For Immediate Release
Contact:        Lori Starr
                          Director, Public Affairs
                       Dale Kutzera
                          Public Affairs Assistant

SCHOLARS GATHER FOR INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON HISTORY
AND IDENTITY OF WASHINGTON, D.C. AND MEXICO CITY
Renowned Mexican Author Carlos Monsivais to Present
Keynote Address

        LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- An international group of scholars will
gather in Washington, D.C. on October 23 and 24 for a two-day
symposium about the history, tradition, and identity of Washington and
Mexico City at the turn of the century.  *Imaging the City in the Americas:
Washington and Mexico City, 1910,* to be held at the Library of Congress
and the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, will focus on the grand
epoch in which these two cities emerged as world-class capitals.  The
symposium is jointly organized by the Getty Research Institute for the
History of Art and the Humanities, the Hispanic Division of the Library of
Congress, the Latin American Studies Center at the University of
Maryland at College Park, and the Mexican Cultural Institute.  Admission to
*Imaging the City* is free and open to the public.      With the passage of
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1992, the Getty
Research Institute began to investigate Pan-American relations at the
beginning of the 20th century, when similar debates about the
international flow of capital, goods, and images took place, and nations
throughout the Americas asserted their individual identities.  *Emerging
metropolises, like Mexico City and Washington, became increasingly
important as stages for displaying national progress and modernity, and
as magnets for international investment,* observes Dr. Thomas Reese,
Deputy Director of the Getty Research Institute.  *Dreams of metropolitan
greatness inspired the imagination of civic leaders, urban planners,
artists, and architects alike, and forever altered these cities' physical
appearance and social fabric.  Citizens responded by inventing images
that both reflected and defined how city dwellers throughout the
Americas viewed their cities and how they responded to the challenges
of the new technological age.*

        *Imaging the City* will introduce innovative research
methodologies that stress the importance of images--photographs,
posters, postcards, films, maps, and advertising--in the study of urban
history.  The symposium will also highlight archival holdings related to the
study of Mexico City and Washington, such as those of the Library of
Congress.  *We are very excited about this opportunity to show
researchers the vast map, pictorial, and film collections of the Library of
Congress that relate to urban images,* says Dr. Georgette Magassy
Dorn, Head of the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress.
*Fascinating similarities of the two great capitals--Washington and
Mexico--have been known for years.  Finally, through this collaborative
effort, we can demonstrate how fruitful such studies can be.*

        The second day of the symposium will be held at the stately
Mexican Cultural Institute, an historic Washington landmark, built in 1910.
*The Mexican Embassy is very enthusiastic about exploring and
comparing scholarly resources to study Mexico City and Washington,*
says Dr. Alvaro Rodriguez Tirado, General Director of the Mexican
Cultural Institute.  *It is a great opportunity to bring scholars together from
both countries.*

        In all, ten internationally noted scholars will deliver papers that
outline the social and political histories of Washington and Mexico City in
1910 and explore the role images have played in shaping civic identities.
Mexican author Carlos Monsivais will present the keynote address.  The
conference papers will be published by the Getty Research Institute and
the University of Maryland in the fall of 1997.

        *This symposium provides a unique approach to the study of
urban developments around 1910,* observes Dr. Saul Sosnowski,
Director of the Latin American Studies Center at the University of
Maryland, College Park.  *From an academic perspective, I envision the
creativity of this approach as fertile training ground for a new generation
of scholars across disciplinary boundaries.  It is towards that goal, in
addition to the design of conferences, symposia, and exhibits, that we
shall also direct our efforts.*

        The symposium is part of the Getty Research Institute's larger,
ongoing project entitled *Imaging the City in the Americas: The Formation
and Display of Urban Identities Around 1910,* a multi-national research
effort that explores the creative functions of images in the formation of
urban and national identities.  For more information about the research
project or the symposium, please call (310) 458-9811 ext. 5028.
[Editors note: see attached conference schedule and fact
sheet.]

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        The Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the
Humanities is dedicated to the production of innovative scholarship in the
arts and the humanities and provides a unique environment for research,
critical inquiry, and debate.  Integral to its interdisciplinary approach is the
concept that visual arts and artifacts should not be studied in isolation,
but assessed within the broad historical and cultural contexts in which
they were created.  The Research Institute provides valuable support for
scholars through its extensive collections, which includes manuscripts,
archives, visual materials, and some 750,000 volumes of books, serials,
and auction catalogs; and by inviting groups of interdisciplinary
researchers to the Institute to conduct their research as scholars in
residence.

        The J. Paul Getty Trust is a private operating foundation dedicated
to the visual arts and the humanities.  Through a museum, five institutes,
and a grant program, the Getty provides opportunities for people to more
fully understand, experience, value, and preserve the world's art and
cultural heritage.  The Getty comprises the J. Paul Getty Museum, the
Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, the
Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Information Institute, the Getty
Education Institute for the Arts, the Getty Leadership Institute for Museum
Management, and the Getty Grant Program.

        The Library of Congress is one of the worlds *repositories of
record* and an international resource of unparalleled dimensions.  Its
mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress
and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal
collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations.  The
Library's collections surpassed 108 million items in 1995.

        The Mexican Cultural Institute, funded by the Mexican
Government, is a showcase that displays the arts and artifacts, culture,
and history of Mexico.  It holds concerts, recitals, lectures, film festivals,
and many other cultural and scholarly events.  The Institute presents
important exhibits of graphic arts, paintings, popular art, and photographs
of Mexico.

        The Latin American Studies Center (LASC) at College Park is the
largest and most encompassing academic resource for Latin America
studies in the Maryland-Washington, D.C. region.  The Center is widely
considered to be one of the leading programs in the United States in the
fields of Latin American literature and culture.