Date of Completion

2024

Document Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Art History

Thesis Type

Honors College

First Advisor

Sooran Choi

Second Advisor

Sarah Osten

Third Advisor

Trish O'Kane

Abstract

Introduction, last paragraph: This thesis examines the enduring legacy of the Nicaraguan Revolution's cultural initiatives, focusing on their transformative impact on national identity and contemporary artistic practices. Each section of this work highlights a distinct aspect of this legacy. The first explores the National Literacy Crusade (1979–1980), emphasizing its role in establishing education as a foundation for collective empowerment and its integration of visual art as a didactic tool for liberation. The second investigates the Popular Centers of Culture, poetry workshops, and muralism, detailing how these programs fostered an authentic, grassroots cultural identity and positioned art as a central vehicle for unifying the Nicaraguan people. The third section critically assesses the post-revolutionary period, analyzing the depoliticization of art during the Contra War and the Chamorro presidency and how these shifts resulted in the systematic erasure of revolutionary visual culture. Finally, the thesis turns to the contemporary practices of diasporic Nicaraguan artists, examining how their work continues to resist authoritarianism and extend the revolutionary ideals of unity, education, and self-determination into the present. Through the thematic exploration of Nicaraguan visual culture from the 1980s and 2000s, this thesis reveals how the arts serve as a powerful vehicle for political resistance and cultural continuity, bridging past revolutionary ideals with present-day concerns.

Comments

The fourth member of this committee was Kelley DiDio. There was not a fourth space for me to enter her name, so I am including it here.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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