Anahi Cazas writes for Pagina Siete:
THE COLLECTION IS MANAGED BY THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART
Six paperback books cover the history of Bolivian art
The books, put together the history of the national paintings since the 18th century to the present day.
A collection of paperback books on the history of Bolivian art will be released on January 31 [2014]. The editions, managed by the National Museum of Art, will arrive in bookstores at affordable prices, which according to the editor of the repository, Édgar Arandia, shall not exceed Bs20.
This series of publications are sorted in chronological order. They’re six books titled: Melchor Pérez de Holguín, the distinguished of the Utopia, social painters, abstract current, Marina Núñez del Prado and Arturo Borda.
“We take these books to disseminate all the heritage of the National Museum of Art. These are works that have short texts and include more graphics and photographs. The idea is that they are accessible to the public in general,” explained Édgar Arandia, director of the National Museum of Art.
The Melchor Pérez de Holguín book includes the entire collection of this author which the Museum holds, as holy ascetics, the Virgin washerwoman and others. “The works of Pérez de Holguín are the most representative of the 18th century and belong to the school of art of Potosi,” said José Bedoya, artist-curator of the repository.
Meanwhile the edition of the “utopia veterans” deals with the contribution of the art group comprising the national creators Édgar Arandia, Max Aruquipa, Diego Morales, Silvia Peñaloza and the deceased Benedicto Aiza in the Decade of the 1990s.
In the case of social painters, the work is and includes a collection of photographs of the work of Bolivian artists which formed part of the Group Anteo. “They were painters who belong to the generation of the revolution of the 52 and the Group Anteo.” Among them are Walter Solon Romero, Gil Imaná, Lorgio Vaca, Miguel Alandia Pantoja and others”, Arandia said.
On the work of Marina Núñez del Prado, the collection includes images of the most representative of the renowned sculptor works. While the publication dedicated to the La Paz writer Arturo Borda boasts the work of this artist.
“This book shows the collection of drawings that the Museum has, and we have the cover he designed for his book The fool and the works of Cain and Abel, an important portrait of his aunt, among others,” said Bedoya.
In the collection there is also an issue devoted to the current abstract in Bolivia. “We made a selection of the most representative artists such as María Esther Ballivián, Alfredo Plata, Armando da Silva, Armando Pacheco, Cesar Jordan, Erasmo Zarzuela.”
Also, the Latin American artists book that collects the most outstanding creators of 20th century production will be published. The texts and the collection of images were prepared by a team of experts from the Museum, among them Fatima Olivares, José Bedoya, Daniela Ario and Danitza Hernan.
According to the director of the repository, 500 copies of each book will be printed. Susana Cayoja, designer of the publications, explained that each book measures 15 by 15 cm and will have 60 pages.
Another publication that enlists the repository is animals and art, which will cost approximately Bs50. “It is a work that deals with the meaning of the images of animals in the Bolivian artworks. Why were they painted along with Saints or humans?”, Arandia said.
Point of view
Mario Yujra, director of the arts’ degree of the UMSA:
“It is a very positive initiative”
I think that the publication of a pocket collection on the history of Bolivian art is a positive initiative. I emphasize that the National Museum of Art publishes this kind of book because that will make the history of art accessible to the students of Arts and the public in general. As the majority of art books have high prices.
The topics that address these books are also interesting because they collect the work of Melchor Pérez Holguín, who made a significant contribution to the arts in the 18th century. We must also highlight the rescue in the history of the groups of artists such as “Los benemeritos de la utopia” [utopia veterans] and “Anteo”.
It would be ideal that such books could also be bought over the web, worldwide…
Bolivian Thoughts 