The National and the Mestizo Matters. A Reading about the Actions of José de Mesa and Teresa Gisbert in the Cultural Field of La Paz (1952-1956)

Abstract

This article retakes the action of historians José de Mesa and Teresa Gisbert in the political and cultural context after the Bolivian Revolution and their participation in official bodies through publications and other projects associated with the dissemination of art and architecture. The article’s main reading underlines the articulation between historiographical resources provided by a developing research area –the Latin Americanist artistic studies– and cultural policies promoted by the governmental level. We argue that, among other points, race mixture as an ideological construction was a key element to guide the art history of the region while boosting official speeches interested in national unity.