Scholars Convening: Telenovela

The scholars convening held in advance of Telenovela was organized by Aimé Iglesias Lukin, director and chief curator of Art at Americas Society, and Mariano López Seoane, director of the Graduate Program at CCS Bard, with coordination by Tatiana Marcel, assistant curator of Art at Americas Society. The proceedings from these meetings provided the groundwork for the development of the general concept and themes for the exhibition.

Curated by Aimé Iglesias Lukin, director and chief curator of Art at Americas Society, Telenovela explores the influence of Latin American telenovelas both within the Americas and throughout the rest of the world. This project examines how telenovelas – as a mode of popular entertainment and a global commodity – have conveyed Latin American social, political, and economic values with inter-American and international audiences. The exhibition is accompanied by two publications: an exhibition catalogue as part of our pocketbook series, an affordable format sold at-cost and distributed for free to students, libraries, and museum professionals in order to be made accessible to a large audience, and also a fully illustrated reader, co-edited by Iglesias Lukin and Mariano López Seoane, Director of the Graduate Program at CCS Bard, which features multidisciplinary essays exploring telenovelas as a cultural phenomenon.

To facilitate the participation of scholars based throughout the Americas (and beyond), the convenings were hosted online, from April through October 2025 in four sessions with four to five speakers each and an invited audience.

Speakers:

• Carolina Acosta-Alzuru 
• Rocío Aranda-Alvarado
• Lee Artz
• Alberto Barrera Tyszka 
• Mila Burns
• Álvaro Cueva
• Pablo Helguera 
• Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy
• Daniel Link
• Mariano López Seoane 
• Aimé Iglesias Lukin 
• Cecilia Palmeiro 
• Mauro Porto 
• Aldo Sánchez Ramírez
• Gabriela Rangel
• Omar Rincón
• Paul Julian Smith
• Liliana Viola
• Amy Wright