As Venezuela grapples with profound political and economic upheaval, photographer and journalist Fabiola Ferrero turns her lens toward the nation's most enduring symbols: oil and beauty queens. In this episode, she reflects on her long-term research exploring how Venezuela's rapid modernization in the second half of the 20th century—fueled by petroleum wealth—shaped a national identity built on fantasy and aspiration. Through her projects \"I Can’t Hear the Birds\" and \"Reinas\", Ferrero examines the complicated legacy of the country's \"golden years\", tracing connections between extractive industries and beauty pageant culture as parallel pillars of collective memory.
Fabiola Ferrero was a 2023 – 2024 Fellow of the Institute for Ideas and Imagination.
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Host: Marie Doezema
Production: Marie Doezema, James Allen, Charlotte Force, and Anthony Valette
Editing: Theo Albaric
Music: Lili Boulanger’s Nocturne performed by Magdalena Baczewska and Sasha He
With thanks to the Nadia and Lili Boulanger International Centre in Paris
The Columbia Global Paris Center is part of a network of 11 global centers of Columbia University in the City of New York, one of the world's leading academic institutions. The centers serve as knowledge hubs that aim to educate and inspire through research, dialogue, and action. They advance understanding, facilitate partnerships, and build the bridges necessary to tackle our changing world.
Columbia Global brings together the Columbia Global Centers, Columbia World Projects, the Committee on Global Thought, and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination.
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