Presencia de América Latina - Revision history

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{{Short description|Mural by Jorge González Camarena in Concepción, Chile}}

'''''Presencia de América Latina''''' (''Presence of Latin America''), also known as '''''Integración de América Latina''''' (''Integration of Latin America''), is a [[mural]] created by [[Jorge Gonzalez Camarena]] and painted by Mexican and Chilean artist [[Jorge González Camarena]], [[Javier Arevalo]] ,Albino Echeverria, Eugenio Brito, Salvador Almaraz, Manuel Guillen and Hector Rodrigues.And Female model Alicia Cuevas, between November 1964 and April 1965. The 300-square-meter mural, painted in [[Acrylic paint|acrylics]] on rough [[stucco]], is located in the lobby of the ''Casa del Arte'' of the [[University of Concepción]] (''Ciudad Universitaria de Concepción''), in [[Concepción, Chile|Concepción]], [[Chile]]. Its principal theme is the unity and brotherhood of the different Latin American cultures.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Echeverría|first=Albino|date=2009|title=MURAL “Presencia de América Latina”: DEL PINTOR MEXICANO JORGE GONZÁLEZ CAMARENA|url=http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0718-04622009000200012&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en|journal=Atenea (Concepción)|issue=500|pages=157–166|doi=10.4067/S0718-04622009000200012|issn=0718-0462|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>Youtube,La precencia de America Latina</ref>

{{wide image|Mural panoramico.JPG|799px|align-cap=center|A part of the mural.}}

==Description and interpretation==
[[File:Mural panoramico.JPG|thumb|A gift from the Mexican government in the 1960s, the famous artist Jorge González Camarena created this remarkable mural recounting the unity between Latin American peoples and cultures throughout the long history of the continent.<ref>[http://www.livingatlaschile.com/?s=%2388+Mural+of+Latin+America Short documentary about the Mural "Presencia de América Latina"] livingatlaschile.com, released on January 18, 2014, retrieved on February 18, 2014</ref>]]

===Structure of the mural===
The mural is divided into three parts: a flat, central panel measuring 20 by 6 meters, and two sides panels set off at oblique angles to the central part. Each panel measures 7.6 by 6 meters. The mural as a whole is 211.2 m<sup>2</sup>.<ref name= "pinacoteca">{{cite book |last= Peralta |first= Tole |title= Muro y mura |publisher= Case de Arte "José Clemente Orozco," Universidad de Concepción |year= 1965 }}</ref> In addition to this, the mural makes use of a staircase with right angles leading up to a second-story art gallery, increasing the total area to 300 m<sup>2</sup>.

===Symbolism===
The mural describes the [[history of Latin America]] through the use of angular, symbolic images, which emphasize the value of fraternity between the different ethnicities of the [[Latin America|Latin American]] world. The work is read chronologically from right to left.

<ref name="nuestro.cl">{{cite web |url= http://www.nuestro.cl/notas/rescate/mural_concepcion1.htm |title= Mural "Presencia de América Latina". Emblema de la cultura penquista |access-date= 10 November 2008 |author= Nuestro.cl |date=April 2007 | pages= 3 pages |language= es }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Echeverría Cancino| first = Albino| publisher = Dirección de Extensión| title = Presencia de América Latina: apuntes para la historia del mural| year = 2005 | place = Universidad de Concepción, Chile| pages = 8}}</ref>

===Pre-Columbian culture===
[[Image:Mural - mujer del mar.JPG|thumb|left|150px|The sea woman and Tlaloc begin the story of the mural.]]
[[Image:Mural - guerreros.JPG|thumb|right|150px|The Spaniard fighting for conquest.]]
[[Image:Mural - Tzontémoc.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Zontemoc, the twilight of pre-Columbian culture.]]
The right panel represents [[Pre-Columbian|pre-Columbian America]]. On the lower part a woman with fish in her hands emerges from the [[Aztec religion|Aztec pantheon]], symbolizing the riches of the sea. The woman is accompanied by the green mask of [[Tlaloc]], god of rain. Before her is [[Quetzalcoatl]], the serpent-shaped deity who symbolizes culture and who is depicted coiling around the staircase to the art gallery. On the upper part one can see Zontemoc ("The Falling Sun"), a god who symbolizes the twilight of pre-Columbian culture. Completing this first panel of the mural, at the right is a mounted Spanish soldier, wearing armor and carrying a dagger, fighting against an eagle-man armed with a mace, symbolizing the battle of the conquest.

===Miscegenation===
The central panel begins a bit to the left of the first part with the Spanish soldier and a Native woman, the principal creators of miscegenation. Jorge González called this part ''The Original Couple'' ("''La pareja original''"), who walk over layers of coal, in which there are imprisoned, sleeping women, symbolizing the riches of the earth: silver, gold, iron and copper. On the surface of this swarm of bodies and precious stones, sprouts a pregnant woman covered with vines, representing the fertility of the earth. From her surge American [[Maize|corn]] and Old World [[wheat]], nourishment that sustains the bases of industrialization, technology and science, represented as an intricate steel machine on the upper part of the panel.

At the center of the panel there are several overlapping faces, which symbolize the fusion of the races: the largest in red, represents the American race. Below these faces a life-sized, naked woman has a map of Latin America on her lap. She constitutes the principal subject matter of the mural.

On the woman one can see a [[capital (architecture)|capital]] that symbolizes the [[Greco-Roman world|Greco-Roman]] contribution to Latin American culture; and a bit to the left, great blocks of solid rock, which create a great, vertical structure, symbolizing [[Mesoamerica]]n architecture.

===Fraternity===
{{Infobox artwork
| image_file = Mural - nopal.jpg
| caption = The left panel of the mural with the nopal entwined with the copihue and the national flags.
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| title = Presence of Latin America
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| other_title_1 = Presencia de América Latina
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| artist = [[Jorge González Camarena]]
| year = 1964-65
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On the left panel of the mural there is a [[Opuntia|nopal]], which merges with the vines of a [[copihue]] (the national tree and flower of Mexico and Chile, respectively). The nopal is pierced by daggers, symbolizing the historic mistreatment of Latin Americans, and its roots entwine cadaverous warriors, who nourish the nopal and give it life.

[[Image:Mural - cola.JPG|thumb|left|150px|At the tail of Quetzalcoatl one can read "Pablo Neruda," ending the quote of his poem.]]

All along the top of the mural, the flags of the different Latin American nations wave in sequence. The sequence begins at the right with the [[flag of Chile]] and a [[condor]], the national bird, and ends with the [[flag of Mexico]] next to an [[eagle]] and a [[snake|serpent]], important national symbols of Mexico. The flags are organized from right to left, following the geographical placement of the nations from south to north. Thus the sequence begins with Chile, [[Argentina]], [[Uruguay]], [[Paraguay]], [[Bolivia]], [[Brazil]], [[Peru]], [[Ecuador]], [[Venezuela]] and [[Colombia]] of [[South America]]; continues with [[Haiti]], [[Cuba]], [[Panama]], [[Costa Rica]], [[Honduras]], [[Nicaragua]] and [[Guatemala]] of [[Central America]] and the [[Caribbean]]; and ends with Mexico of [[North America]]. The only [[Ethnic group|peoples]] excluded are those who are not [[Sovereignty|sovereign]], that is, the French colonies of [[Clipperton Island]], [[Guadeloupe]], [[French Guiana]], [[Martinique]], [[Saint Barthélemy]], and [[Saint Martin (France)|Saint Martin]]—as well as the [[Territories of the United States|United States territory]] of [[Puerto Rico]].

The [[Andes]] appears in the distant background, and crowning the entire mural are the verses of the Chilean poet, [[Pablo Neruda]]:

<blockquote>...There is no beauty like the beauty of America spread out in its hells / in its mountains of rock and power, in its atavistic and eternal rivers...<br>(''...Y no hay belleza como esta belleza de América extendida en sus infiernos / en sus cerros de piedra y poderío, en sus ríos atávicos y eternos...'')</blockquote>

==Symbol of the University and Concepción==
Along with the clock tower of the [[University of Concepción]], the mural ''Presencia de América Latina'' is a true symbol of the culture of [[Concepción, Chile|Concepción]].<ref name="nuestro.cl"/> It is frequently visited by foreign and domestic tourists and reproduced in [[souvenir]]s, book covers and catalogues, among other products.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www2.udec.cl/~webpubl|title = Editorial Universidad de Concepción|access-date = 10 November 2008|language = es|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081105163227/http://www2.udec.cl/~webpubl/|archive-date = 5 November 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.turistel.cl/secciones/destinos/atractivo_cultural/museos/arte/pinacoteca_concepcion.htm|author = Turistel, guías y rutas (Chilean tourism guide)| title = Pinacoteca de la Universidad de Concepción - Atractivos culturales: museos de Chile|access-date = 10 November 2008|language = es}}</ref> In 1994 it was depicted on a [[postage stamp]] to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the University. It was recognized by the [[Government of Chile]] as a [[National Monuments of Chile|National Historic Landmark]] under Decree Number 147 of 30 April 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.monumentos.cl/OpenSupport_Monumento/asp/PopUpFicha/ficha_publica.asp?monumento=2120 |title=Monumento Historico: Mural 'Presencia de America Latina' de Jorge González Camarena |publisher=Government of Chile |language=es |access-date=17 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116132356/http://www.monumentos.cl/OpenSupport_Monumento/asp/PopUpFicha/ficha_publica.asp?monumento=2120 |archive-date=16 January 2014 }}</ref> Also in recognition of its heritage and cultural value to [[Greater Concepción]] and the [[Bío Bío Region]], it was one of the cultural artefacts recognised with a plaque in 2009 in celebration of the [[Bicentennial of Chile]] in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.udec.cl/exalumnos/node/330 |title=Mural de la Casa del Arte recibió su Placa Bicentenario |publisher=Universidad de Concepción |language=es |date=2009 |access-date=17 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116133219/http://www.udec.cl/exalumnos/node/330 |archive-date=16 January 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
[[Chile–Mexico relations]]
* [[University of Concepción]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===External links===
* [https://www.udec.cl/pexterno/ University of Concepción webpage]
* [http://www2.udec.cl/pinacoteca/index-2.html "Presencia de América Latina" webpage]
* [http://www.livingatlaschile.com/?s=%2388+Mural+of+Latin+America Short documentary about the Mural ''Presencia de América Latina'']

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Presencia De America Latina}}
[[Category:1960s murals]]
[[Category:Chilean paintings]]
[[Category:Mexican paintings]]
[[Category:1964 paintings]]
[[Category:1965 paintings]]
[[Category:University of Concepción]]
[[Category:National Monuments of Chile]]