Estonia’s first large-scale exhibition of Latin American Art opened at Kumu Art Museum on Thursday. “History and Mystery: Latin American Art and Europe” displays works from the Spanish colonial rule and 20th-century South American modernist pieces.
This is the first time Latin American art has been exhibited on such a large scale in Estonia. This has been made possible through collaboration with The Phoebus Foundation in Antwerp, which owns one of Europe’s largest collections of Latin American art.
The exhibition features art from two eras: the Spanish Colonial period from the 17th to the 19th century, and the 20th century works from Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Uruguay, and Venezuela modernist art.
The exhibition focuses on the relations in art between Latin America and Europe. In the colonial period, art was a powerful medium to spread Christianity and justify the social hierarchies imposed by the Spanish colonial rule.
In the 20th century, a different relationship emerged: many young Latin American artists went on to study in Paris, Madrid, and Barcelona, and with exiled artists from Europe working on-site. In both colonial art and 20th-century modernist art, the European influences merged with local indigenous cultures, resulting in a unique Latin American visual language.
A separate part of the exhibition is a showcase of works by the surrealist artist and writer Leonora Carrington (1917–2011) in the project room on the 4th floor.
The exhibition is open until November 3, 2024.
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