ARIELA EPSTEIN
Her talk is entitled « The painted walls of candombe, representations of the Afro minority in Montevideo »,
her participation in the round-table will focus on the murals of the southern districts, and other forms of expression associated with the urban culture of candombe and more generally the role of Afro- descendants in society.
We discover on the walls, a series of heterogeneous representations, both legitimate and transgressive, of Afro-Uruguayan culture, which both maintains and transcends the ethnic origins of candombe. Mestizo art, a hybrid object, candombe remains a day to day identity, highly symbolic for the Afro, while it has been appropriated by different sectors of society, making it a national icon, outside of the colour of skin.
Ariela Epstein is an ethnologist holding a temporary teaching and research post at the University of Toulouse-Le Mirail. Her thesis is on graffiti and painted walls of Montevideo, and through them the study of contemporary political culture.