TEOR/éTica, San Jose, Costa Rica

The Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC) and ICI collaborate on a new opportunity for curators: The Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Travel Award for Central America and the Caribbean.

The Award supports a contemporary art curator based anywhere in the world who wishes to travel to conduct research about art and cultural activities in Central America and the Caribbean. This initiative welcomes applications annually from independent curators and those with institutional affiliations, as well as both established and emerging curators (3+ years professional experience).

Intending to generate new collaborations with artists, curators, museums, cultural centers, and/or collections in the region, the Travel Award supports curatorial residencies, studio visits and archival research. The Award is constituted by generous funding and institutional support to travel to either one or multiple locations in Central America and the Caribbean, including the following countries:

Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama

The Caribbean: The Greater Antillles (Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Cayman Islands); The Lesser Antilles (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, French Antilles—Guadeloupe, Martinique, France La Désirade, France Marie-Galante, France Les Saintes, Saint Barthélemy—, Saba, Sin Eustatius, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, U.S. Virgin Islands, Venezuelan Islands); The Bahamas, Colombia (Caribbean region), and Turks and Caicos Islands.

The first edition of this award, in 2012, was given in honor of curator Virginia Pérez-Ratton (1950-2010) who was internationally renowned for her work with contemporary artists in Central America and the Caribbean, as well as her dedication to ensuring their practices be recognized beyond the region. Author of many influential publications and essays, and curator of numerous exhibitions and projects around the world, Pérez-Ratton was the founder of the art space, library, and foundation TEOR/éTica, and the director of the Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo de Costa Rica.

We want to expand visibility and awareness of the existing artistic practices of Central America and the Caribbean, while introducing international curators to the region to allow them to experience for themselves the strength and vitality of our modern and contemporary art. Doing so in collaboration with ICI and in honor of Virginia Pérez Ratton’s tireless work in this regard, could not make us prouder.
—Patricia Phelps de Cisneros

Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC) and ICI award curator Pablo León de la Barra the 2012 CPPC Travel Award for Central America and the Caribbean and María del Carmen Carrión the Curatorial Residency at TEOR/éTica.

Courtesy of Pablo León de la Barra.

Pablo León de la Barra is the inaugural recipient of the CPPC Travel Award for Central America and the Caribbean.

Residency Frontera Compartida/Migrante, 2010.
Courtesy of David Flores-Hora and ceroinspiración.

María del Carmen Carrión was selected for the Curatorial Residency at TEOR/éTica.

Juried Selection Process

Pablo León de la Barra and María del Carmen Carrión were selected among over 60 applicants from over 20 countries. The selection was made by a jury of professionals which included Rosina Cazali, an independent curator based in Guatemala; Inti Guerrero, Associate Artistic Director, TEOR/éTica, Costa Rica; and Kate Fowle, Director, ICI. In their selection, the jury considered the need to balance new readings and narratives for Central American and the Caribbean art histories, as well as identify projects responding with innovative and useful approaches to the area’s most urgent needs.

Travel logs, details on related events, and further information on Pablo León de la Barra’s and María del Carmen Carrión’s research and travels will be available on ICI’s website this Fall 2012.