Rest as Resistance: Photography of Martín Chambi

Karla Aguilar Velásquez, PhD student in Hispanic Studies, discusses the work of Indigenous photographer, Martín Chambi, who photographed Inca ruins and portraits of Andean communities in the early 20th century. The talk challenges Chambi’s association with Peruvian Indigenism, a cultural-political movement that celebrated the place of the Indigenous community within national identity, and considers how the photographs function as forms of resistance to performing exceptionality as national pride through scenes of leisure.