Susana Costa Amaral works at the intersections of visual arts and politics, performance studies, critical race theory, and queer studies. She joined Princeton as a Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow after earning her Ph.D. from New York University. Her new research project examines the role of artificial intelligence in Latin American arts and culture. 

Costa Amaral is teaching ART 322 / LAS 313 “Anti-Colonial Practices in Latin American Contemporary Art” in spring 2025.

“I hope students come away from the course with a deeper understanding of Latin America as a dynamic space of cultural expression, rather than a fixed or static entity. The course invites them to consider what is at stake when situating an artwork within this complex and contested territory. Instead of relying on simplistic or reductive frameworks, students are encouraged to engage with Latin America as a region where histories, cultures, and artistic practices are constantly being negotiated, challenged, and reimagined.” —Susana Costa Amaral 

Below, she shares what excites her about her work, her influences, and her upcoming course:

Q&A

What originally sparked your interest in your research topic?

My research grew out of my early work with artists in Brazil, but it truly took shape during the 2010s. This was a time when conservative forces were gaining momentum, systematically targeting queer communities—especially queer artists. Many faced persecution and even physical violence, with entire art exhibitions being shut down in Brazil. Witnessing how contemporary art was being scapegoated made me question how deep-seated racial, gender, and sexual anxieties were driving this political turn.

What was your dissertation title and how did you arrive at this topic?

My dissertation was titled Despite Brazil: Contemporary Art in the Age of the Far Right. The title comes from a letter by Brazilian artist Jota Mombaça, featured as the preface to their 2021 book, Não Vão Nos Matar Agora (They Won’t Kill Us Now). In the letter, Mombaça writes to “those who are alive and vibrating despite Brazil.” That sentence captured the tension I was seeing in the artworks of many young Black queer artists. It became central to my project because it offered a way into art practice during a deeply contradictory moment in Brazil. While sexuality, gender, and race were being weaponized by far-right discourses—framed as threats to the nation—these same categories were simultaneously being commodified within the art system. To vibrate despite Brazil thus also meant holding that contradiction and creating space within its breaches.

One of my arguments in the dissertation is that artists during this period were not only interrogating the limits of minoritarian critique but also reimagining how minoritarian critique could operate not against identity markers, but despite them. Their work reframed strategies of representation while also reshaping the ways in which we see queer blackness and the ways queer blackness sees back in art practice. My analysis spanned visual arts, performance, literature, and dance, tracing how artists across different fields were linked generationally and conceptually by this shared artistic strategy, negotiating with racialized discourses while addressing the rise of authoritarian forces in Brazil. 

Which experiences have had the greatest impact on your professional path?

The year 2018 was a turning point in my work. That year, the assassination of Marielle Franco and the election of Jair Bolsonaro marked a definitive shift in Brazil. It was also the year when I started my Ph.D. When I started my research, I had an initial idea of what my project would be, but these two events changed everything. Looking back, I realize that trying to make sense of a historical period while it was still unfolding was a significant risk. The need for historical distance presented challenges, but it also became a crucial part of my research. 

What drew you to A&A at Princeton? And what are you working on here? 

My initial plan for the dissertation was to focus on performance art. When the pandemic hit, I decided to only write about artworks I had seen in person. Due to COVID restrictions, this choice brought me closer to the visual arts. One of my dissertation chapters focused on Gê Viana, a Brazilian artist who works primarily with collages and colonial archives. Writing that chapter raised several methodological questions that leaned more toward art history than the disciplines I was already working with. I felt the need for a more rigorous approach to physical materials and artistic techniques to situate them within a broader historical perspective.

At Princeton, I am revising my dissertation into a book manuscript, with that chapter playing a central role. I’ve also begun a new research project on Artificial Intelligence, which feels like laying the groundwork for a second book. This project broadens the scope of critical race theory and environmental humanities to explore the role of AI in contemporary art. Specifically, I am interested in situating Latin America within this global debate by examining how AI is shaped by racial logics rooted in colonialism. Given AI's potential to redefine visual culture, I’m particularly interested in complicating its dual role as a creative tool and an extractivist force, especially considering the socio-environmental risks associated with this technology. These are questions we are now only beginning to understand, and it will be interesting to see how artists respond to them in the coming years.

With whom at Princeton does your work intersect?

Princeton has been a generative space for me. I’ve been in dialogue with Irene Small in the Art & Archaeology Department and Pedro Meira in the Spanish and Portuguese Department. I am also collaborating with a group of postdocs and professors across the university to create a study group called “Fugitivities and Confluences.” I’m excited about this initiative and the opportunity to connect with more people around campus.

This semester, I’ve also been following events at the Brazil Lab and the AI Lab, and it’s been interesting to see how the topic of AI is being approached from different perspectives. I believe there’s important work to be done in bridging the sciences and the humanities in these conversations.

What excites you most about the course you’re teaching in Spring?

The field of Latin American art is immense, so it’s always an exciting challenge to propose a course centered on this topic. We will be working with different materials across geographical regions. When we place these materials together, we gain an overview of the complexity of Latin America’s cultural and artistic histories. 

Firestone’s special collections are quite impressive. I am looking forward to taking my students there for a visit with the library staff in the spring. 

What do you hope students take away from your course?

The course is designed as an introduction to the field, so all students with an interest in contemporary art or Latin America are welcome, regardless of their prior experience.

I hope students come away from the course with a deeper understanding of Latin America as a dynamic space of cultural expression, rather than a fixed or static entity. The course invites them to consider what is at stake when situating an artwork within this complex and contested territory. Instead of relying on simplistic or reductive frameworks, students are encouraged to engage with Latin America as a region where histories, cultures, and artistic practices are constantly being negotiated, challenged, and reimagined.

What makes the course relevant today?

Today, terms like “decolonization” and “anti-colonialism” are being increasingly co-opted by authoritarian discourses, making it more critical than ever to understand the histories behind these concepts and to interrogate how they have operated across different theoretical frameworks.