Lisbeth Rebollo Gonçalves played a significant role in the growth of The International Association of Art Critics during her tenure as international president until 2024. With a strong background in Social Sciences, her research is poised to bridge the gap between artistic and cultural theory, exploring the intersections of Art History, Aesthetics, and Sociology of Art. This interdisciplinary approach yield a nuanced understanding of the social and cultural contexts that shape our experiences and perceptions of art. I’m delighted to had an interview wit Lisbeth about her career, AICA (International Association of Art Critics), and the means of writing about art.
1. Can you describe what are the most important principles and guidelines that are behind your cultural work? Are there any iconic books and articles that guided you through the art world?
I have major in the field of Social Sciences and my studies were oriented towards the Sociology of Art, which was when I turned to the study of modern and contemporary art. An interdisciplinary vision between Art History, Aesthetics and Sociology of Art has supported my work as a researcher, teacher and, later, in the practice of art criticism. It would be impossible to indicate just one or a few authors. Considering the theoretical fields of my major, my work has always had an interdisciplinary profile and followed the debate developed at each moment in the cultural scene. An important issue needs to be highlighted, though: living, studying, and working with art in a country that is not European, which is considered “peripheral” has its specificities. One of them is the search for a theoretical reflection appropriate to analyze the social process marked by the experience of having been a colony, in the historical context of social modernity. This changes a lot of things and brings challenges in the field of research and critical work.
2. For you what does it mean to write about art? What drew you to art to begin with?
Writing and thinking about art is part of my everyday work, as a full professor at the University of São Paulo, coordinating many activities as disciplines, research guidance activities and work in groups of researchers.
AICA members present at the 51st Congress.
3. I always focused in my academic papers on the multiple identities of an artwork, what’s your opinion regarding the multitudes of identities that an artwork can have?
This fact constitutes the richness of art itself; the works speak differently to each interlocutor. This is how aesthetic reception is achieved. Differences in personality, education background and interests produce communication differences. Art speaks to different people at different personal moments in historical, social and cultural circumstances. The aesthetic experience is experienced differently by each person who interacts with works of art in a time frame.
4. From your wide experience, how can an art critic convince the public that an exhibition and an artist are flagships and require their attention?
The power of the press is immense! Information builds criteria for appreciation, at each moment in the history of art. The responsibility of the critic and the institutions that deal with art is immense. Market pressure, of course, interferes in the entire communication process via the press and even in institutions such as museums and biennials.
5. I am seeing some difficulties in the art market, where the curator is also part of the group of the artists presented in an exhibition and also the art commentator, how cultural strategies should be used in cultural spaces in order for each role to be divided?
There is also this fact that you point out: the artist acts as a curator or the curator is also an artist. Each person’s subjectivity reveals itself, within historical circumstances. Besides, the reading of the works may change throughout the course of history. In the case you highlight, we can see that the arts circuit is nowadays very complex, social roles are mixed up.
At the Picasso Museum in Paris, March 2019.
6. You have been writing cultural articles since 1975, what are the main international cultural events that changed the way you look at contemporary artworks and the art market?
In Brazil, the 1970s were marked by a boom in the art market: auctions, an increase in the number of galleries. Things started to get more intricate. Experimentation in art took on a more accelerated process, and new strategies were created in the market to create an interest in the production of younger artists and in the review of historical names. I was doing my master’s degree in art at the time, I was starting to write essays that supported a series of exhibitions. They were texts that rescued the production of the 1930s and 1940s of modernism in Brazil. I was able to follow the movement generated by the art market and the changes in the focus of news about art in newspapers: arts began to be presented more for their economic value. My work was more essayistic, although I wrote my first articles at the invitation of a critic responsible for an art page in an important newspaper in São Paulo. The sociological vision has always intersected with aesthetics in my texts.
7. I have the good fortune of being part of AICA’ International Board Member, and I had the opportunity to work under your guidance as AICA’s president, from your point of view, how important are international cultural collaborations and co-productions?
They are fundamental. The rapprochement among professionals in the art field that AICA provides is of immeasurable importance. Not only to fulfill UNESCO’s original motivation, when it proposed the creation of an association of art critics, but to enrich knowledge of the artistic field and its challenges in different parts of the world. Knowledge of the diversity of experiences is fundamental to enlarge the dimension of work in the artistic area. Knowledge of diversity was one of the motivations that guided my management and the projects we established. I think we reached good results.
8. What does AICA bring to curators and cultural workers worldwide? What advice would you give to art critics, curators and cultural managers that are still thinking about joining the association?
AICA opens an immeasurable field of exchanges. Now with the projects we are doing, encouraging the sections to produce projects together, with the dissemination of the activities of the national sections through the so-called “cartography” that portrays production in each country through social networks, zoom meetings – I believe they will be expanded , increasingly, the possibilities of inter-knowledge and professional inter-relationship. Participating in an associative entity is stimulating for professionals, for self-knowledge and knowledge of others, of the differences that exist in different cultures. My advice is: come urgently and join AICA!
Coordinating the November Board meeting in Taipei (Mathilde Roman, on the left and Marjorie Althorpe Guiton, on the right).
9. You were the International President for AICA, how was the experience for you?
It was very important to have live contact with different countries and cultures through our Association. Learning to relativize situations and coexist with so many important personalities present in our association was a challenge. There was a lot of concern about the fact that there was a long pandemic during my term. We had to be creative to keep the links of integration, coexistence, and exchange of ideas alive, which is fundamental. New technologies were decisive. I believe that we all learned a lot during this period and knew how to be creative in the difficulties of the circumstances.
10. From your point of view, how can AICA take a bigger role as an international community for art critics, cultural managers, and cultural producers?
It is essential to have public visibility and continuous and solid production. I believe we have made progress in this direction: congresses have not stopped being held annually, in addition to having local seminars and webinars with the participation of two or more national sections of AICA. The congresses took place in Asia, Western and Eastern Europe, and South America. We produced an e-magazine and newsletters, actions such as awarding young critics and activities to draw them to debate and participation in the association (AICA Academy) It is also necessary to increasingly promote the distribution of information, be present at relevant cultural events, have activities in interface with other institutions, remain active and in the public eye. In all circumstances, each member should indicate that he or she is a member of Aica when participating in events or subscribing to articles and essays. Encouraging exchanges with colleagues from other associative entities is also a path to explore.
with Georges Didi-Huberman in Paris, 50th Congress, 2017, when elected Aica President.
The photos are sent by Lisbeth Rebollo from her personal archieve.
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