Text in the catalog of the General Secretary IILA

INTRODUCTION
Giorgio Malfatti di Monte Tretto
IILA Secretary-General

“Indigenous Voices”, the Pavilion organised by IILA for the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, covers intriguing topics inherent in the return to Latin America’s anthropological, cultural and artistic heritage by listening to the pre-Columbian peoples’ original languages.

In over forty years, IILA has brought over 240 artists to the exhibits organized at the Biennale as a meeting point for the best art being produced in the Latin American region.

At the 2015 edition, IILA has invited twenty-three artists who have taken up the challenge of preserving and enhancing the linguistic and cultural heritage of native Latin American communities by re-discovering the sounds and expressions of their languages. Defending cultural diversity is closely linked to the preservation of linguistic diversity and the protection of the varied autochthonous cultural and artistic forms of expression indispensable to man’s constant development.

IILA’s role in this is as a permanent platform for cultural and artistic dialogue between Italy and its twenty Latin American member countries, within an international perspective in which synergies and potential are mutually enhanced.