By its very nature, every international forum becomes a relevant space for knowledge and exchange among nations. In this context, cultural dialogues emerge as an unavoidable need to enhance mutual understanding. The symbolic structures through which art expresses itself, constitute conveyors par excellence of the deepest manifestations of the thoughts and identity of the societies in whose context they were produced, thus providing a rationale for the exchange of goods.

In our understanding, Chile's participation in APEC is the result of the significant changes it has undertaken since the early 90's, the consequence of which has been the swift transformation experienced by our cultural landscape. A vigorous economy has allowed constant progress in various aspects. Education and general artistic production are particularly worthy of notice, generating a context in which the most evident sign is the gradual transformation from a cloistered society, into one with active international participation, coupled with the ongoing incorporation of our artists' works into the global context.

As visual arts have the great advantage of being non-verbal expressions, they can move across borders more easily; going beyond the limitations of local speech, they announce the possibility of a complex universal language, but always based on the "rule of fold (crease)" that reveals its own context, thereby contributing to mutual understanding, from their own place of belonging. The origin of symbolic structures, necessarily set up in their own cultural landscape, also speaks to other native forms, thus acknowledging the profound need for dialogue, in the density required by the challenge of a world where new communication networks create ground-breaking cultural dimensions.

In the field of our national arts, and most particularly in our visual arts, we evidence today the emergence of a new generation, whose production quality is starting to be appreciated in various international events. These young artists, whose work coincidently begins to appear in the early 90's, were raised in particularly adverse cultural conditions, therefore, their experience of the changes in our society during its transition process has been more profound. Their work, characterized by its keen perspective, stemming from a rigorous and critical reflection process in which memory plays an important role, have been highly acknowledged, especially by the younger generation. In fact, they are assuming the important role of composing a necessary imaginary that recognizes our reality and provides a future one. As witnesses of their time, they express, from the perspective of their critical view, a space of desire.

What our country currently has to offer, at its best, as evidence of its new distinction in the international context, is precisely the image contributed by these young artists, who are also able to establish a dialogue, based on our own transition process, with societies experiencing this process in other parts of the world. However, any approach to the meaning of their work would be insufficient if it is not contextualized within our history of art. This is the reason why the museum's responsibility in this exchange project necessarily involves including a selection of the most relevant works of its national collection, fostering the knowledge of the background that has allowed attainment of the present scene.

Francisco Brugnoli
Director of MAC