Alice Creischer, Andreas Siekmann and Max Jorge Hinderer discuss their controversial exhibition ‘The Potosi Principle’ on the circulation of art and wealth during Spanish colonial rule. Moderated by Melissa Gronlund.

Potosí, the famous silver-mining city in Bolivia, synonymous with immense wealth and unbridled exploitation, was the capital of the mining industry in Latin America from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century and played a crucial role in the development of European capitalism and the migrations associated with it. Even today, the expression ‘vale un Potosí’ / ‘worth a fortune’ is commonly used in Spanish.

‘The Potosi Principle’ offered a critical approach to the Bicentenario – the two hundredth anniversary of the independence movement in Latin America. It addressed the relationship between trade structures and ways of thinking in Latin America and Europe and their social effects on both continents, both before and after the citizens’ revolutions of the nineteenth century.

Wednesday 8th February 2012, 19.00

Lecture Theatre E002, King’s Cross Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design

Free but booking essential. To secure a place please contact events@afterall.org You will be sent a confirmation email with access details

Alice Creischer and Andreas Siekmann are currently included in ‘Social Fabric’ at Iniva, London, until the 10th March.

This event is a collaboration between Afterall, Iniva and Central Saint Martins Research: Exhibitions: histories, practices. Supported by the Goethe Institut.
www.afterall.org