You are all warmly invited to the following event:
Working with the Works of León Ferrari
A 2-day event organised by Eve Kalyva (History of Art) and supported by SLAS
8 December, Tate Modern workshop (11.00-16.00)
9 December, 14.00-17.00 (GMT) (online)
This two-day event explores León Ferrari’s expansive oeuvre, and the fascinations and challenges of working with it. It consists of a workshop at Tate Modern (8 December; 11.00-16.00), and an online symposium (9 December, 14.00-17.00 GMT).
Interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral, this event showcases Ferrari’s multifaceted and critically astute artistic practice. It offers first-hand experience of Ferrari’s works and the opportunity to discuss their impact and relevance in theoretical, curatorial and practical terms. It negotiates key issues in the study of Latin American art and culture; and brings together scholars, museum professionals, curators and conservators. It is generously funded by the Society of Latin American Studies (SLAS).
The workshop at Tate Modern is led by Eve Kalyva (lecturer in Art History, University of Kent). Speakers at the online symposium are Ruth Estévez (director of Amant Foundation in Brooklyn, New York and co-curator of the 34th Sao Paolo Biennial), Niall HD Geraghty (Leverhulme Early Career fellow and lecturer in Latin American Cultural Studies, UCL), Andrea Wain (in charge of the research for Ferrari’s catalogue raisonné and co-curator of the exhibition The Kind Cruelty: León Ferrari, 100 Years, Reina Sofía, Madrid 2021), Teresa Cos Rebollo (management and exhibitions assistant, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven) and Gabriela Baldomá (conservator-restorer at the Augusto and León Ferrari Art and Collection Foundation, FALFAA).
Programme
Part 1. Tate Modern Workshop, 8 December (11.00-16.00; maximum number of participants 20)
Part 2. Symposium, 9 December (14.00-17.00 GMT, online)
14.00-14.05. Opening remarks
14.05-14.30. Ruth Estévez, “In the Darkness, Words Weigh Twice”. A contextual examination of Ferrari’s literary collage The Words of Others [Palabras Ajenas] (1967), with a focus on the camouflaged violence in the rhetoric of Western discourse, ranging from the Judeo-Christian doctrine to the Second World War, and the role of the media in the reporting and reception of conflict and war.
14.30-14.55. Niall HD Geraghty, “Ferrari con(tra) León”. A unique interpretation of Ferrari’s images as a profound source of theological and religious experimentation which can be seen to contribute to the rejuvenation of Latin American liberation theology.
14.50-15.15. Q&A
15.15-15.30. Break
15.30-15.50. Andrea Wain, “The Kind Cruelty: The Archive as Organiser of the Exhibition”. An insider’s view of the process of curating Ferrari’s retrospective The Kind Cruelty: León Ferrari, 100 Years (15 December 2020 – 12 April 2021, Reina Sofía, Madrid), focusing on the use of the artist’s archive as the basis of investigation, the hypothesis and the script of the exhibition, and the place the “immaterial” has in curatorial practice.
15.50-16.10. Teresa Cos Rebollo, “Parallel Lives, Parallel Aesthetics – Gülsün Karamustafa and León Ferrari”. A presentation of the homonymous exhibition at the Van Abbemusuem, Eindhoven (27 November 2021 – 13 March 2022) and the challenges of showing Ferrari’s work to international audiences.
16.10-16.30. Gabriela Baldomá, “The Art of Ferrari through the Conservator’s Lens”. An examination of some of Ferrari’s key works such as Justice/1492–1992. Fifth Centenary of the Conquest (1992/2020) and Homage to the Victims of Torture (2001), both displayed at Ferrari’s 2020 retrospective in Madrid, with a focus on the manufacturing process and the particularities of the materials, patterns and sequences in Ferrari’s creative project.
16.30-16.50. Q&A
16.50-17.00. Closing remarks
León Ferrari, Santa María (Saint Mary)
(Caravel, detail of Justice/1492–1992. The Five Hundredth Anniversary of The Conquest), 1992. Installation
Bookings
For Part 1. Tate Modern Workshop, 8 December, email the organiser, Eve Kalyva, at e.m.kalyva@kent.ac.uk (Please note that places are limited)
For Part 2. Symposium, 9 December, 14.00-17.00 GMT online, register via Eventbrite here