'Fuego Eterno' Exhibition Closing with Oct. 10 Party, Global Spanish Events

The final week of the Department of Art's “Fuego Eterno: Soberanías Visuales” exhibition concludes with a closing reception and party at the University of Virginia’s Ruffin Gallery this Friday, Oct. 10, but not before a series of other public events highlighting the work and vision of scholars, artist and curators brought together as part of the Global Spanish Initiative, a new interdisciplinary project at UVA dedicated to research and creative collaborations across the Spanish-speaking world.

Supported by the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, UVA’s Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures, and the Peter B. and Adeline W. Ruffin Foundation, “Fuego Eterno” features the work of artists from the United States, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru, Bolivia, Philippines, Chile, Jamaica, Ecuador, Venezuela and Equatorial Guinea, as well as other scholars and curators.

The exhibition features sculptures, weavings, video work and experimental collaging, as well as the work of Federico Cuatlacuatl, an associate professor of art at UVA.

“What we really wanted to do is create a conversation not only amongst the artists from different regions, but also materially and artistically what happens when you place all of these works together, and what do the materials start to do as a discourse or as a dialog?” said Cuatlacuatl. “For me, this is an exciting time to bring together these artists, but also to share that with students, colleagues, departments and everyone around UVA. That way we can better build this kind of empathy, solidarity and broaden the way that we’re thinking together.”

The exhibition wraps up with a reception and party open to the public at Ruffin Hall, starting at 5 p.m. this Friday. The celebratory event will feature a performance by visiting artist Marilyn Boror Bor, and music by the New York City-based DJ hellotones, known for remixing cumbias and other Latin music styles in his sets.

Other Global Spanish events scheduled this week in connection with the closing of the “Fuego Eterno” exhibition include:

• Art Symposium: 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 9 
  Hosted by UVA Arts and Global Spanish, at UVA’s Special Collections Library, this day-long event will bring together artists, scholars and curators from across the Americas for panel discussions on the themes of indigeneity, decoloniality and migration.
• Enabling Difficult Conversations panel discussion: “Art, Migration and the Power of Sovereignty,” 3–4 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 9
  An A&S Dean’s Office event at UVA’s Special Collections Library moderated by Paulina Ochoa Espejo, UVA’s John L. Nau III Professor of the History and Principles of Democracy, the panel discussion will explore the cultural and political dimensions of migration. Panelists include Sam Amago, UVA’s William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Spanish and director of the Global Spanish Initiative; Assoc. Prof. Cuatlacuatl; and Erika Hirugami, curator of the “Fuego Eterno” exhibition.

“Global Spanish is one of the most exciting initiatives that I've been involved with here at the University of Virginia, because it brings together faculty, students and community members to build interdisciplinary networks around questions of migration, language, politics and cultural history,” Amago said. “As my colleague Federico Cuatlacuatl has said, it's all about Spanish, and it's also not about Spanish at all. … There will be a series of roundtables and symposia, and we will close on the final night with DJ hellotones, music, good food, fellowship, cementing this community that we've been building for the last two years.

More information on the complete list of Global Spanish program events this week, including Friday’s closing reception and party for the “Fuego Eterno” exhibition can be found here.