On Monday, February 24, in the Sala Alcalá 31 of the Community of Madrid, the exhibition Gran Sur: Contemporary Chilean Art in the Engel Collection opened. Under the curatorship of Christian Viveros-Fauné, chief curator of the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum and the curatorial assistance of Paula Solimano, the exhibition is made up of eighty-nine works by thirty-seven renowned Chilean artists. Some observations at noon is Mónica Bengoa’s work chosen to form part of this exhibition that, inaugurated during the ARCO fair week, presents influential works that have been exhibited in important international biennials, such as Venice, Sao Paulo and Havana.

Taking place in the midst of a great social revolt that began in mid-October 2019 in Chile, Gran Sur presents a history of Chile and an account of Chilean art that are far from being finalized. However, Gran Sur proposes an example of how to encompass a national sample in a historical period brimming with xenophobic, chauvinistic and vituperative nationalisms, always emphasizing cultural difference and artistic diversity as points of excellence and, paradoxically, of unity.

The exhibition also took the form of a book, which was published in the same month of February 2020 including essays by Christian Viveros-Fauné and Spanish critic and curator Juan José Santos.