For the first time in the last two decades, the Organization of American States (OAS), at its Washington headquarters, will unveil a mural that will be added to its celebrated Permanent Collection. The work “Si la Tierra Hablara: Las Tres Marias,” which was selected through a national juried competition in Chile from a pool of artists from every region of the country, is a donation to the permanent collection of the Art Museum of the Americas in commemoration of the 60^th anniversary of the OAS Charter.  The unveiling will be followed by a Café-concert reception with Chilean singers Cecilia Echenique and Eduardo Peralta. 

“Si la Tierra Hablara: Las Tres Marias”, a mural by Chilean artist Rodrigo Cabezas, was selected through a national juried competition in Chile entitled Si La Tierra Hablara (If the Earth Could Talk), from a pool of artists from every region of the country.  The jury of Milan Ivelic (Director of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes), Emilio Lamarca (Director of Cultural Affairs, Ministerio de RR.EE.), Justo Pasator Mellado (curator and art critic), Alvaro Rojas (Minister of Agriculture, Chile), and Carolina Edwards (art editor, El Mercurio newspaper) selected Cabezas’ work from that of 24 invited applicants.

"Si la Tierra Hablara: Las Tres Marias” is a nine-panel digital print & oil on canvas measuring 74” x 433.”  The mural is a donation to the permanent collection of the Art Museum of the Americas, in commemoration of the 60^th anniversary of the Organization of American States. 

Born in Santiago in 1961, Rodrigo Cabezas has exhibited widely throughout Latin American and Europe, and has received numerous art prizes.  He has held solo exhibitions as well as collaborations with the artist Bruna Truffa at the National Museum of Fine Arts of Chile, the Galería Il Ponte Contemporanea in Rome, and the Galería Tomas Andreu in Madrid. His work has also been selected for numerous Biennials (including Santiago, Havana, and Cuenca).  He has received art prizes from the National Council of Art and Culture, Chile; the Chilean Ministry of Education; the National Museum of Fine Arts, Chile; and the top prize at the 1998 International Painting Bienal, Cuenca.  His work is housed in the permanent collections of the Contemporary Art Museums of Cuenca, Ecuador, Chiloé, Valdivia, and Santiago, Chile; as well as the Fundacion America of Santiago.

The unveiling will be followed by a Café-concert reception with Chilean singers Cecilia Echenique and Eduardo Peralta.

With 15 recordings to her credit, Cecilia Echenique has performed widely in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States, including appearances at the Kennedy Center and the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), Casa de Las Américas (New York), Princeton University, the University of Illinois, and the University of Notre Dame; she also appeared with Eduardo Peralta at the Asilah Festival in Morocco, and was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2002.  She has shared the stage with artists of the caliber of Mercedes Sosa, Inti-Illimani, Joan Baez, and León Gieco, and has recorded with Joan Manuel Serrat, Ana Belén, Diapasón Porteño, Eduardo Gatti, Victor Manuel, Alberto Plaza, Mario Rojas, and Eduardo Peralta.
 

Eduardo Peralta is a guitarist, singer, composer, and arranger who has toured 25 countries and has six solo recordings under his belt.  A Chilean native, he has served for the past decade as Secretary General of the Consejo Chilena del Derecho de Autor.  He has recorded and performed with artists as diverse as Silvio Rodríguez, Mercedes Sosa, and León Gieco. 

Echenique and Peralta share a rare on-stage creative chemistry, thanks in part to a history of collaboration dating back to 1982.

Following its unveiling, “Si la Tierra Hablara: Las Tres Marias” will be on permanent display on the 8^th floor of the OAS General Secretariet Building after May 16. 

The project was organized by Galería de Arte La Sala (Santiago, Chile), and has been made possible by the generous sponsorship of Rabobank-Chile, Delta Airlines, Radisson Chile, Cultural Heritage of Chile, and the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile, with the support of Cono Sur Viñedos and Jack Daniel’s. 

The unveiling ceremony and café-concert have been generously underwritten by Juan Carlos and Jean Cappelo, The Friends of the Art Museum of the Americas, SalmonChile, and Marine Foods, LLC.