From Latin American Objects to Latin American Art at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

At the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2019 opened a new era in the presence and visibility of the arts from Latin America and by Latinx artists of the diaspora. New permanent galleries devoted to Latin America that present for the first time not only pre-Columbian art, but also colonial, modern, and contemporary art were an impetus for a more inclusive acquisition policy. Historically, the arts from Latin America entered the collection following the creation in 1916 of the “Museum Section” which aimed to include objects which could be used for the education of artists and artisans. Acquired mostly as craft and/or exotic objects, “decorative arts” from Latin America, whether archaeological or modern, still make up over 90% of the collection today. Prints and drawings by modern Mexican artists were acquired in the 1960s and several works by contemporary Cuban artists were purchased in conjunction with the exhibition ¡Cuba! Art and History from 1868 to Today in 2008 but these acquisitions were relatively punctual. These past few years, however, works by artists working in Latin America and Latino-Canadian artists have been regularly entering the collection and are now being presented to the public. I argue that transformations to the structure of the museum, new curators, and the evolving presence of people of Latin American descent in Montreal contributed to this change.