AQ’s Spring Playlist: A “Most Unconstitutional” New Album Roundup
This selection of recent releases features desert-inspired guitars from Ecuador, folk wisdom from Chile and tongue-in-cheek Brazilian wordplay.
Who Gets to Map Latin America’s Natural World?
A Peruvian artist’s ghostly landscapes raise questions about objectivity and authority in documenting the region’s environment.
Fernanda Melchor’s Gritty Dispatches from Veracruz
In a darkly humorous collection of stories and “crónicas,” the Mexican writer channels life in this chaotic port city.
The Complex Legacy of Brazilian Explorer Cândido Rondon
The general was an early advocate for Indigenous people—but reality has fallen brutally short of his ideals.
The Intergenerational Heartbreak of Bolivia’s Urbanization
Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s “Utama” looks at the human side of environmental crisis in the Bolivian highlands.
Explaining Evangelicalism’s Uneven Political Success
A new book sheds light on why evangelical Christianity has generated greater electoral power in some Latin American countries than in others.
Mariana Enríquez’s Meaningful Monsters
An Argentine novel uses the supernatural to explore abuses of power in the country’s past and present.
AQ’s Winter Playlist: Mellow Music for the Southern Summer
A selection of new Latin American releases, to warm a cold Northern night or dance a Southern summer night away.
Inside the Vicious Cycle of Mexico’s Disappearances
A new film by Lorenzo Vigas probes the cruel process by which victims of violence can become participants.
Arthur Bispo do Rosario Wanted to Contain the World in Art
Living in a psychiatric institution, the Brazilian artist used found materials to catalog the world.
Carlos Manuel Álvarez’s Dispatches Reveal the Real Cuba
Cutting through cliché and dogmatism, the Cuban writer’s new collection delivers a “masterclass in creative reportage.”
The Unfinished Business of Brazil’s “New Middle Class”
In a new film, a family runs out of money to build a swimming pool—revealing personal tensions and a society plagued by broken promises.
Is Alejandro Zambra a Genius—Or a Gimmick Artist?
A new translation of the Chilean writer’s debut novel raises the question: Does he live up to the hype?
Caribbean Art Under the Shadow of Tourism
The curator of a new exhibition highlights artists’ response to an economic regime geared to serve visitors first.
A Cuban Puppet Opera Comes to Life in Brooklyn
Pioneering modernists included the full sweep of Cuban culture in this 1934 work, now performed for the first time outside Cuba.
