Lissette T. Olivares

Vita

Lissette Olivares is a PhD Candidate in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California in Santa Cruz. Her academic work focuses on the interrelationship between aesthetics and politics, analyzing the role of cultural resistance under periods of political repression. She is also an independent curator and critic that specializes in underrepresented contemporary art, with an emphasis in performance. She has curated numerous individual and collective exhibitions, including Chile’s first Performance Biennial in 2006. Lissette has been granted the Fulbright, Andrew Mellon, and Jacob K. Javits Fellowships for her interdisciplinary work.

ICI-Project

Disenchantment in the (so called) First World
Disenchantment in the (so called) First World grapples with past and current debates about the distinctions between First and Third World positions. Eschewing the totalizing discourses affiliated with these terms, and deviating from the pejorative associations they have historically aroused, “First World” and “Third World” are proposed as necessarily problematic categories that highlight global economic interdependence as well as geopolitical relationships and processes. This curatorial project draws upon the tensions that are exacerbated by globalization and the unequal distribution of resources around the world. Allowing diverse artists to translate their perspectives on current geopolitical structures through varied mediums, this exhibitions asks: How is “First World” hegemonic privilege reaffirmed, demystified, and problematized through artists’ works? The works selected for this exhibition will rely on the shared codes and perceptions these artists have taken from their experiences and impacts in the (so called) First World.