In Fusco’s, “Introduction:
Latin American Performance and the Reconquista of Civil Space,” what I found
most interesting was his discussion of the various generalizations about Latin
American cultural production, and how it can differ in other places throughout
the world. In exploring the first generalization, he brings in the example of
the Dadaists’ usage of the Cabaret Voltaire, the circus, and other forms of
theater that were used (page 7). Similarly, popular forms of theater and
cabarets in the Caribbean have become inspiration for some Latin American
performance artists.
The second generalization Fusco
discusses is the use of rituals and religious. Europeans tended to look at
non-Western performances for their avant-garde theater. For example, Hugo Ball
reading primitivist poems phonetically, Surrealists looking to the dances and rituals
of the Native Americans, and even the adaptation of the improvisational style
seen by black jazz musicians (page 7). However, Fusco argues that Latin
American artists have looked within their own cultures, such as Pre-Columbian,
colonial, African and Catholic traditions (page 7-8).
The third generalization involves what
the author calls, “the spatialization of power” (page 8.). Fusco explains that
in the history of performance, there are formal shifts made by the medium. “In
light of the determinant role the art market has placed in the classification and
evaluation of European and American art, it makes perfect sense that artists
seeking to address the spatial articulations of this powerful institution would
make such moves” (page 8). But Fusco argues that Latin Americans have had to
face other issues, such as the state’s control over the art market in certain places.
However, the state’s power over art does not end there, but it also exercises
power on the bodies of their citizens (page 9). Fusco refers to the disappearance
of citizens, the abuse by military and police, and even the censuring of
political opposition (page 9). I found it most interesting that Fusco parallels
this abuse of power to that of the “xenophobic treatment of the Latino subaltern
in the U.S.,” such as border patrol, segregated neighborhoods, etc. (page 9).
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