Material Memories of a Miraculous Image from the Andes
For this Research Seminar, we welcome Gabriela Siracusano, UCL Leverhulme Visiting Professor, for a talk on 'Material Memories of a Miraculous Image from the Andes'
Material Memories of a Miraculous Image from the Andes
13 Mar 2025, 17:30 – 19:30
In the Andean region, earthquakes are frequently associated with miraculous religious images, which are believed to possess the power to mitigate the devastating effects of seismic tremors. The case of the Virgin of the Miracle of Salta in Argentina offers a valuable opportunity to reflect upon the ways in which this image, through both its material and symbolic dimensions, conveys the intentions of the men and women who venerated it. Drawing on an analysis rooted in the anthropology of matter and the study of the coexistence of diverse material worlds embedded within these images, we aim to trace the persistence of traces of a past that is not devoid of political and ethnic conflicts.
Gabriela Siracusano holds a PhD in Art History from the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), specialising in the material dimension of artistic production from the 16th century to the present day. She is Superior Scientific Researcher at CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina) and Director of the Centro MATERIA at the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (UNTREF) in Argentina. She is also a Full Professor at both UBA and UNTREF. Siracusano has been Guggenheim Fellow during 2006-2007 and Getty Scholar in 2016. She has served as a visiting professor and researcher at numerous prestigious institutions, including Cambridge University, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, the Getty Research Institute, the University of Texas at Austin, l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, among others. Recently, she was awarded the Gratia Artis Prize (2022) by the National Academy of Fine Arts of Argentina. She is the author of several books and articles, including El Poder de los Colores (Buenos Aires, FCE, 2005; ALAA Award, 2006), Pigments and Power in the Andes (London, Archetype, 2011), La Paleta del Espanto (Buenos Aires, Unsamedita, 2011), and, in collaboration with Agustina R. Romero, Materia Americana (Buenos Aires, Eduntref, 2020; ALAA and Eleanor Tuft Honorable Mentions, 2021).
Further information
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Open
Cost
Free
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All
Availability
Yes