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
Benson Latin American Collection
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: Black Freedom Struggle and the University
The John L. Warfield Papers BY ZARIA EL-FIL Freedom has long been theorized in university spaces as a matter of intellectual engagement. Historically, Black freedom organizing has taken place at the collegiate level through research that throws white western conceptions of world order into … [Read more...] about Staff Pick: Black Freedom Struggle and the University
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Catalina de Erauso o sea La monja de alferes, XIX century, an unpublished version of the legendary life of Catalina de Erauso (1592–1650) BY BROOKE WOMACK SOMETIME IN 2018, I bought myself a copy of Butch Heroes by Ria Brodell.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
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
The Power of Giving
A Lifetime of Giving: Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long THE CENTENNIAL of the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection in 2021 is cause for joyful celebration. The Benson’s partnership with the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS), initiated in 2011, ushered in a decade … [Read more...] about The Power of Giving
Students Use Digital Tools to Examine “Hidden” Collection of Pre-Colonial Objects
Students in Astrid Runggaldier’s Art and Archaeology of Ancient Peru class were tasked with an intriguing project this spring: take a collection of pre-colonial objects that is, for all intents and purposes, invisible, and make it visible using digital tools. Their efforts have come to fruition with … [Read more...] about Students Use Digital Tools to Examine “Hidden” Collection of Pre-Colonial Objects
Cuba’s Revolutionary Comics: The Caridad Blanco Collection of Historietas Cubanas
BY ADRIAN JOHNSON COMIC BOOKS, originally created as entertainment for children, were long relegated to dime-store magazine racks, children’s bookshelves, and the cheap bin at used bookstores. While sales of comics today are struggling, in recent years they have come to occupy a more important … [Read more...] about Cuba’s Revolutionary Comics: The Caridad Blanco Collection of Historietas Cubanas
Staff Spotlight: Albert A. Palacios
BY SUSANNA SHARPE Albert A. Palacios possesses an insatiable thirst for knowledge and the energy to match. In the almost fifteen years since he moved to Austin as an undergraduate, he has earned four degrees, finished the coursework for a PhD, studied in an array of disciplines, and contributed … [Read more...] about Staff Spotlight: Albert A. Palacios
