Indigenismo

インディヘニスモ / 1920s–1950s / Style / Avant-garde

A movement, centred on the Andean countries, that made the bodies, dress and land of indigenous people the subject of the nation. It took local frame and local colour as its standard in place of a European ideal, and spread through painting, printmaking, photography and architectural ornament. It shifted the question of what beauty is measured against.

Indigenismo — Cover of Amauta magazine, no. 26 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Cover of Amauta magazine, no. 26 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Indigenismo — Cover of Amauta magazine — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Cover of Amauta magazine — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Indigenismo — First issue of Amauta magazine — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — First issue of Amauta magazine — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

Depiction of indigenous bodies and dress
The colour range of Andean earth and sky
Monumental mass in the figure
Quotation of pre-Columbian ornament

Best used for

National and regional cultural identity for museums, festivals and tourism, where the imagery must come out of the place rather than be applied to it
Portrait direction that treats non-European proportion and dress as the standard rather than the exception

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Dictionary entry

Type: A firm, broad-stemmed face whose weight matches the mass of the figure, with pre-Columbian geometry used sparingly as rule and border.
Composition: A frontal figure occupying most of the height against a high plateau horizon, the ornament confined to the edges.
Material: Ochre, oxide red and the hard blue of high altitude, on matte surfaces that hold earth tones without gloss.
Caution: Painting people as an ideal seen from outside takes their self representation away, and applying pre-Columbian pattern as decoration to an otherwise European image is the very appropriation the movement formed against.
Further study: José Sabogal and the Peruvian development / Its difference from Mexican muralism / Criticism of its representation of indigenous people

Related entries

Mexican Muralism (メキシコ壁画運動)Shared effects: Rebellion / Trust.Compare Indigenismo and Mexican Muralism
American Regionalism (アメリカン・リージョナリズム)Shared effects: Nostalgia / Trust.Compare Indigenismo and American Regionalism

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