera
to photographers like Nickolas Muray and Lola Álvarez Bravo, collaborated with Kahlo
to facilitate the promotion of her art, her cultural politics, and her image.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the many partners:
Phi Beta Kappa Society Visiting Scholar Program
School of Visual Art and Design 2021-2022 Visiting Artist and Scholar Series
Latin American Studies Program
Spanish Program of the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Walker Institute of International Studies
Carolina International House at Maxcy College
SC Commission for Minority Affairs Hispanic/Latino Affairs Division
Fall 2022
Ken Ono (tbd)
Fall 2018, Judith Carney
Fall 2016, Rolena Adorno
Fall 2012, Diana Taylor