Abstract of the Dissertation

​A strategic conjunction of artistic and activist manifestations is becoming more and more visible in contemporary social movements around the globe. In different regions and localities of Latin America, feminist and antiracist grassroots organizations are merging with artists and incorporating diverse artistic practices to articulate protests, public performances, and testimonial works that aim to affect the micro and macro politics of society. This dissertation analyzes a collection of artivist manifestations from Peru that make visible how gender-based violence and racism take place in contemporary Peruvian society. As it furthers Latin American revolutionary artistic traditions from the 20th century, current Peruvian artivism also intervenes in political and theoretical debates of the 21st century.

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Expanding on Sara Ahmed’s feminist theorization of the affects and emotions that circulate around gendered and racialized bodies; this work explores how Peruvian artivism calls attention to the individual and collective experiences and memories of political and cultural violence from racialized and feminized bodies; particularly those of indigenous descendant. Moreover, I see Peruvian artivism as an exercise in response-ability, using Kelly Oliver’s concept, that creatively addresses the memory of the period of political violence (1990-2000) in Perú, as well as current and past forms of violence and discrimination. These counter-normative social performances are re-signifying the individual and social concept of citizenship.

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Through the study of specific artivist manifestations such as representative feminist performance art in the streets of Lima that accompany human rights and feminist social campaigns like Alfombra Roja, NiUnaMenos, and ¡No sin mi permiso…!; testimonial theater exploring the women’s body experience around maternity, sexuality and abortion such as Proyecto Maternidades; and literature focused on how racism is performed in daily private and public life in Perú focusing on the testimonial narratives of Marcos Avilés and their exposition of the use of the term ‘cholo,’ especially in Lima, as an insult. Through the analysis of these practices, this dissertation shows how Peruvian artivism challenges the politics of affect traditionally dominated by patriarchy and racism in Perú. 

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