exhibition at the Grand Palais might have been surprised to learn that the word American referred to major acquisitions of North and South American photography. To give a handful of examples: in a gallery that highlighted particularly deep acquisitions, Geraldo de Barros (Brazilian, 1923-1998) was installed across from Susan Meiselas (American, born 1948) and Richard Misrach (American, born 1949); the conceptually infused practices of Liliana Porter (Argentine, born 1941) and Regina Silveira (Brazilian, born 1939; see figure A) hung in a room alongside Marcia Resnick (American, born 1950) and Sarah Charlesworth (American, 1947–2013); and in a gallery of artists who explore questions of identity in their work, Oscar Muñoz (Colombian, born 1951) was presented with Lyle Ashton Harris, Mark Morrisroe and Katy Grannan (all American, born 1965, 1959–1989, and born 1969, respectively). The Museum seeks to deepen its appreciation of the manifestation of so-called alternative modernities (those practices outside the historical canons of American and western European art) and, equally important, to contextualize those modernities within the traditions more familiar to the majority of moma’s audiences. The Department of Photography is but one of six curatorial departments at the Museum, each with a mandate to collect, preserve, and present its respective medium(s). Beyond Photography, the other curatorial departments are Painting & Sculpture, Drawings & Prints, Architecture & Design, Film, and Media & Performance Art. Perhaps it goes without saying that artists frequently transgress these borders, and my fellow curators and I regularly cooperate on what we call cross-departmental acquisitions to ensure that we are as attentive to those artists whose work might be described as photography and performance as we are to those whose practices fall squarely within a specific category. Every curatorial department has several acquisitions meetings each year (Photography has three), and at these meetings curators present proposed works (both purchases and gifts) to their acquisition committees, which are comprised of Museum Trustees and benefactors. The Committee on Photography is responsible for approving each work that enters the Museum Collection, while responsibility for what to present to the Committee rests with the Chief Curator. In January 2013 Quentin Bajac assumed this position, and he soon conducted a strategic review of collecting priorities (as his predecessor, Peter Galassi, had done several times during his tenure). I have had the privilege of working with Bajac and Galassi
on these reviews, the results of which guide our acquisition priorities for the coming years (although both Bajac and Galassi have stressed the importance of maintaining flexibility in order to pursue acquisitions outside these declared priorities should unanticipated opportunities arise). The recent acquisitions of work made by artists from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela that were on view in Paris last November represented not only strategic priorities within the Department of Photography, but also a broader institutional commitment to engage with international artistic practices and, whenever possible, to bring those practices into the Museum Collection. These efforts are served by two complementary initiatives: the cross-departmental research platform Contemporary and Modern Art Perspectives (c-map); and the Latin American and Caribbean Fund (lacf). Thanks to c-map, curators from across the Museum are able to bring both local and international scholars and artists to the Museum, to critically examine our grasp of artistic practices in those regions, and to build upon those relationships and ideas through travel. c-map currently focuses on three regions: Latin America, Asia, and Central/Eastern Europe. As members of the Latin America c-map group, my colleagues and I have traveled to Brazil twice, Argentina, and Mexico, and we intend to go to Chile this coming September. Through these travels and the related seminars and meetings in New York, we have had the privilege of getting to know artists, curators, writers, musicians, poets, historians, and collectors, and it is no exaggeration to write that our understanding of modern and contemporary art is enriched as a result. The related website (http://post.at.moma.org/) shares and expands upon the discoveries from many of these trips. Since 2005 the lacf has played an essential role in supporting the acquisition of work by Latin American and Caribbean artists for the Museum Collection. Because of the lacf, many of the opportunities identified through c-map research have resulted in acquisitions that critically expand the way in which we can present the history of modern art for the Museum’s audiences. Consider, for example, the following recent acquisitions of work by Brazilian photographers. In November 2012 a group from moma traveled to Brazil, visiting São Paulo, Inhotim, and Rio. Several of us visited Regina Silveira’s studio, where I was able to ask about her early engagement with photography and learned that the four unique photograms