Without parity in art… happily

Unlike our authorities, all the ladies named in this article know perfectly well the usefulness of art to forge a better future. It happens that our rulers believe that culture will not increase votes, that the results of education will only be seen in the long term, that, in short, art is only the decoration of life. That can explain, for example, that the Ministry of Culture is an entelechy, with the lowest budget in the country, or that the Congressional Culture Commission is a joke.

What remains then is the private initiative in museums, institutional rooms and private galleries and in some extraordinary public center such as the Chancellery. Before López-Aliaga, several municipalities maintained a very active cultural program. The regional governments – except for Cajamarca – do not show any interest in training the generations that will succeed us. They ignore that only through culture, which allows us to know “the others”, will there be true national integration. Perhaps that is precisely what our chiefs intend to avoid.

Tradition shows us that the most active institutions are led by women and that men are an exception. The pioneer in the 70s was Elida Román, who after becoming executive director of the Institute of Contemporary Art created Galería 9, a very important cultural hub. She also ran the Foundation for the Arts, which would later become Galería Trapecio under the direction of Matucha Fuentes.

Shortly after, on the same Avenida Benavides, Galería Forum was inaugurated. Claudia Polar led a group of very active dealers who simultaneously acted as cultural promoters. No gallery of the time focused solely on the market as they expanded their activities to interest samples that gave them a lot of prestige despite being unrelated to the interests of consumers. In San Isidro, in the old house on Camino Brent, Malvina de Lemor opened the painter’s gallery of the same name. The apogee of the new international surrealism in Peru is due to her, with great representatives coming to Lima to exhibit.

Although demand did not seem to grow in the following decades, galleries continued to open under the direction of entrepreneurial women. In 1995, Lucía de la Puente formed a solid company that managed to become a cultural hub at the Latin American level. It closed in 2018.

Today, the recession has caused the number of galleries to reduce drastically. The Gallery, inaugurated by Moni Quimper in 1987, maintains a rigorous exhibition policy that makes it a mandatory visit. Forum, now run by Graciela Mulanovich, is of considerable interest. Others like Fances Wu, which had powerful programming, now lack the desired continuity. Enterprises such as those of Cecilia González and many more remain in memory, making it necessary to conduct an extensive study on the history of art galleries in Peru.

In the institutional field, the MALI is the most important museum in the country. Its current director, Sharon Lerner, is a rigorous curator and took over during times of economic transition. The Inca Garcilaso Cultural Center is the only public institution that maintains a dynamic program. The director of the galleries, Gredna Landolt, has turned these spaces into the greatest contemporary attraction of the Historic Center.

READ: Gredna Landolt: Art and Worldview

Karin Elmore is in charge of all multidisciplinary activities of the French Alliance. Her gallery is a center of interest with notable exhibitions and the Passport for an Artist competition always culminates in a major exhibition.

Ana Osorio is a respectable painter and a dynamic cultural manager in charge of the CCPUC gallery. I have seen very important exhibitions there accompanied by a magnificent montage by her. She is an outstanding professional.

Rosario Shinki is an economist. The daughter of a notable artist (Venancio), she could have done brilliant work in the Municipality of Miraflores. She has achieved something that seemed impossible: the mayor has officially committed to reconditioning the Municipal Palace (PLAM) starting in April. No 2024 programming has been made for these spaces until the end date of the work is defined, something that is practically impossible in the meantime. It is appropriate to recognize Canales’ merit.

All of these ladies – and those involuntarily omitted because space requires – deserve our greatest recognition.