Carlos Castro-Sajami

My doctoral research explores the connection between avant-garde aesthetics and radical politics during the interwar period. To achieve this, I aim to reveal the role of artists as intellectuals, a perspective that transcends the boundaries of Art History and allows me to examine the political dimension of aesthetic discourse and artistic images. 

I focus on the growing significance of American pre-colonial cultures in late-1920s Europe. By studying the critical agency of French writer Georges Bataille, Austrian painter Wolfgang Paalen, and Peruvian writer Emilio Westphalen, I propose to trace the transatlantic development of the anti-fascist intellectual stance. These thinkers expressed their opposition to far-right nationalist views on culture, which were rooted in concepts of origin and purity applied to land, race, and nation. They shared their perspectives in journals they directed, including Documents (1929-1930), Dyn (1942-1944), and Las Moradas (1947-1949).

To fully grasp their counter-response, I examine their interdisciplinary practice, which drew on sociological and anthropological approaches. These approaches allowed them to draw inspiration from non-Western human communities of the past and understand how the very foundations of modern society could be redefined. In this way, my research reveals the crossroads where socialist principles, revolutionary intentions, anti-imperialist ideals, democratic aspirations, and dialectical perspectives converged to give rise to new ways of conceptualizing artistic endeavors as political gestures during the transatlantic development of avant-garde aesthetics. 

Scholarships/Prizes :   

Trinity External Research Scholarship 

Rouse-Ball Eddington Fund 

Conference papers:

“Pro-Fascist Epistemologies in Latin America. The Case of the Journal Romana-Gens ne la Terra de ‘Los Incas’ (1934–1941)” – Latin American Studies Association (LASA), Marriot Paris, May 26-30, 2026.

“Americanism, Antifascism and the magazines Dyn (1942-1944) and Las Moradas (1947-1949)” - Congrès 2025 de l'Institut des Amériques, Campus Condorcet, October 1-3, 2025.

“Whom Does This Past Belong To? American Cultural Heritage, Antifascism and the magazines Dyn (1942-1944) and Las Moradas (1947-1949)” – Workshop Politics and Literature in Postwar European Journals (1945-1975), Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities Essen (KWI), February 25, 2025. 

“Transatlantic Antifascism and Epistemic Justice: On the Political Use of American Cultural History in the Journals Dyn and Las Moradas” - Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS) Conference, University of Amsterdam, July 1-3, 2024.

“Jorge Eielson’s Self-Portraits: The Exercise of the Self as a Political Act” - International Congress Jorge Eielson: Celebrating a Century, University of Florence, October 2-4, 2024. 

Publications:

Castro, C., Esparza, C., & Rodríguez, M. (Eds.). (2026). El derecho al ensueño. Escritos inéditos de Jorge Eduardo Eielson. Fondo Editorial PUCP.

Castro, C., & Rodríguez, M., & Hanza, K. (Eds.). (2024). Cuando el amarillo mes de abril. El mecanoscrito Lorenzelli. Sistema de Bibliotecas PUCP.

Castro, C. & Rodríguez, M. (2024). El mecanoscrito Lorenzelli. Notas sobre un repertorio de imágenes. In Castro, C.; Hanza, K. & Rodríguez, M. (2024). Cuando el amarillo mes de abril. El mecanoscrito Lorenzelli (pp. 49-64). Sistema de Bibliotecas PUCP.

Castro, C. et al. (2023). 'A Peruvian that Sees the World with European Eyes and Vice Versa': The Infinite Coasts of Jorge Eielson. In Masala, E. (2023). Maria Lai e Jorge Eielson. 100 mila stelle. Edizioni Nomos. 

Other activities and roles: 

Curator of the photographic exhibition Traces of Air and Fire (November 12 – December 27, 2025) by the artist María José Guerrero Fonseca at the L’Imaginaire Gallery of the French Alliance of Miraflores (Lima, Peru).

Co-director of the research project The Infinite Face of Jorge Eielson (2021–2024), sponsored by the Master’s Program in Art History and Curatorship at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

Co-organizer of the Eielson 100 Festival, held in Lima from April 8 to 15. The series of events was sponsored by the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

Curator of the group exhibition Canto Abierto: Homenaje a Jorge Eielson (April 11 – May 12, 2024) at the Cultural Center of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

Curator of the bibliographic exhibition Habitación en Roma (April 10 – June 10, 2024) at the Alberto Flores Galindo Library of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

Curator of the photographic exhibition Huaicos (January 13 – February 17, 2024) by the artist María José Guerrero Fonseca at the Younique Gallery (Paris, France).