How did the pandemic impact Mexico’s culture and independent art? (Video column by Adela Goldbard)

From the militarization of the citizens to socially committed art, Mexican artist and professor Adela Goldbard helps us understand Mexico’s situation and challenges after the pandemic. This video column is part of our series on Reimagining Latin America After the Pandemic.

Adela Goldbard is an interdisciplinary artist/educator/scholar from Mexico City. Associate Professor at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and PhD student at Concordia University, she holds an MFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and a bachelor’s degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She is a fellow of the System of Artistic Creators of Mexico. Goldbard investigates how radical community performances can subvert the imposition of hegemonic narratives. She is especially interested in how collectively building, staging, and destroying has the potential to generate critical thinking. Goldbard’s practice draws on experimental/collaborative/sensory ethnography and brings together sculpture, video, photography, sound, text and traditional textiles, pottery, woodwork and pyrotechnics. Recent commissioned projects include a pyrotechnic play with/for the Mexican community of La Villita, Chicago (University of Illinois 2019), and a socially engaged art project with/for the P’urhépecha community of Arantepacua (FEMSA Biennial 2020).