The National Museum of Qatar is hosting LATINOAMERICANO | Modern and Contemporary Art from the Malba and Eduardo F. Costantini Collections, one of the most comprehensive surveys of Latin American art ever presented in the Gulf region. Organised by Qatar Museums (QM) in collaboration with the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (Malba), this exhibition draws from the holdings of Malba and the private collection of its founder, Eduardo F. Costantini. Curated by María Amalia García and Issa Al Shirawi, the showcase is part of the Qatar-Argentina and Qatar-Chile 2025 Years of Culture initiative and will run through 19 July 2025.
LATINOAMERICANO traces more than a century of artistic production, from the early 20th century to the present day. On view are about 170 works by more than 100 artists, including such iconic figures as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The show comprises five thematic sections (Everything Is Interconnected; a Living Organism, Vida-Americana, Cidade City Cité, The Independence of Art — For the Revolution, and Between Lines and Light) and guides visitors through pivotal movements — from Constructivism and Surrealism to Conceptual and Social Practice art — and moments in Latin American art history.
The early sections focus on the rise of modernism in the 1920s and ’30s. They highlight artists who synthesised European avant-garde styles with local traditions and indigenous motifs. Key works on display include those by Tarsila do Amaral (Brazil), Xul Solar (Argentina), and Joaquín Torres-García (Uruguay-Spain). The exhibited art pieces reveal a region seeking its aesthetic identity in the face of colonial and cultural tensions.
The exhibition then moves into the mid-century period, foregrounding geometric abstraction and politically charged practices. Among notable artists in this section are Jesús Rafael Soto (Venezuela), Lygia Clark (Brazil), and León Ferrari (Argentina), whose practices explore perception, viewer participation, and protest. This period marks a time when Latin America was shaped by authoritarian regimes, revolutions, and modernisation: contexts in which art became a refuge and a form of resistance.
Contemporary voices, including Colombian-born artist Doris Salcedo, Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco, Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta, and Brazilian artist Adriana Varejão, take up themes of memory, trauma, gender, and the body. Working across diverse media, including performance, installation, video, and sculpture, these artists reflect on personal and collective histories while engaging with global conversations around identity and power.
The exhibition also has an additional section, A Poem in Space, which presents Quipu desaparecido (2018), a multisensory installation by Chilean artist and poet Cecilia Vicuña. Outside the museum, one can find Sculpture of Dreams (2023), a monumental inflatable sculpture by Argentine artist Marta Minujín. This vibrant art piece captures the playful, radical, and imaginative spirit that runs through Latin American art.
For more information about LATINOAMERICANO, please visit the official web page of the exhibition.
Additionally, you might be interested in exploring Nadia Saikali and Her Contemporaries. We would also recommend you visit the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) to admire the Damascus Room.
