Welcome to the Latino Design Histories series!

In 2021, AIGA Baltimore and the Society of Design Arts (SoDA) started a series of virtual events created to promote the rich and plural histories of Latin American production in design. The series is curated and moderated by AIGA Baltimore and SoDA member Raquel Castedo.

We present outstanding researchers and their work on the topic. To make the programs accessible to a larger audience, language interpretations in English, Spanish and Portuguese are provided.

Thank you to the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation and the Design History Society for funding the 2022 season and to AIGA Unidos for partnering with us.

Fun fact: The typefaces we used for the event’s visual identity were created by Latin American Type Designers. Inge was designed by Fernanda Cozzi from 🇦🇷 Argentina and Anguita Sans was designed by Sofia Mohr from 🇧🇷 Brazil.

 

Past Program Recordings

On May 22, 2021, AIGA Baltimore and the Society of Design Arts (SoDA) held this online talk by Rafael Cardoso that attracted guests from 11 different countries. AIGA Baltimore and SoDA member Raquel Castedo moderated the event, part of a virtual series created to promote the rich and plural histories of Latin American production in design. 

As one of the leading historians of modern art and design in Brazil, Cardoso has authored numerous books and essays and curated major museum exhibitions. In his new book Modernity in Black and White, he provides a groundbreaking account of modern art and modernism in Brazil. 

AIGA Baltimore and SoDA member Raquel Castedo moderated this event, part of a virtual series created to promote the rich and plural histories of Latin American production in design.

Thank you to AIGA Unidos, Stevenson University, the Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre, and Blucher for partnering with us.

Recordings in English, Portuguese and Spanish:

English > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MERnDiKYJc
Portuguese > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhf7jba9WAM
Spanish > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_IP9rUadVc

Check out the digital libraries referenced by Rafael Cardoso:

Hemeroteca Digital Brasileira
Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut (IAI, Ibero-American Institute)

Credits 

Rafael Cardoso | Presenter
Raquel Castedo | SoDA and AIGA Baltimore Program Leader and Moderator
Valerie Anderson | AIGA Baltimore Host and Co-Producer
Gerardo Herrera-Cortes | AIGA Baltimore Co-Producer
Natacha Poggio | AIGA Unidos Co-Producer

 

On July 29, 2021, AIGA Baltimore and the Society of Design Arts (SoDA) held this online talk by Wustavo Quiroga, a designer, cultural manager, institutional advisor, and researcher from Argentina. He is the president of the IDA Foundation (2013) in Buenos Aires. Quiroga shared his experience as the editor of the publication “Material Ideas. Argentine Art and Design in the 1960s.”

AIGA Baltimore and SoDA member Raquel Castedo moderated this event, part of a virtual series created to promote the rich and plural histories of Latin American production in design.

Thank you to AIGA Unidos, Stevenson University, the Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre for partnering with us.

Recordings in English and Spanish:

English > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MERnDiKYJc
Spanish > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_IP9rUadVc

Credits 

Wustavo Quiroga | Presenter
Raquel Castedo | SoDA and AIGA Baltimore Program Leader and Moderator
Gerardo Herrera-Cortes | AIGA Baltimore Host and Co-Producer
Frances Miller | AIGA Baltimore Co-Producer 

 

On September 30, 2021, AIGA Baltimore and the Society of Design Arts (SoDA) held this online talk by Nicole Cristi and Javiera Manzi, from Chile. The event was part of AIGA Unidos’ Hispanic Heritage Talks 2021.

Manzi and Cristi shared their research about the two of the most prolific graphic collectives during the military dictatorship in Chile (1973-1989): Agrupación de Plásticos Jóvenes (APJ) and Tallersol Cultural Center. The work of both groups was tackled from a perspective that focuses on the production process as a political practice, rather than only on the explicit political content of a graphic piece.

This presentation was be based on an article published by the authors in the Journal of Design History. It unravels a fragment of the history of the political posters in Chile that has been marginalized from design historical discourses and highlights a processual perspective for the study of the work of graphic activisms.

AIGA Baltimore and SoDA member Raquel Castedo moderated this event, part of a virtual series created to promote the rich and plural histories of Latin American production in design.

Thank you to AIGA Unidos and Stevenson University for partnering with us.

Recordings in English and Spanish:

English > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MERnDiKYJc
Spanish > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_IP9rUadVc

Credits 

Nicole Cristi and Javiera Manzi | Presenters
Raquel Castedo | SoDA and AIGA Baltimore Program Leader and Moderator
Frances Miller | AIGA Baltimore Co-Producer
Natacha Poggio | AIGA Unidos Co-Producer

 

On November 18, 2021, AIGA Baltimore and the Society of Design Arts (SoDA) held this online talk by design historians Livia Rezende and Patricia Lara-Betancourt, co-editors of the volume Locating Design Exchanges in Latin America and the Caribbean, a special issue of the Journal of Design History (Oxford University Press, 2019).

They discussed what happens when researchers foreground Latin American and Caribbean agency in design, a proposition that underpins the edition. Guided by this challenge, they proposed a new approach to the discourse on Latin American and Caribbean design and considered ways to decolonize and globalize the study of design history in and from that region.

AIGA Baltimore and SoDA member Raquel Castedo moderated this event, part of the virtual series created to promote the rich and plural histories of Latin American production in design.

Thank you to AIGA Unidos, Stevenson University, and the Design History Society for partnering with us on this event.

Recordings in English, Spanish and Portuguese:

English > https://youtu.be/HBHCVDpQloc
Spanish > https://youtu.be/QEfHKo_HOrw
Portuguese > https://youtu.be/TSRrTOJZJ4I

Credits 

Livia Rezende and Patricia Lara-Betancourt | Presenters
Raquel Castedo | SoDA and AIGA Baltimore Program Leader, Producer, and Moderator
Frances Miller | AIGA Baltimore Co-Producer
Anthony Welborn | AIGA Unidos Co-Producer
Bianca Lima | AIGA Unidos Co-Producer
Lori Rubeling | SoDA and Stevenson University Co-Producer

 

On June 30th, 2022, AIGA Baltimore and the Society of Design Arts (SoDA) held this online talk presented by the information design researcher María González de Cossío from Mexico.

The development of railways in Mexico became a landmark of modern life, as in several other countries in the 19th century. Interesting information design objects were created for the construction and development of the railway system back then, such as maps and charts. However, the knowledge related to such objects has remained in the realm of cartographers and other specialists. The study reported in this presentation shows that information design can help us understand the history and be acquainted with questions, such as: why it took so much time to build one railway line, what problems were faced, what comparisons can be made, and what were the consequences of the advent of the railway.

AIGA Baltimore and SoDA member Raquel Castedo moderated this event, and Baltimore-based visual artist Edgar Reyes joined us for the Q&A session.

Thank you to AIGA Unidos and Stevenson University for partnering with us and to the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation and the Design History Society for funding the series.

Recordings in English, Spanish and Portuguese:

English > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtZcu_e50AE&feature=youtu.be
Spanish > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pqzHuLGjiU&t=3s
Portuguese > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwE5IlWhug4&t=3577se/TSRrTOJZJ4I

Credits 

María González de Cossío | Presenter
Edgar Reyes | Special guest
Raquel Castedo | SoDA and AIGA Baltimore Program Leader, Producer and Moderator
Frances Miller | AIGA Baltimore Co-Producer
Alec Walker | AIGA Baltimore Co-Producer
Victor Davila | AIGA Unidos Co-Producer
Vinicius Lima | AIGA Unidos Co-Producer
Dio Jensen | AIGA Unidos Co-Producer
Julieta Mendez | Interpreter Spanish-English
Laura Lafuente | Interpreter Spanish-English
Meg Batalha | Interpreter Portuguese
Claudia Muller | Interpreter Portuguese

 

On October 15th, 2022, AIGA Baltimore and the Society of Design Arts held this online talk presented by Dr. María de Mater O’Neill and Ramdwin González-Otero on untold design stories about the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.

Dr. O’Neill will started the program by discussing the lack of documentation on design history from the colonized territory of Puerto Rico and will present a community-based design archive she is leading, Donde el Tiempo Entorcha [Where Time Bends].

As part of the efforts to document the history of Caribbean design, González-Otero shared his research on cultural identity and representation through historical posters from Cuba and Puerto Rico.

After O’Neill’s and González-Otero’s presentations, the Nuyorican Baltimore-based artist Christina Delgado and AIGA’s Design Educators Committee board member Alberto Rigau joined us for the Q&A session.

AIGA Baltimore and SoDA member Raquel Castedo moderated this event, part of a virtual series created to promote the rich and plural histories of Latin American production in design.

Thank you to AIGA Unidos for partnering with us and to the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation and the Design History Society for funding the series.

Recordings in English, Spanish and Portuguese:

English > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru9TW0PldsE&t=5s
Spanish > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THo5fF-khRs
Portuguese > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK9hEgMBXO4

Credits 

Dr. María de Mater O’Neill and Ramdwin González-Otero | Presenters
Christina Delgado and Alberto Rigau | Special guests
Raquel Castedo | SoDA and AIGA Baltimore Program Leader, Producer and Moderator
Frances Miller | AIGA Baltimore Co-Producer
Vinicius Lima | Recording in Portuguese
Radames Cordero | Recording in Spanish
Chanda Kumar | Recording in English
Bhargavi Sundar | Recording in English
Julieta Mendez | Interpreter Spanish-English
Samanta Libenson | Interpreter Spanish-English
Meg Batalha | Interpreter Spanish-Portuguese
Patricia Flores | Interpreter Spanish-Portuguese