The Núñez Brothers: Student Internationalism in Applied Art Schools

The exhibition at the UM Gallery accompanied by a critical catalogue, “The Núñez Brothers: Student Internationalism in Applied Art Schools”, examines and presents the results of an analytical comparison of the creative activities of the Núñez brothers in the context of applied arts education in socialist Czechoslovakia and the countries of the so-called Third World.

The Núñez brothers came from Chile, but through the structures of the international student movement were able to make their way to Europe. Sergio Núñez (1931-1987) studied at UMPRUM in Prague in the studios of ceramics under Otto Eckert and applied painting under Alois Fišárek from 1957 to 1960, Guillermo Núñez (1930) did so with Karel Svolinský in 1960. While Sergio successfully completed his studies and after teaching at Tahreer College in Iraq decided to settle in Prague, Guillermo never finished his course at UMPRUM. Instead, he returned via Western Europe and North America to Chile, where he became an associate of Salvador Allende. After Allende’s death, he was imprisoned and then fled to Europe, where he joined the opposition to the new Pinochet regime and met once more with his brother.

The publication will have a comparative orientation, examining the careers of the two Núñez brothers in different continents, yet with equal amounts of drama, and emphasising the points where they overlapped. It examines how under highly different political conditions, both Sergio and Guillermo worked to find politically engaged forms of both independent and applied artwork.

The exhibition will focus on Sergio Núñez, whose oeuvre is less well known, presenting posters, watercolours, textiles, and photographs from his lifework. The project will be realised in 2025.

Jan Wollner