Fall 2025
Aug 29 - Oct 10, 2025
Global Spanish Art Exhibition
Transforming Ruffin Gallery into a vibrant showcase of contemporary Hispanic art, featuring multimedia installations that bridge cultural traditions with modern expressions. The groundbreaking Fuego Eterno: Soberanías Visuales exhibition, thoughtfully curated by Erica Hirugami and Federico Cuatlacuatl, brings together the distinctive voices of 15 artists and 10 writers from Spanish-speaking and Indigenous communities across the Americas and Europe. Their compelling works examine the intricate intersections of geography, cultural identity, and ancestral heritage in our contemporary world.
October 1, 2025
Film Screening: ¡Dolores, guapa!
Hosted by Kelly Moore, Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese
Join us for a special screening of ¡Dolores, guapa!, a groundbreaking Spanish documentary directed by Jesús Pascual. Set in Seville, the film explores the city's iconic Holy Week (Semana Santa) through a queer lens, capturing how LGBTQ+ individuals—often affectionately referred to as “mariquitas”—participate in and reshape these deeply rooted religious traditions. Through vibrant visuals and personal testimonies, ¡Dolores, guapa! offers a moving portrait of identity, faith, and resistance within Andalusian culture.
Jesús Pascual (b. June 10, 1997, Alcalá de Guadaíra) is an emerging filmmaker and cultural critic who graduated in Audiovisual Communication from the University of Seville in 2019. His debut short film Mi arma (2019) was awarded at multiple festivals and laid the foundation for his feature-length documentary ¡Dolores, guapa! (2021), which won Best Film in the Panorama Andaluz section at the Seville European Film Festival and Best Documentary at Andalesgai. In 2023, he published the essay Querer como las locas, blending queer theory and Andalusian musical tradition, which earned him the Sonia Rescalvo Zafra Prize. Pascual’s work centers queer voices in regional Spanish culture and reimagines traditional rituals through contemporary narratives. Join us for a post-screening conversation to discuss the making of the film, its themes, and the broader cultural context it engages. For questions, please contact Kelly Moore at [kcmoore@virginia.edu].
October 9, 2025
Art Symposium – Hosted by UVA Arts & Global Spanish
Date: Thursday, October 9, 2025
Location: UVA Special Collections Library Auditorium
Hosts/Partners: UVA Arts, IHGC (Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures), and the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
Introduction:
The Art Symposium brings together artists, scholars, and curators from across the Americas to explore themes of indigeneity, decoloniality, and migration. Hosted by UVA Arts in collaboration with the Global Spanish Initiative, this day-long event invites dialogue through panels, remarks, and the Dean’s Hosted conversation. All are welcome to attend; advance RSVP is requested.
Schedule:
- 9:00 AM – Coffee & Refreshments
- 9:30 AM – Introductory Remarks by:
- Sam Amago
- Federico Cuatlacuatl
- Erika Hirugami
Panel A – Reindigenize Aesthetic Theory
- Time: 10:00 – 11:20 AM
- Description: Indigenous scholars from across the Americas convene to discuss indigeneity in diaspora, art-making processes blending ancestral knowledge with contemporary frameworks, and Indigenous futurity.
- Panelists: Sonia Alconini, Calel Edgar, Marilyn Boror Bor, Venuca Vivanco, Porfirio Gutiérrez
Panel B – Curatorial Politics: Beyond Performative Decoloniality
- Time: 11:30 AM – 12:50 PM
- Description: Explores decolonial theory in curatorial and museology practices, emphasizing transformative, place-making methodologies that go beyond performativity.
- Panelists: Tatiana Flores, Armando Perla, Karen Milbourne, Dalia Garcia, Lisa Blackmore
Dean’s Remarks & Lunch Break
- 12:50 PM – Remarks by Dean Christa Acampora
- 1:00 – 2:30 PM – Lunch
Panel C – Enabling Difficult Conversations: Migrating Ancestry
- Time: 2:30 – 3:30 PM
- Description: Scholars and artists engage in conversation around migration, immigration, and the weight of ancestry—deconstructing borders and their lasting impact.
- Panelists: Paulina Ochoa, Sam Amago, Erika Hirugami, Federico Cuatlacuatl, Cody Grant
October 9, 2025
Enabling Difficult Conversations: Migrating Ancestry (Dean's Hosted Event)
Date: Thursday, October 9, 2025
Time: 2:30 – 3:30 PM
Location: UVA Special Collections Library
Hosted by: The College of Arts & Sciences
Introduction:
As part of the Dean’s Hosted Event Series, Enabling Difficult Conversations invites candid dialogue on complex issues. This fall’s session, “Migrating Ancestry,” brings together scholars and artists to explore migration’s cultural and political dimensions—and how ancestral knowledge can help us understand borders and their daily reverberations.
Lunch Invitation:
Lunch will be provided before the event; RSVP requested.
Panel Details:
- Moderator: Paulina Ochoa
- Panelists: Sam Amago, Erika Hirugami, Federico Cuatlacuatl, Cody Grant
October 10, 2025
Fuego Eterno: Closing Reception & Party
Date: Friday, October 10, 2025
Time: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Location: Ruffin Hall Gallery, University of Virginia
Introduction:
Celebrate the closing of Fuego Eterno with an evening of art, music, food, and connection. Come meet the artists, mingle with the community, and enjoy a special set by DJ Hellotones—visiting from New York.
- 5:00 – 9:00 PM – Closing Reception & Party with DJ Hellotones
About DJ Hellotones:
DJ Hellotones, aka El Hijo de PueblaYork, is a Bronx-born DJ celebrated for his genre-defying cumbia mixes. He was featured in the New York Times—a spotlight that underscores his impact and cultural resonance.
Check out his vibrant live performance at MoMA Nights here:
November 12, 2025
Film “Transborder Nahualismos”
Transborder Nahualismos – Film Screening & Artist Talk with Federico Cuatlacuatl
The College of Arts & Sciences proudly sponsored artist and filmmaker Federico Cuatlacuatl to create Transborder Nahualismos in Mexico during the summer of 2025. This deeply personal and culturally rooted project now comes to Grounds for a special screening, offering the UVA community an opportunity to engage directly with its themes and creative process.
This new commission is a continuity of his transnational aesthetic oeuvre. This project will culminate in an art film which will addressing Nahua migrations specifically from Cholula, Puebla-México while also highlighting the diasporic resilience of these communities living in the United States. Migrant Nahua futurisms is the conceptual framework for this project highlighting the community’s forced self displacement while envisioning a futurity as a mode of resistance and self-preservation. Allegorically referencing the traditional and ancestral practices of Cholula Nahua communities will visually inform this project and simultaneously challenging these histories of systemic erasure and constant re-interpretations in the last 500+ years.
This program will also serve as a survey of Cuatlacuatl’s film work to date, providing a broader context for his artistic vision and contributions to contemporary Indigenous and transborder discourse.
Event Details:
- Date & Time: November 12, 2025 – 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
- Location: Contemplative Sciences Building
- Format: Film screening, followed by a reception and artist talk
- Special Remarks: Dean Christa Acampora will offer welcoming remarks prior to the discussion.
More to Come:
Additional details on the program lineup and reception will be shared soon. Please check back for updates and RSVP information.
Spring 2026
February 12, 2026 - February 13, 2026
The Taco as Cultural Text: IHGC Event with Global Spanish Scholarship, Storytelling, and Culinary Diplomacy
As part of the For the Humanities lecture series, the Global Spanish Initiative and the Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures (IHGC) will co-host a two-day program featuring Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado, the Jarvis Thurston and Mona Van Duyn Professor in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis. A leading scholar in Latin American cultural theory, Mexican literature, and globalization studies, Sánchez Prado will join the UVA community for a series of events engaging his forthcoming book The Taco (Bloomsbury, 2025)—a public-facing work of scholarship and creative nonfiction that examines the taco as a transcultural object shaped by history, geography, and migration.
This program will take place February 12–13, 2026. On Thursday, February 12, Sánchez Prado will meet with graduate students from Spanish, English, Global Studies, and Latin American Studies programs for a lunchtime seminar on scholarship, publishing, and global humanities. That afternoon, he will deliver a public lecture titled “Knowledge for All: On Cultural Value, Access, and the Humanities,” hosted by the IHGC.
On Friday, February 13, the Global Spanish Initiative will host a book seminar focused on The Taco, featuring a panel conversation moderated by the director of The Culinary Diplomacy Project. This event will bring Sánchez Prado into dialogue with Chef Victor Albisu, founder of Taco Bamba, to explore how food can serve as a site of identity, hybridity, and cultural politics. The conversation will examine culinary appropriation, diaspora, and authenticity through the lens of both scholarship and lived practice. Following the panel, guests will enjoy a curated lunch catered by the Taco Bamba team—extending the conversation into a shared culinary experience.
The program is open to both graduate and undergraduate students, offering them a unique opportunity to engage directly with leading thinkers in the fields of cultural studies, food studies, and Latin American humanities.
This unique collaboration bridges academic inquiry and creative engagement, fostering dialogue between scholars, chefs, students, and community members. It reflects UVA’s commitment to amplifying Spanish-language research, cultivating global partnerships, and creating experiential learning opportunities that connect the humanities with everyday life.
March 9, 2026 - March 13, 2026
Artist Visit: Quan Zhou Wu
Hosted by Kelly Moore, Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese
Join us for a special visit from acclaimed graphic novelist and illustrator Quan Zhou Wu, hosted by Kelly Moore from the Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese. Born in Algeciras, Spain, to Chinese immigrant parents, Quan Zhou Wu’s work explores the intersections of race, identity, migration, and belonging in modern Spain. Her autobiographical graphic novels—Gazpacho agridulce (2015), Andaluchinas por el mundo (2017), Gente de aquí, gente de allí (2020), and La agridolce vita (2023)—have earned her recognition as one of Spain’s most vital voices in contemporary visual storytelling. Her art and writing offer a powerful and often humorous critique of cultural hybridity and the experience of growing up as a racial minority in southern Spain.
In addition to her books, Quan Zhou Wu has contributed to El País, eldiario.es, and Vogue España, and is the host of the podcast Movidas Varias. She has led creative workshops and participated as a guest speaker and artist-in-residence at institutions including NYU’s King Juan Carlos I Center, Cornell University, Boston College, and Rutgers University. Her visit to UVA offers a rare opportunity to engage with one of the leading voices in Spanish graphic arts and Asian diasporic storytelling. Details on her scheduled events and appearances from March 9–13, 2026, will be announced soon.
This event is hosted by Kelly Moore. For questions, please contact Kelly at [kcmoore@virginia.edu].
Spring 2025
April 9, 2025
Center for Politics Ambassador Series
Distinguished visit by the Mexican Ambassador discussing the US/Mexico relationship, followed by a special Global Spanish Luncheon at the Colonnade Club, providing an exclusive preview of the initiative's vision and programming hosted by Dean Acampora.
April 10, 2025
Global Spanish Research Symposium
Uniting scholars, diplomats, and community members for an academic presentation of research papers, culminating in an inclusive happy hour reception at UVA's historic Rotunda. This conference-style panel will highlight groundbreaking research, creative work, and community building across the global Hispanophone, with short presentations by faculty members from various departments. Attendees will hear from experts such as Professor of Spanish, Sam Amago; Professor of Art, Federico Cuatlacuatl; Associate Professor Department of Art; his work addresses transborder Nahua futurity via social art practice; Tatiana Flores; Associate Professor of Spanish & Poetry; Erika Hirugami, Academic Curator and Doctoral Candidate, UCLA; Epistemologically braiding the Aesthetics of Undocumentedness; Paulina Ochoa, John L. Nau III Professor of the History and Principles of Democracy; Allison Bigelow, Associate Professor of Spanish, Ricardo Padron (Col ’89), and Jenn Bair, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Sociology. Dean Acampora will provide an introduction.
April 11, 2025
Juntos Latin Alumni Event co-sponsored with UVA Lifetime Learning
Fostering meaningful connections for Latin alumni showcasing research being done in this subject area, through film screening academic profiles and networking opportunities celebrating global Spanish excellence at UVA.