¿Y qué hacemos con nuestra historia?
So what do we do with our history?
In a series of works by that title—¿Y qué hacemos con nuestra historia?—Peruvian artist Ana De Orbegoso questions the role of the past in contemporary art. In one piece in the series, Neo-Huaco #3, De Orbegoso uses gold to recreate one of the most recognizable forms of ancient Andean ceramics: so-called “portrait vessels” made by Moche artists who lived on the north coast of Peru between the 2nd and 8th centuries.
De Orbegoso joins curator Andrew Hamilton for a conversation about her work and how it demonstrates the dynamic understandings that come from putting ancient art in conversation with later Latin American, Native American, and Indigenous artistic traditions— from the colonial era to the contemporary moment.
Learn more about the Art Institute’s recent acquisition of De Orbegoso’s work in an article by curator Andrew Hamilton here.
About the Artist

Ana De Orbegoso is a New York-based Peruvian multidisciplinary visual artist. She is recognized for her socially engaged and participatory art practice. Through the use of historical iconography, she explores aspects of gender, identity and collective memory, in photography, videos, sculptures, street projections, installations and multimedia productions. Her work is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL; National Museum of Women in the Arts, DC; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; National Hispanic Cultural Center, NM; The Walters Art Museum, BM; Lehigh University Art Galleries, PA; MALI Museum of Art Lima; Museo de Arte U. San Marcos, Lima; En Foco Print Collector’s Program; ICPNA Peruvian North American Cultural Institute, Lima; Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru; the Joaquim Paiva Collection at the Modern Art Museum of Rio; Violy McCausland Collection among others.
If you have any questions about programming, please reach out to museum-programs@artic.edu.
Closed captioning will be available for this program. For questions related to accessibility accommodations, please email access@artic.edu.