Collages and photomontages are critical responses to images that circulate in mass media, family albums and public archives. They bring to light the hidden, the silenced, and the invisible and, in so doing, take a political stance on the images of history and the history of images.
Through projections, activities, workshops with guest speakers, talks with renowned photographers, and a display of photographs and collages, visitors to Tearing Up the Past will explore less-well-known holdings from the Tate collection. Participants will reflect on the role that hybrid images, photomontages and collages have played in celebrating and critiquing different forms of power.
The installation will focus, albeit not exclusively, on conflict and artistic resistance in Latin America. Here hybrid images are often wielded to express political dissent or to combat those who attempt to airbrush traumatic pasts.
Drawing inspiration from displayed work by Argentine artists, participants will be encouraged to create their own collages and altered images and to contribute to a collective mural. Artist-in-residence Lucila Quieto will also run a Collective Collage workshop and will take part in a public interview with curators and organisers Dr. Jordana Blejmar (University of Liverpool) and Dr. Natalia Fortuny (Univesidad de Buenos Aires/Conicet).
With thanks to Lucia Brandi, Marcelo Brodsky, CELS (Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales), Grupo de Estudios en Fotografía Contemporánea, Arte y Política (FoCo)-IIGG-UBA, Jillian Edelstein, Marcelo Expósito, Fundación Ferrari , Ana Longoni, Ailsa Peate, Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra, Lucila Quieto, Kate Spicer, Claire Taylor, GAC (Grupo de Arte Callejero/Street Art Group) current members include Lorena Bossi, Vanesa Bossi, Fernanda Carrizo, Mariana Corral and Carolina Golder.
Thanks also to the following students who have volunteered to help; Luke Bryant, Lian Duan, Ciara Grimes, Jiahui Huang, Qihan Wang, Qi Xin, Tong Yao, Jiaqi Zhu
CELS
We are also delighted to celebrate, with this project, the 40th anniversary of the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), an Argentine human rights organization, founded in 1979 during the last military dictatorship. CELS promotes the protection of human rights and their effective exercise, justice and social inclusion – both nationally and internationally.