25th anniversary celebration for leading Latin American art collection

We're celebrating 25 years of providing a home to the most complete resource for art from Latin America in the UK with a season of exhibitions, talks, an artist’s residency, the launch of a catalogue and an internationally significant conference.

Through this ambitious programme, the Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA) will create a platform for dialogue between artists and audiences on ecological issues raised through artworks from Latin America.

This multifaceted programme is curated by Dr Lisa Blackmore, lecturer in Art History and Interdisciplinary Studies from the School of Philosophy and Art History, working with ESCALA’s founding co-directors Professor Dawn Ades and Professor Valerie Fraser and the Collection’s newly appointed curator, Dr Sarah Demelo. 

Dr Lisa Blackmore said: “Essex has long been a vibrant hub of connections with Latin America, and this series of events honours that tradition by initiating a new line of inquiry into the ESCALA collection that explores environmental challenges that face us collectively, wherever we live. The concept of ecology emphasises interconnectivity and relations between different places and lives, so it makes a fitting framework for this project as we deepen our exchanges with artists from Latin America, working closely with them to gain insights from their creative practice and research.”

Essex art history students have been actively involved in the curatorial process for Gone to Ground, researching artworks in class and writing the exhibition’s official gallery guide. Through this process, exhibition audiences will be brought directly into contact with the exciting knowledge generated in our classrooms.

This programme has been made possible with funding support from the Elephant Trust and the Society of Latin American Studies.

The opening of this exhibition coincides with the appointment of Dr Sarah Demelo as our University's new curator.

Dr Demelo said: “It is exciting to be taking up the post of curator at ESCALA during this significant milestone in ESCALA’s history. I will be working on a new vision for the Collection that will build on the collections strong foundations, while expanding the Collection’s dialogue and exchange on art from Latin America. Gone to Ground allows us to enjoy artworks from the Collection in new and exciting contexts and we relish the opportunity to work closely with our academic colleagues across our campuses.”

Programme highlights

• Gone to Ground - an exhibition of environmental works from ESCALA 
• Artist in residence - new works by Alejandro Jaime on the Colne Estuary. Hear Alejandro talk on 5 February.
• Arts of Extraction symposium

Find out more about the programme from ESCALA.