Visualising Afro-Cultural Identities in Contemporary Argentina: The case of Antepasados, Los afroporteños en la cultura nacional

Abstract

Antepasados: Los afroporteños en la cultura nacional [Ancestors: Afroporteños in National Culture] was one of the most comprehensive museum exhibits to address the cultural heritage of Afro-descendants from Buenos Aires – known as afroporteños. It was open to the public from April to June 2016 at the Museo del Libro y de la Lengua [Museum of Books and Language]. The primary purpose of Antepasados was to recapture afroporteños’ cultural heritage and fill what scholars, curators, and the government saw as a “regrettable absence” in narratives about national identity. This study examines how Antepasados (2016) articulated the logic of whiteness in Argentina and the politics of race representation in museums and public history while recognising the erasure of Afro-descendants in official discourse. This exhibit acknowledges the contribution of afroporteños to national culture and identity, and shows how Argentine society is dealing with its racial reckoning, albeit with certain contradictions. Finally, this study inscribes the case of afroporteños into broader discussions about race in Latin America by reframing national identity and cultural heritage discourses in more inclusive terms within a country where an emphasis on whiteness has been predominant.