The third and final installment for the University of Illinois at Springfield’s spring 2009 Political Art and the Public Sphere (PAPS) series will be held on Monday, April 13, at 6 p.m. in Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library on the UIS campus.
The event will offer a viewing of the film “Montoneros” with a discussion to follow. Special guest Adriana Crocker, professor of political science at UIS, will speak about her personal experience as a young child living in Argentina during the time of the Montoneros.
The Montoneros Movement was an Argentine left-wing guerrilla group active during the 1960s and 1970s. The Montoneros were dedicated to the overthrow of the government in Argentina.
Founded as a militant fighting division by General Juan Perón before his exile to Paraguay in 1955, the Montoneros remained active during his 18-year absence. When Perón returned to Argentina in 1973, he condemned the Montoneros, who in response formed a revolutionary left wing. The military government and right-wing groups suppressed the Montoneros in the late 1970s.
Political Art and the Public Sphere features a showing or performance of some kind of “political art,” followed by a group discussion of the issues it raises. “The basic idea behind PAPS is to consider how ‘art’ raises provocative social and political questions,” noted Richard Gilman-Opalsky, coordinator of the series and professor of political philosophy at UIS.
“Public spheres are the places where people come together to communicate, to evaluate, and to circulate ideas and arguments,” Gilman-Opalsky added. “In the public sphere, people form a collective political opinion and will. Ultimately and ideally, the public sphere brings the interests and demands of the public to bear on those who hold power.”
For more information about this program or the PAPS series, contact Gilman-Opalsky by phone at 217/206-8328 or by e-mail at rgilm3@uis.edu.
