Art in Asia and South America during the Cold War: Comparative Analyses


In the related sequence of military coups during the Cold War in Iran (1953), Brazil (1964), Uruguay (1973), Chile (1973), Argentina (1976), Pakistan (1977) – all driven by an alleged “fear of communism” – it may be surprising to see Iran and Pakistan in a list dominated by South American countries. Despite the global nature of the Cold War, historical narratives inadequately stress the connections between different “souths” of the Asian and American continents. Similarly, the impact of the Cold War in both contexts have been addressed separately, receiving considerable scholarly attention in recent years: propaganda and resistance art in Pakistan, and conceptualisms in South America. However, efforts towards a comparative transregional study have yet to be explored. This panel invites contributions from specialists on Asian and South American art to collectively discuss how art in both regions were affected by the Cold War. Scholars specialising at the same time in both Asia and South America are rare. Comparative analysis, a model favorizing the production of connected global art histories, becomes in this case necessarily collective in nature. This panel seeks to further South-South dialogue and encourage collaborative efforts in addressing art historical narratives. The Bandung (1955) and the Tricontinental (Havana, 1966) Conferences constituted the starting points of the so-called third-world solidarity movement. Economic alliances such as the BRICS and cultural projects regarding the Global South seem to suggest the need for new forms of solidarity among peoples historically affected by Western hegemony. Collective comparative studies respond to that need.

Field of Study:
South Asia
South America
Asia
Twentieth Century
Twenty-First Century

Chairs:
Kanwal Syed,Concordia University - kanwal.raza@gmail.com and Diogo Rodrigues de Barros,Université de Montréal - diogo.rodrigues.de.barros@umontreal.ca

Declassified History: Archiving Latin America
Tamara Toledo, York University, Sur Gallery
Calderesque Shadows above the Oilfields and Taphographic Authority
Nima Esmailpour Lialestani, Concordia University