How is this radicalism expressed from your curatorial practice? Working in Miami, I have been able to further the discourse of Latin American and Caribbean art in connection to Latinx art and Black art movements, including voices and conversations that have been traditionally excluded. This radicalism is expressed in the themes I am interested for exhibition projects and programs, as well as acquisitions for the museum.
I think my radicalism is more evident in my writing style, which often engages a personal narrative. In this sense, I think my curatorial practice engages both a desire to express my point of view and use strategies to further facilitate my discourse, for example using the personal or the trope of a question like in The Other Side of Now.
I strive towards the balance between form and content that expresses my authenticity. AD: Attention to video practices has been an element of interest in your research.
Could you tell us how audiovisual production has contributed to the critical narration of the problems that dominate the region? MEO: Artists make visible complex situations that affect the region, creating space for needed conversations. On the island, heroin has been a problem that creates impactful everyday images of heroin addiction. I was not clear about what I was exactly seeing, but it was in the car on a main road, when I saw man sitting under a tree putting needles in his arm.
Also, it made evident the mechanisms of sustainability for drug abuse. Art can represent social problems that are often unaddressed. AD: Which have been the greatest challenges you have experienced to approach to the Caribbean as a curator and researcher? MEO: I feel like for anyone interested in doing this type of research, the information is out there. For decades, there have been people working on these subjects.
