e-flux lectures: María Iñigo Clavo, “Is it possible to decolonize? On Brazilian Museums, Coloniality, and Methodologies”

Is it possible to decolonize Western methodologies? Theory is struggling to find new words, tools, methodological frames, and grammar to overcome the colonial nature of our epistemology. How could we relate this debate to the contemporary art museum context? 

This lecture is part of an ongoing research on the representation of indigenous communities in museums, and its dialogue with contemporary art. In the last years there has been a proliferation of indigenous artifacts and images in Brazilian institutions, in tune with the international consolidation of postcolonial theory within curating practices. The research discusses the absorption of postcolonial theory into such contexts and asks questions of the interconnections between self-representation, rights, and colonial difference in Brazilian museum curating.

María Iñigo Clavo is a researcher, curator, and artist with a PhD in Fine Arts. She is a professor at the Open University of Catalonia and co-founder of the independent research group “Peninsula. Colonial processes and artistic and curatorial practices,” in collaboration with Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. Her research focuses on colonial power relationships, museum and gallery studies, and art in Latin America with special attention to Brazil. She was a researcher for the AHRC project “Meeting Margins: Transnational Art in Europe and Latin America 1950–1978,” at University of Essex and University of the Arts London.

Clavo has curated exhibitions and events for Matadero and Universidad Complutense/Medialab in Madrid, Le Cube in Rabat, and Jaqueline Martins Gallery in Sao Paulo. Her work has appeared  in a variety of venues such as e-flux journal, Stedelijk Museum, The MeLa Project, Afterall, Versión/sur, Concinnitas, Revista de Occidente, Bilboquet, Re-visiones, Lugar Común, and others. She is currently editing a special edition of Re-visiones to be launched in December 2017 under the subject: “Is It Possible to Decolonize Western Methodologies? The South as a Driving Force.”

For more information, contact program@e-flux.com.