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$Pretitle{266}
$Title{Bolivia
Chapter 8A.   Cultural Life and Mass Communication}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Thomas E. Weil}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{national
period
colonial
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bolivia
century
first
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bolivian
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$Date{1974}
$Log{}
Country:     Bolivia
Book:        Bolivia, A Country Study
Author:      Thomas E. Weil
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1974

Chapter 8A.   Cultural Life and Mass Communication

     Bolivia's physical isolation from the trading posts of culture is
reflected in its artistic and intellectual traditions. Most of the important
international currents have eventually made their way to La Paz, but only
those that have been adaptable to the expression of the Bolivian historical
experience or social conditions have been embraced and assimilated.

     Although the Hispanic cultural elites now take great pride in the
archaeological remains of pre-Columbian cultures and manifest a sense of
urgency about recording the legends and the music of the Indians that have
been passed down orally from generation to generation, the original Spanish
colonizers disrupted and repressed indigenous creative efforts and implanted
an alien culture. Development in literature and the arts, however, was scanty
and halting until the beginning of the twentieth century. Most of the
literature of the colonial period consisted of either religious speculation or
historical chronicling, and there was no printing press in the whole of Upper
Peru (encompassing part of present-day Peru and Bolivia) until the eve of
independence in 1825. The graphic arts and music of the period were generally
imitative in both style and subject matter.

     The nineteenth century produced some outstanding historical works, but it
was not until the early twentieth century that writers began to take a
critical look at the society of which they were a part. What began as a
literary revulsion against the status quo developed, after the Chaco War
(1932-35), into a glorification of the downtrodden Indian and an impetus for
revolutionary change. The Indian, conscripted to fight and die in a war he
did not understand in order to preserve the prerogatives of an alien
exploitative elite, became the protagonist of innumerable novels and
interpretive historical treatises. Whether these writers were highly
influential as precursors of the revolution or were merely reflective of a
national mood is still being debated by historians, but their importance in
the development of a national literary tradition is well established.

     The focus on the Indian in his natural and societal environment spread
in the 1930s and 1940s from literature into painting and sculpture with the
assistance of stylistic borrowings from the Mexican muralist school. The
figurative approach that prevailed in the earlier nativist or indigenist works
had lost ground by the 1960s to abstract expressionism, but the themes
remained the same.

     The country has never developed a strong tradition in classical music,
although the incorporation of native music into some compositions has
broadened its appeal. Folk expression in music and dance, on the other hand,
has flourished; its vitality is particularly manifest in festivals, often
unique to a city or region, involving elaborate costumes and imaginative
choreography.

     Postrevolutionary governments, especially in the 1950s and early 1960s,
have made some attempts to underwrite the efforts of artists and scholars, to
disseminate their works to a broader audience, and to expose the educated
classes to the country's rich folkloric tradition. Nevertheless, the cultural
gap between the intelligentsia and the masses they choose to depict and seek
to influence remains immense.

     In the early 1970s some observers maintained that creative efforts had
been stymied both by lack of interest and by selective limitations on freedom
of expression. Seasoned writers and critics have lamented that today's
educated young people are more prone to express their passion for social
justice and national identity through direct political action than through
literature and the arts. Furthermore, since the advent of the government of
President Hugo Banzer Suarez, many members of the intelligentsia-who had
generally been critical of that government-were imprisoned or went into exile
or hiding.

     Development of mass communication has long been inhibited by geographic,
linguistic, and social barriers. Such progress as was made after 1952 in
reducing social and linguistic barriers was largely attributable to the
government's efforts to integrate the isolated Indian population into the
national society and to promote literacy in Spanish. In 1973, however, the
proportion of total illiteracy remained high, and many people who were
marginally literate were insufficiently educated to read a newspaper
(see ch. 6). The limitations on dissemination of information by the written
word were illustrated by the fact that in La Paz, a city with a population
of more than 500,000, the total circulation of the five daily newspapers was
estimated at 90,000.

     In 1973 radio, which reached the majority of the country's population,
was by far the most important mass medium. Nevertheless, in many areas
word-of-mouth communication continued to serve as a significant channel for
the dissemination of information and the exchange of ideas.

     In 1973 there was no formal censorship of the press, and some criticism
of the government appeared in newspapers. Actions had been taken against
selected journalists and periodicals, however, and a number of leftist
periodicals that had been circulated during the 1950s and 1960s were no
longer published.

Artistic and Intellectual Expression

The Colonial Heritage

     The mineral wealth of the colony gave it an economic and political
importance that contributed greatly to its artistic and intellectual
development. A large colonial administration, the prospect of financial
gain, the opportunity for political advancement, and the influx of Spanish
priests, to meet the spiritual needs of white and indigenous elements,
converted the colony into a thriving population center. With this growth in
size came the need for the construction of municipal, domestic, and religious
buildings. In turn, the monumental development of colonial cities stimulated
the production of the decorative arts-painting and sculpture.

     The church and its representatives did not limit themselves to
educational activities but served alongside the elite as promoters of the arts
by supplying commissions for artists and architects. In literary and
intellectual activity the church was the important single factor; early
musical development also depended upon its efforts.

     During the conquest, Gregorian chants were introduced by the priests.
Musical instruments, initially imported from Spain, were soon produced in the
colony. In many cases the missionary program of the Spanish priests resulted
in the development of Indian choruses that reached a relatively high degree of
technical ability and also incorporated something of their own music into
Western modes. In higher social circles musical preference was for pure
Spanish styles. Young ladies from the upper classes learned to play the harp,
lyre, and guitar in the convent schools. For the general public musical
experience was limited to the religious procession, popular street music, and
military marches.

     In contrast to the limited musical activity, the cultivation of the
plastic arts was great. Architecture, foremost of the plastic arts, reached
its peak in the eighteenth century. Whereas both Potosi and Cochabamba were
important colonial centers, Potosi, the heart of mineral wealth, was the site
of the grandest architectural achievements. The early Renaissance plateresque
style, with its light, intricate, superficial decoration, was adopted first,
but in the seventeenth century-the period of Potosi's greatest economic
power-the more impressive baroque flourished. Superimposed on the baroque and
plateresque structures, the decorative details clearly show the hand of the
Indian and mestizo workmen who realized the plans of Spanish and criollo
architects.

     The sculptural work of the period was limited to religious artifacts,
architectural decoration, and furniture carving. The artisans, mostly Indians
and mestizos, were organized into guilds, following the medieval Spanish
example. Silver, wood, and stone were the most commonly used materials. The
practice of carving life-sized wooden statues, popular in Spain during the
seventeenth century, was also cultivated in the colony. Native ceramics were
encouraged by the Spaniards and reached a high degree of quality.

     A great deal less is known about painting in colonial Bolivia, but
significant schools apparently did exist, particularly in Chuquisaca
(Sucre); Jusepe Pastorelo, a painter and sculptor who worked on the
retable of the Cathedral of Chuquisaca, is one of the few known artists
from the first half of the seventeenth century.

     The blossoming of a truly brilliant school took place in Chuquisaca
during the second half of the century, inspired largely by the arrival of
Spanish paintings from Seville. The subject matter is predominantly
religious, but historical paintings also exist. The outstanding figure in
colonial painting, Melchor Perez de Holguin, unknown until recently,
comes from this period. In his work there is a definite influence of the
Spaniards Bartolome Esteban Murillo, famous for his gentle, luminous
virgins and children, and Francisco Zurbaran, painter of mystics and
monks.

     Although Spanish colonial policy always favored the subordination of
culture to political needs, the development of the fine arts was unaffected
since there was no conflict. Such was not the case with literary and
intellectual activity. Initially Protestant ideology was the threat, and the
Inquisition, established in Spain to combat it, was instituted in the colony
as well. Although the colonial Inquisition tended to be less rigorous, it too
restricted the sale and production of books on political and religious
matters. The suppression of dangerous political ideas became particularly
significant in the late eighteenth century with the rise of the Encyclopedists
and the American and French revolutions. Colonial intellectuals and writers
laborer under the handicap of enforced isolation from contemporary European
currents of thought and the lack of printing facilities, but they did have
extensive classical libraries, and locally written manuscripts did circulate.
Some manuscripts were also published in Spain.

     The main literary effort of colonial writers, the majority of whom were
monks and priests, was directed toward the production of chronicles and
histories. In addition to accounts of postconquest life and events, much of
what was written concerned Inca legend and history. From their contact with
the Indian, missionary writers developed a great deal of sympathy for him
and often defended his way of life.

     Padre Jose de Acosta, considered by Bolivians the first colonial writer,
reveals such an attitude in his Historia Natural y Moral de Las Indias
(Natural and Moral History of the Indies). Knowledge of the Indian languages
led some Spanish priests to write valuable grammars and dictionaries of
Aymara and Quechua. After the revolutionary period interest and concern for
the Indian was not revived until the twentieth century (see ch. 4).

     The important city of Potosi had its chronicler in Nicolas Martinez
Arzanz y Vela, who offers a picture of colonial life in Historia de la Villa
Imperial de Potosi (History of the Imperial City of Potosi). The first
self-taught Upper Peruvian and also the most outstanding writer of the
colonial period, Fray Antonio de la Calancha wrote about the work of his own
order, the Augustines, in Cronica Moralizada (Moralized Chronicle). A
humanist, Calancha, like the other writers of the period, reflects the
influence of neoclassicism and scholasticism in colonial letters.

     In addition to producing the most outstanding writers of the period,
the church and its representatives were also responsible for colonial
education. The Jesuits, well known for their independence, were the most
active in this area and crowned their activities with the establishment
of the university in Chuquisaca in 1624. Intellectual life revolved around
this university, and its influence extended beyond the confines of the
colony. Located in the same city as the powerful Audiencia de Charcas, which
held dominion over the area comprehending all Spanish territory south of Lake
Titicaca, it became the most important intellectual center in lower South
America, attracting students with both political and scholastic ambitions
from all over the region. Its studies in philosophy centered on the
Aristotelian doctrines of Saint Thomas Aquinas, modified by the interpretation
of Francisco Suarez. Suarist contributions included such ideas as royal
subordination to law and the justice of regicide in cases where the king
transgressed against popular rights. This thinking became useful to
revolutionaries at the turn of the nineteenth century as an ideological basis
for the justification of their actions (see ch. 2).

     By the second half of the eighteenth century, the ferment of ideas
had reached its peak. During the reign of Charles III a greater freedom was
allowed, permitting some of the works of the Encyclopedists to enter the
colony. Their ideas, the ideas of empiricists and naturalists against
tradition and authority, were quickly associated with and absorbed into
earlier doctrines of Suaristic Thomism. Especially popular was Jean-Jacques
Rousseau's Social Contract, the most influential work in Bolivia. Although
Bolivia was the last South American country to achieve independence,
intellectually-through the groups centered in the University of Chuquisaca-it
had been a forerunner.

The Evolution of a National Culture

     From the activity of the colonial period, Bolivian artistic and
intellectual life lapsed into a period of inertia that lasted until the latter
part of the nineteenth century. With the departure of the Spaniards, the
country became preoccupied with national consolidation and was more isolated
than ever before (see ch. 2). Literary activity was limited in general to the
production of pamphlets and small publications concerned with the issues of
the day.

     A few of the early governments tried to stimulate national culture. By
official decree Antonio Jose de Sucre had made Destutt de Tracy's Ideology,
based on the principles of the French Encyclopedia, required reading in the
secondary schools, and Simon Rodriguez, who had spent a considerable length
of time in Paris, set up a model school that was to inaugurate the
transformation of society by education. Both efforts were of short duration.

     Jose Ballivian's administration also attempted to give impetus to
cultural affairs. At that time the national theater appeared, and performances
were well received. In 1833 Andres Santa Cruz had offered large bonuses to any
foreign musicians who would come to the country and take on at least two
disciples, but it was not until 1845, under Ballavian, that one did arrive,
the Italian Benedetto Vincenti. In the same year he wrote the Bolivian
national anthem. After these official endeavors came nearly thirty years of
rule by the so-called caudillos barbaros (barbarous strong men), who were no
more than military adventurers and warlords and showed no concern for cultural
affairs.

     Around midcentury the ideological climate in Bolivia changed greatly.
Eclecticism, more a method for the selection of ideas from a wide variety of
sources than a philosophy in itself, enjoyed great acceptance and diffusion in
Bolivia. This period marks the appearance of the first artistic and literary
movement in the country, romanticism. The Spanish influence was not lost, but
the French was by far the stronger. Largely imitative, the work produced in
this style is significant, with few exceptions, from a historical point of
view alone.

     The movement's first manifestations were in political oratory and poetry.
Political oratory in Bolivia, as in other Latin American countries, was a
popular and frequently practiced art; Santiago Vaca Guzman's literary
history-published in the 1880s-devotes a whole chapter to it. Poetry became
the most widely cultivated literary form with the advent of romanticism.
Quantity did not mean quality, however, and of the many poets produced during
the period, only Ricardo Jose Bustamante is notable.

     Of far greater significance was the novel, which made its first
appearance in national letters with the romantics. In the indigenous
literature there had been no form similar to the novel; during the colonial
epoch Spanish works were read but not imitated by the criollos. The first
novel written by a Bolivian, Sebastian Delanze, did not appear until 1861.
Delanze's novel, a superficial copy of the French style, was followed by a
number of equally imitative and undistinguished works whose authors, in
accordance with the romantic tradition, preferred exotic, faraway settings to
the national scene. It is noteworthy that during the long period of
romanticism, which encompassed the terms of fifteen presidents, a shift from
Conservative to Liberal rule, and two wars, nothing of Bolivian reality was
reflected in the fictional literature.

     The romantic spirit, with its interest in evoking the past, gave rise
to the historical novel. Nataniel Aguirre's Juan de la Rosa, set in the
independence era, is regarded by many as the first Bolivian novel in the sense
that its subject matter was specifically Bolivian. In addition to being a
novelist, Aguirre was one of the country's few noteworthy playwrights.

     During the colonial period dramatic representations had been almost
exclusively religious in theme and very simple technically. Although there was
some original work, in general, what little was performed had been imported
from Spain. There is some confusion as to which was the first play written in
Bolivia, but many cite Odio y Amor (Hate and Love) by the sentimental poet,
Serapio Reyes Ortiz, which was staged in 1859. Early theatrical development
faced many obstacles, and politics-the constant antagonist of intellectual
activity-often worked to its detriment. There was also a lack of performers
and of an interested public large enough to give support sufficient to
maintain those involved.

     The static conditions of the early republican period were even more
obvious in the plastic arts. Painting, the first to emerge after independence,
was the most widely cultivated, although it never approached the dimensions
that it enjoyed during the colonial era. Early republican works still showed a
preference for the old religious themes. Gradually historic scenes and
portraits, particularly of national heroes, began to appear. As in most young
countries, there was a desire to set down the national past and its
protagonists on canvas; these paintings imitated the stiff, sterile styles of
European so-called official art. During the second half of the century a kind
of romanticism, which differed from the European mode in its patriotic fervor,
arose to displace classicism. Although religious themes were still in
evidence, portraits were now predominant.

     Architecture, the crowning achievement of colonial plastic art, fell into
a decline from which it has still not recovered. The few major buildings that
were completed in the early years of independence had been begun a number of
years before and continued the colonial styles. Throughout the century
architecture was imitative; it followed the European periods of classicism and
French romanticism and showed Italian influence in religious structures and
academic effect in civil works. Without the extensive monumental activity that
had characterized the colonial era, sculpture deteriorated greatly.

     Romanticism, which continued well into the twentieth century, lasted
longer in Bolivia than in most other Latin American countries. After the
country's defeat in the War of the Pacific in 1883, however, new attitudes
developed and with them a generation that found romanticism unrelated to its
interests. Bolivians were made conscious of their nationality and wanted to
explore realistically and systematically the various aspects of their own
country. The old traditionalist, eclectic, and spiritualist philosophies,
which had so adequately complemented the romantic literary and artistic trend,
could not provide a suitable ideological context for these new goals and
attitudes. Consequently, they took up the more practical, humanistic
positivism, which had already spread to the rest of South America. With its
predilection for science and belief in the power of man to shape his future
through the application of the scientific method, the philosophy generated a
spirit of optimism and practicality that was quickly adapted to politics by
the more progressive elements.

     Politically, the triumph of positivism came after the Liberal revolution
of 1899. The ensuing twenty-year period of Liberal government was
characterized by mild social reforms (which did not profoundly change national
life) and increased commercial activity (which complemented the materialism
and practicality of positivism). Positivism remained largely an intellectual
concern, however, and it never directly involved the main body of the
population (see ch. 2).

     The inclination of the postwar generation toward national themes marked
the real beginning of Bolivian arts and letters. The shift in orientation and
consistently increasing activity did not, however, constitute a complete or
immediate transformation. The new interests were held only by the same small
group that had always controlled the economy and politics.

     The most notable literary product of the period between the War of the
Pacific and the War of Acre in 1899 was the didactic prose of a group of
writers who worked in the spheres of journalism, science, and the humanities
and whose common goal was to explore Bolivia-past and present. They were
loosely united in a school that Fernando Diez de Medina has called the
Indagadores, or Searchers. Some chose to deal with the traditions, customs,
and way of life of the country in reaction against the romantic poetry and
novels that still constituted the great body of fiction; others dealt with
national history and jurisprudence, the natural sciences, geography, geology,
and archaeology.

     The first literary history, which was written by Vaca Guzman, appeared in
the 1880s. Scientific activity was stimulated by the efforts of Augustin
Aspiazu, who wrote on the natural sciences, medicine, jurisprudence, and
economics. Aspiazu was also prominent in some of the numerous cultural and
scientific societies that began to appear in the last two decades of the
century.

     A few of the societies put out publications, and there were also
unaffiliated literary and cultural magazines like Daniel Sanchez Bustamante's
La Revista de Bolivia in Sucre. This period also saw the rise of musical
organizations like the Haydn Society of La Paz-the first group devoted to the
cultivation of classical music-the Philharmonic Society of Sucre, and the
Academy of Military Music in La Paz.

     The historian Gabriel Rene-Moreno is regarded by many Bolivians as the
greatest writer of the period. Before the War of the Pacific, Rene-Moreno had
attempted negotiation with Chile on behalf of his country and, for failing to
settle the differences that ultimately led to the war, he was accused of being
a traitor. The bitter, strongly critical attitude that pervades his work had
its origin in his unfortunate political involvement. Rene-Moreno dealt with
sociological analysis, political criticism, and biographical study, but his
most significant contribution was in the field of history. His Los ultimos
dias coloniales en el Alto Peru (The Last Days of the Colony in Upper Peru) is
the best work done on that period.

     In addition to a generally critical attitude toward Bolivia, one of the
most notable characteristics of Rene-Moreno's work is the strong prejudice
against the Indian. He was a native of Santa Cruz, whose homogeneous
population was extremely proud of its reputedly pure Spanish heritage.
For him the indigenous inhabitants of the country were of no value, and the
pre-Hispanic past was completely negligible. Although Bolivians reject
Rene-Moreno's negative attitude toward the Indian and his colonial mentality,
they respect his great contribution to national letters and have honored him
by giving his name to the university in Santa Cruz.

     The investigative inclination that began with the Indagadores continued
in the first decades of the twentieth century, but prose fiction and poetry
also reappeared as important literary elements. Two parallel currents tended
to work simultaneously during the period. In the novel social realism was
dominant, and in poetry the most outstanding work was done by the modernists.
Receptive to the realist school of Europe, novelists began to describe city
and country life from a social point of view. In 1911 the problem of the
miners was first introduced in Jaime Mendoza's En Las Tierras de Potosi (In
the Lands of Potosi). A later work, Paginas Barbaras (Savage Pages), dealt
with the rubber collectors and life in the northeastern part of the country.
One of the best novels to come out of Latin America in the early twentieth
century was Armando Chirveche's La Candidatura de Rojas (The Candidacy of
Rojas), which concerns rural political life.

     A theme that was to become paramount in subsequent years, indigenism, was
initiated in 1919 in the Bolivian novel with Raza de bronce (Bronze Race) by
Alcides Arguedas. One of the few writers known outside the country, Arguedas
later turned to historical and sociological themes, as in Vida Criolla
(Criollo Life) and Pueblo Enfermo (A Sick People), which were critical studies
of city life at the turn of the century. In his own time, Arguedas' novels
were well received, but today his criticism is considered too harsh.

     The continuing Indagador school was also susceptible to sociological and
indigenist material. Prehistoric culture was described in Belisario Diaz
Romero's Tiahuanaco, and Bautista Saavedra wrote on Indian sociology in El
Ayllu. Rigoberto Paredes also took up the question from the cultural viewpoint
in Mitos, Supersticiones y Supervivencias Populares de Bolivia (Popular Myths,
Superstitions, and Survivals [from ancient customs] of Bolivia).

     Although inspired by French symbolism, modernism was Latin America's
first original contribution to international literature. With its emphasis on
physical beauty, exotic settings, sensuous vocabulary, and universalism,
modernism represented the antithesis of realism. In Bolivia its outstanding
cultivators were Ricardo Jaimes Freyre and Franz Tamayo.

     Freyre, well known throughout the continent, was one of the earliest
modernist poets. He and the Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario founded the Revista de
America in 1894. Three years after Dario published his Prosas Profanas
(Profane Prose), considered the first manifestation of the movement, Freyre's
Castalia Barbara (Bold Castalia) appeared.

     Tamayo, although less well known outside the country, holds a more
exalted position at present, probably because of his admiration for the
Indians. Whereas Arguedas had emphasized their misery, he emphasized their
nobility. Like Freyre, who had held diplomatic posts, Tamayo was involved in
politics and fulfilled the duties of minister of state, parliamentarian, and
diplomat. In addition to poetry, Tamayo occasionally wrote prose works. One of
his best known and most important contributions was Creacion de la Pedagogia
Nacional (Creation of the National Pedagogy), an analysis of the Indian and
mestizo. Although realism never became a popular literature, it stimulated a
more widespread interest, whereas modernism remained the possession of a very
small cultured minority.

     After World War I, attention was not so heavily concentrated on social
themes and national interests. In Europe and North America the postwar period
produced radical new movements in art, literature, and philosophy. This was
the period of "isms" with wide divergence in artistic tendencies and
ideological orientation. In Bolivia there was something of this spirit,
although the intensity and scope were, quite naturally, not nearly so great as
in areas where the war had had a direct effect.

     In the late 1920s and early 1930s, before the Chaco War, Marxism won
adherents in intellectual circles, where a logical explanation of Bolivian
history was sought in dialectical materialism. Marxism's social concerns also
struck an appealing note for those who were interested in the problems that
had inspired the realists. The Aprista Party in Peru was another influence; in
1927 one of its writers, Manuel A. Seoane, published a book dealing with the
problems of the Indians and the privileged position of the mining oligarchy
in Bolivia.

     Evidence of intense nationalism in literary circles increased in the
late 1920s and finally exploded after the Chaco War. Most of the members of
literary groups, such as Potosi's Gesta Barbara, soon became absorbed in
public affairs; but Carlos Medinacelli, initiator of modern criticism in the
country, was the exception. Medinacelli's novel La Chaskanahui (Starry Eyes)
and Antonio Diaz Villamil's La Nina de sus Ojos (The Apple of His Eye) were
the best cholo (see Glossary) narrations written in Bolivia. Diaz Villamil
was the most productive talent of the generation; in addition to novels, he
also wrote didactic prose, history, short stories, criticism, and plays.

     The stimulus for increased theatrical activity came from Youth Athenaeum
(Ateneo de la Juventud), a group that appeared in 1922. Organized primarily to
protest the lack of organization and effective contribution of the country's
intellectuals, the Youth Athenaeum felt that the state of so-called collective
culture might be improved by bringing intellectuals together. Its manifesto
was followed by the penetration of members into diverse cultural centers of
the country. Under the influence of the Youth Athenaeum, groups with more
specific interests were formed. One was the Women's Athenaeum (Ateneo
Femenino), the first women's organization with intellectual goals. Its
activities were politicocultural in nature and concentrated on raising the
cultural level of the Bolivian woman and on campaigning for women's suffrage.
These groups continued to flourish, and by the 1960s there were approximately
forty of them throughout the country.

     The stimulation that the Youth Athenaeum had given to the theater
resulted in the formation of the Bolivian Society of Playwrights (Sociedad
Boliviana de Autores Teatrales). It was their wish to promote drama, to
improve the economic status of artists, and to create a real national stage
art. Many of the numerous productions reached the stage, but few were ever
published. In theme they generally tended toward national or local subjects
with a popular flavor, but there was still some interest in social problems
and in moralizing.

     Information on developments in music is scant, but it is known that two
dance academies were founded in the period. Events in the plastic arts were of
much greater significance. There had been a few small private academies that
were started in the first decade of the century by artists like Avelino
Nogales and Elisa Roche de Ballivian-advocates of the realist school that had
succeeded romanticism in painting as well as in literature.

     In 1926 the National Academy of Fine Arts was founded. Its first
professors were Alejandro Guardio, Humberto Beltran de Oliveira, both
sculptors trained in the European classical tradition, and the French painter
Henri Sene. Although the two sculptors had studied abroad, they were not
influenced by the new trends that were revolutionizing the form. By bringing
together a group of young people who were eager to revitalize the plastic arts
the national academy laid the foundation for a new Bolivian school. Under the
tutelage of the painter Cecilio Guzman de Rojas, who acted as its director in
1930, the students found a leader who established the direction the arts would
take in subsequent years.

Contemporary Trends

     The young generation of artists was moved by the same spirit that was
shaping writers, intellectuals, and musicians-artistic nationalism. Their
desire was not just to deal with Bolivian subjects as literature as the
Indagadores had done but also to create something distinctly Bolivian in form.
Although the scholarly approach was continued, there was an increasing
tendency to exploit national themes for their own sake, particularly in the
fine arts. Social themes, introduced by the realists of the first twenty years
of the century, came into great prominence. They were inspired by the
revolutions in Mexico and Russia, the intellectual Marxism of the twenties,
and the internal economic state of the period. The Chaco War brought together
many elements of the population and contributed to a better defined sense of
national identity. The Bolivian defeat was seen as the culmination of the
shortcomings of the old order. In an atmosphere of frustration, discontent,
and political instability, the postwar generation envisioned a new Bolivia,
wrought by social reform, whose particular character would emerge with the
spiritual and artistic return to the indigenous. Foreign trends were simply of
no consequence, except when related to national interests.

     In the discovery and exaltation of indigenous folklore and folk art, the
appearance of regionalism and indigenism, and the cultivation of social themes
in literature and painting, Bolivia has closely paralleled developments in
twentieth-century Mexico. The intensity and wide acceptance on all social
levels of these movements in Mexico, however, has not been characteristic of
Bolivia. Although sentiment was strong, it was still limited generally to the
younger generation of the same small group that had always produced the
country's artists, intellectuals, and writers.