JOSÉ IGNACIO, URUGUAY.- Fundación Ama Amoedo appoints Laura Hakel as the Curator of the Collection and Artistic Projects of Fundación Ama Amoedo, joining Director Verónica Flom and the Foundation’s leadership team to continue the Foundation’s mission to advance and support art from Latin America. In this position, Hakel will continue building Amoedo’s collection and expanding its reach towards contemporary Latin American art. Founded in 2021, Amalia Amoedo conceived Fundación Ama Amoedo to bring together her arts patronage and philanthropic endeavors under a single organization. With the mission of creating a lasting impact on the Latin American contemporary art ecosystem by expanding its visibility, the Foundation seeks to stimulate, energize, and deepen the understanding of Latin American art internationally.
Hakel comes to Fundación Ama Amoedo after receiving her M.A. in Curatorial Studies from the Center for Curatorial Studies (CCS) at Bard College. Previously, she held positions at the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, where she curated exhibitions and special projects, such as Gabriel Chaile: Patricia (2017), Mercedes Azpilicueta: Body Birds (2018), Flavia Da Rin. Who’s That Girl (2019) and Andrés Aizicovich. Contacto (2019). As an independent curator, she curated the solo show of Jorge Macchi Suspension Points at Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy (2018), among other projects. She received a BA in Art History from the University of Buenos Aires.
Amalia Amoedo, Founding Director, Fundación Ama Amoedo, says, “We are delighted to welcome Laura to the team. Her curatorial vision and expertise in Latin American Art will be an invaluable contribution to this growing institution. We look forward to the incredible work Laura will bring to the Foundation.”
Verónica Flom, Director, Fundación Ama Amoedo, says,“We warmly welcome Laura to the leadership team. I am thrilled to work together with Laura to develop Fundación Ama Amoedo’s new initiatives, such as grants, partnerships, and programs supporting artistic and curatorial work.”
Laura Hakel, Curator of the Collection and Artistic Projects of Fundación Ama Amoedo, says, “I am honored to join this vibrant project and I look forward to strategizing the next steps for the Collection to expand towards a broader notion of contemporary Latin American Art. This position presents a great opportunity to contribute fostering art and institutions from the region, and I look forward to further enriching the Foundation with what exciting curatorial programs are ahead.”
Additionally, the Foundation announces the newly selected cohort of artists for the second edition of FAARA (Fundación Ama Amoedo Residencia Artística) hosted at Casa Neptuna in José Ignacio, Uruguay. Following the model of it first edition, the artists selected will begin arriving at Casa Neptuna in pairs for a term of six-weeks, starting in February 2023. FAARA’s Selection Committee for 2023 tasked to elect the six artists residents is composed of: Solana Chehtman, Director of Artist Programs, Joan Mitchell Foundation (New York); Miguel A. López, Independent Curator and Writer (Lima); and Tobias Ostrander, Estrellita B. Brodsky Associate Curator of Latin American Art, Tate Modern(London). Artists selected for the second iteration of the Residency are Marilyn Boror Bor (Guatemala); Seba Calfuqueo (Chile); Lizania Cruz (Dominican Republic); Paola Monzillo (Uruguay); Rita Ponce de León (Peru) and Florencia Sadir (Argentina).
The Selection Committee notes,“We sought to select artists from Latin America who span geographies, generations, and trajectories to optimize their mutual feedback during the residency. These artists have been developing rigorous and promising forms of research that take the question of how and what it means to belong to a territory. Through a diverse range of language—drawings, photography, installation, processual dynamics, and performance—their works are committed to imagining new ways of telling the stories of their context. We hope that this residency will offer these artists a space for concentration and reflection to further their practices.”
Fundación Ama Amoedo
Fundación Ama Amoedo is a non-profit organization whose mission is to create a lasting impact on the Latin American contemporary art ecosystem. Founded in 2021 and based in Uruguay, Fundación Ama Amoedo was established to formalize the patronage of Amalia Amoedo, who has been a philanthropist, collector, and supporter of the arts for over two decades. Fundación Ama Amoedo seeks to expand the dialogue and networks of the arts of Latin America, the Caribbean, and its diaspora, with a focus on the Argentine and Uruguayan scenes.
The Foundation had the pleasure of hosting a breakfast event at The Bass Museum of Art in Miami during Art Week 2022 (November 2 – December 4) to unveil the new set of initiatives the Foundation will put in place in 2023, including an ambitious grants program to provide support to artists and institutions, strategic partnerships with local and international institutions, as well as new interdisciplinary residencies for cultural agents to help foster the collaboration across cultural segments part of the Latin American art ecosystem. Please visit the newly redesigned website here for further information.
Amalia Amoedo
Amalia Amoedo is a philanthropist, art collector, and patron. She has been actively supporting artists, cultural agents and numerous institutions independently for over twenty years, culminating with the creation of Fundación Ama Amoedo in 2021. She is a member of the Acquisitions Committee of the International Latin American Circle of the Pompidou Center (Paris), the Committee of the Latin American and Caribbean Art Fund of the MoMA (New York), the International Committee and former president of the Fundación arteba (Buenos Aires), the Association of Friends of the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos, and the International Advisory Council of the Americas Society (New York). Amoedo was born in Argentina and lives and works in Uruguay.
