Every artwork is a product of its time...

2:22 p.m.

In the past 30 years, certain geopolitical events have shaped a new world order and given new meanings to daily life. Undiscovered markets, emerging economies and, above all, unlimited access to data have changed the way art is created, seen and distributed.

"Scenes for a New Heritage" is the title of the exhibition by which the MoMA in New York pretends to show a group of artworks (of its permanent collection) that respond to these changes in the world. Although done by artists of diverse origins, ideas and circumstances, the works converse between each other because of their similar interests.

Doris Salcedo (Colombia, 1958) made Atrabilious as answer to the testimonies of the families of missing people during civil war in her country. Women's shoes, trapped in niches on the wall, are the proof of the missing body and have thus become heirlooms of those who are gone. The artists does not openly show the violence, just the presence of it.

Atrabilious, by Doris Salcedo (1992-1993)

Technique: installation / Materials: wall, shoes, cow leather, stitching.

Camnitzer (Uruguay, 1937) is a leading figure in political art, but he is also a curator, art critic, author and professor. He was Liliana Porter's work partner in the 60s. His work Memorial is a series of impressions of Montevideo's telephone book. But Camnitzer altered the names to include those of the missing during the militar dictatorship. This artwork is exhibited behind a piece by Gonzalez-Torres, a tireless fighter of Gay rights in times of political conservatism. The installation uses daily objects to reflect personal and universal concepts: death, love, loss. The wires are intertwined, as two lives together, and the lightbulbs, which will sooner or later burn out, are synonym to life itself, which also fades out.

Memorial, by Luis Camnitzer (2009)

Series of 195 digital prints - Edition of 5

Untitled (Toronto), by Félix Gonzalez-Torres (1992)

Materials: lightbulbs, wires.

Pakistani artist Shahzia Sikander (1969), with a more traditional technique, recreates bones and remaniders of clothing, as if a skeleton had been used to print on the canvas.

The Turban Field, by Shahzia Sikander (2005)

Technique: ink and gouache on paper

The paintings of Yto Barrada (France, 1971) explore postcolonial history and contemporary events, through a un-western perspective, with a special interest in the city of Tangier. The colourful diagrams, which at first sight look like examples of geometric abstraction, are in fact the logos of the busses that transfer people from Morocco to the rest of Europe. By showing the final destinations of the busses, he places in the spotlight the never-ending migration from Africa to Europe.

Autocar-Tangier (4 Figures), by Yto Barrada (2004) - Details

Technique: color impressions.

Chinese artist Feng Mengbo is known for his digital art. In this exhibition, he designed an interactive video game which is projected on a screen. It first shows a series of 42 paintings done in 1993 of the armed conflict of 1934-36 and goes on with examples of Communist propaganda in China. The artist invites visitors to help the hero (a Red Army soldier) cross China and fight his enemies.