BY DIEGO GODOY THE YOUNG HIGINIO GRANDA stood soldierly as he faced a mansion on Colón Street in Mexico City. Blond, svelte, and possessing a peninsular accent, he had the ability to pass as a “decent” person. But he was far from it, as his over twenty stints in jail might suggest. … [Read more...] about Inside the Agrasánchez Collection of Mexican Cinema
Arte/Letras
The Hijuelas Books: Digitizing Indigenous Archives in Mexico
BY MATTHEW BUTLER and JOHN ERARD THE ROADS TO MICHOACÁN: MATTHEW BUTLER IT IS SAID that the history of a Mexican pueblo is the history of its lands. What better way, then, to explore that history than through land records such as Michoacán’s hijuelas books? I first came across these … [Read more...] about The Hijuelas Books: Digitizing Indigenous Archives in Mexico
Decolonial Feminists Unite! Dorothy Schons and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
BY ALICIA GASPAR DE ALBA BACK IN 1986, when Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz first started speaking to me in my dreams, I would be talking to her on the phone—that old rotary black phone my grandparents used to have—but I could see her clearly, wearing her black and white Hieronymite habit and my black … [Read more...] about Decolonial Feminists Unite! Dorothy Schons and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
To and From the “Real” World: Concrete Art and Poetry in Latin America
BY JULIA DETCHON IN THE FALL OF 1945, gathered at the Buenos Aires homes of the psychoanalyst Enrique Pichón-Rivière and the photographer Grete Stern, a group of Argentine artists hatched an idea for a new movement based on abstract principles of painting. Under the name Arte Madí, they declared … [Read more...] about To and From the “Real” World: Concrete Art and Poetry in Latin America
Staff Pick: Arbol cronologico geografico del descubrimiento de las Americas
Arbol cronologico geografico del descubrimiento de las Americas, 1864 BY JOSHUA G. ORTIZ BACO Among many, many other objects, the Arbol cronologico geografico del descubrimiento de las Americas reminds me of how the collections at the Benson can come to life for our students. The lithograph is … [Read more...] about Staff Pick: Arbol cronologico geografico del descubrimiento de las Americas
Staff Pick: Catalina de Erauso o sea la monja de alferes
Catalina de Erauso o sea La monja de alferes, XIX century, an unpublished version of the legendary life of Catalina de Erauso (1592–1650) BY BROOKE WOMACK SOMETIME IN 2018, I bought myself a copy of Butch Heroes by Ria Brodell. This book has plates of gouache paintings by the author depicting … [Read more...] about Staff Pick: Catalina de Erauso o sea la monja de alferes
Voices of Black Brazilian Feminism: Conversations with Rosana Paulino and Sueli Carneiro
EDITED & TRANSLATED by SUSANNA SHARPE THE 2020 LOZANO LONG CONFERENCE, “Black Women’s Intellectual Contributions to the Americas: Perspectives from the Global South,” held February 20–21, 2020, was a groundbreaking gathering of Black women scholars, activists, intellectuals, and artists from … [Read more...] about Voices of Black Brazilian Feminism: Conversations with Rosana Paulino and Sueli Carneiro
Staff Pick: The Astonishing Artistic Gem of Manuel de Quiroz y Campo Sagrado
La inocencia acrisolada de los pacientes jesuanos, 1816 BY SUSANNA SHARPE In my search for rarely seen treasures from the Benson Latin American Collection, I consulted former colleague José Montelongo, co-editor of A Library for the Americas, a beautifully illustrated volume of collected … [Read more...] about Staff Pick: The Astonishing Artistic Gem of Manuel de Quiroz y Campo Sagrado
Miguel Gutiérrez Jr., Photojournalist
Miguel Gutiérrez Jr. (MA 2015, Journalism and LLILAS) is a documentary photographer and videographer. He currently works as a photographer and photo editor at the Texas Tribune. Visit his professional website. On April 8, 2020, Miguel took photos of the deserted streets in Austin, Texas, during the … [Read more...] about Miguel Gutiérrez Jr., Photojournalist
Faculty Spotlight: Sandro Sessarego
BY SUSANNA SHARPE WE DON'T OFTEN STOP TO THINK about why we speak the way we speak, or how some of our linguistic habits came to be. But this is one of the things linguists like Sandro Sessarego pay great attention to. Sessarego (pronounced seh-SAH-re-go), associate professor in the Department of … [Read more...] about Faculty Spotlight: Sandro Sessarego
