Ten Texts on Painting Episode 9: Peruvian Indigenous Contemporary Painting

In this episode, Matt and Andrea read Pedro Favaron y Chonon Bensho’s paper ‘Metsa Kené’ from 2020 (translated to English by AI) and Giuliana Borea’s ‘Personal cartographies of a Huitoto mythology’ from 2010. As a support text, we also read Florencia Portocarrero and Gabriela Germaná’s ‘The “Indigenous turn” and the rise of Amazonian art’ from 2026.

Matt and Andrea used these texts to explore indigenous Peruvian contemporary painting and to propose methodological alternatives to positionality, at least as it is used in art school. How do we destabilise and enlarge our understanding of painting when we parochialise ourselves?

Favaron and Bensho’s essay introduces painting in the Shipibo-Konibo context, its pedagogy, use of materials, ethics and vocabulary. It also raises crucial questions about the construction of value in painting and in the artworld. When does a tourist become a collector?

Borea’s text introduces Rember’s practice as well as the strategies he devised to position himself as a contemporary artist. The text explores the ongoing process of enlargement and redefinition of the artworld in Latin American countries – driven by the presence of indigenous artists – enabling a comparison with usual British strategies of inclusion.

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Download PDFs of the texts below

Favaron, P. and Bensho, C. (2020) ‘Metsá Kené : los diseños y la identidad del pueblo Shipibo-Konibo.’, Visitas al Patio, 14(2), pp. 100–114. [PDF translated by AI]. Download PDF.

Borea, G. (2010) ‘Personal Cartographies of a Huitoto Mythology: Rember Yahuarcani and the enlarging of the Peruvian Art Scene’, Revista de Antropologia Social dos Alunos do PPGAS-UFSCar, 2(2), pp. 67–87. Download PDF.

Portocarrero, F. and Germaná, G. (2026) ‘The “Indigenous turn” and the rise of Amazonian art: insights from the seminal work of the Seminario de Historia Rural Andina (SHRA)’, in A.U. Flynn et al. (eds) Unmaking to Make: Art as decolonising practice in Latin America’s future, past and present. London, UK: UCL Press, pp. 185–207. Open Access. Available at: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781806550029

With massive thanks to all the Peruvian artists and curators that we read and looked at to make this episode:

Chonon Bensho @chononbensho3

https://www.instagram.com/chononbensho3/

Rember Yahuarcani @rember_yahuarcani

https://www.instagram.com/rember_yahuarcani/

Olinda Silvano @olinda.silvano

https://www.instagram.com/olinda.silvano/

Cordelia Sanchez @cordeliasanchez__pesinkate

https://www.instagram.com/cordeliasanchez__pesinkate/

Sara Flores @sarafloresvalera

https://www.instagram.com/sarafloresvalera/

Florencia Portocarrero @florenciaportocarrero