Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Noche de Arte.  Four days. Eight hundred works of art.  Nearly 400 artists.  The largest exhibition and sale of artwork in the country.  Benefiting those who need it most.

This year’s results?

Ninety works of art sold on the first night alone, $200,000 in total sales up to this point, over 5,000 attendees, and at least nine charities to receive donations.

What began as an event at the United States Ambassador’s Residence in an effort to cultivate relationships with Peruvian artists and intellectuals, has become one of the most important art exhibits of the year, showcasing not only work from recognized masters such as Fernando De Szyszlo, José Tola or Carlos Revilla, but also the work of lesser known artists. 

The goals of the event today are two-fold, to promote a new generation of Peruvian artists as well as those already established, and to raise funds for Peruvian charities that USEA supports, reaching larger audiences every year to exhibit and sell the largest selection of high quality contemporary art.

“Noche de Arte is an event that for forty years now has been celebrating the creativity of Peruvian artists, each year attracting more attendees, and thereby increasing the possibility of helping in a consistent way,” said  Pedro Pablo Alayza, the Cultural Director of the Instituto Peruano de Arte y Diseno-IPAD.

The perseverance of such an event comes from the collaboration of hundreds of individuals and numerous institutions throughout the years.  Passing from the hands of multiple United States Ambassadors to the American Women’s Literary Council and finally to the United States Government Women’s Association, now known as the United States Embassy Association (USEA), which currently hosts Noche de Arte and presides over the distribution of the monies raised from the event. 

After receiving a number of worthy proposals from various charities, USEA’s board selected this year’s recipients, including Centro Ann Sullivan, Fundades, the Burn Unit of the Daniel A. Carrión Hospital in Callao, and Operación Sonrisa, in addition to hosting the annual Special Needs Christmas Party at the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence.  These are only the first beneficiaries among others which will be announced at a later date.

The proceeds of Noche de Arte not only benefit charities, but 60% of the profits is also paid to the artists themselves.  As Alayza indicates, in a city like Lima in which no contemporary art museum exists, an event like Noche de Arte is particularly important for the meeting of artists and collectors, establishing a thriving art market.  Lima already has an impressive number of galleries showcasing the work of Peruvian and other Latin American artists, as well as an annual Semana del Arte, all of which work together to bring international recognition to Peruvian art.

“In a country in which art abounds in all its forms, and in which there isn’t always an adequate setting to share it, Noche de Arte not only offers artists an ideal space to exhibit their work, it also serves as a democratic meeting place for all parts of our country,” said Patricia Gómez-Sánchez López, curator of Noche de Arte.

The art at this year’s event was of a higher quality than that of last year’s, as was evident from the moment walking into the main building until passing the final photos.  Works ranged from photorealistic still-lifes to impressionist street scenes to abstract color fields to works incorporating hundreds of centavos adhered to canvas (appropriate for the location, Banco Continental) to sculptures and photographs. Prices ranged from a couple of hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, meeting collectors and patrons of all levels, all of whom contributed to make this year’s event the most successful to date.

At its core, Noche de Arte is about helping the needy and promoting the visual arts in Peru, but the effects of these basic goals are immeasurable.

“If we see art as a kind of knowledge that provides a way to learn to see beyond an object itself, we will be able to see a reflection of our era, of our diverse, complex, and dynamic culture.  In this reflection we will find multiple paths in life and the best human beings, conveyed through works of art full of color, new forms, creativity, and messages that stimulate our senses and our spirits.  This is art, and this is Noche de Arte 2009,” López said.