IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 8 ENGLISH | Page 55

the upper class in the Afro- Argentinean
context. In the show business of Buenos
Aires, many other African descendants
of the colonial tree were acting, singing
and dancing, but Rita became a
paradigmatic figure.
The collection of Rita Lucia Montero
The interviews with her started in 2003
in order to research both her career and
the social life of the Afro-Argentinians
in Buenos Aires. When we started to
write a book together in 2005, she
began to give me valuable documents:
notes, newspaper clips about his
performances, correspondence, musical
scores and photographs. Unlike the
usual path to rebuild a life by wandering
at random through libraries and other
public or private repositories, a
significant documentary corpus was
readily available to pave the way. Her
photographic collection has more than
five hundred pieces, in general well
preserved. Approximately 5% are
duplications. Just over a third of the
photos are stuck on three albums with
black cardboard sheets separated by
wax paper. Unfortunately, the adhesive
abundantly used prevented almost
entirely to study their backs. It also
generated roughening surfaces that
make the scanning more difficult. The
remaining two thirds are loose
photographs. Only 23 retained its
negative (or are only negative) of
acetate (20) or glass (3). Rita died after
finishing this article and his collection
continued
to
increase
with
contemporary and old photographs
brought by relatives and friends, but it
had previously decreased because she
gave many photos away. At my
insistence, for example, she donated 18
pieces (1 glass negative, 4 envelopes to
store negatives, and 13 photo) in
December 2010 to the Photo Library
Division "Benito Panunzi" at the
National Library (Buenos Aires). Most
of his collection corresponds to the
golden period of his career: the 1950s

and the 1960s. Both the covered period
(about 138 years), the oldest date (ca.
1875) and the number of photos (520)
set a great documental body on a wellknown person giving testimony about
one of the less researched groups in the
country: the Afro-Argentinians. Thus,
this collection has exceptional features
and is a unique and privileged case
study subject to various analyzes. To
this end I offer the following order:
According to its content
Family: They are personal pieces
usually taken by amateurs , family and
community Afro-Argentinean context.
They account for about 20% of the
collection and its quality is variable.
Occasions: Taken in various private and
public social contexts: relatives and
friends at their homes or during
holidays, parties, walks and wakes.
Legal documents: Many personal and
family's documents, including her
photographs in registration card as a
variety artist and her father’s enlistment
card of. Other photographs in card
format were never used in documents.
Artistic life: Virtually all aspects of her
career are photographically reflected.
These pictures constitute the main body
of the collection (ca. 80%) with very
good quality.
In Argentina: Photos taken at different
stages for singing and acting, both in
Buenos Aires and inside the country, for
example, Mendoza, Rosario and San
Juan.
Abroad: Rita did three tours to Chile,
two tours to Uruguay, one to Brazil, and
one to Perú, but sadly she retained only
some photographs of Chile and Perú.
Her tours were badly and poorly
photographed. During her stays she
gave many good photos to reporters for
advertising purposes.
Colleagues: Many national and foreign
artists gave Rita their own photographs
or their photomechanical reproductions,
usually dedicated and autographed, for
instance, Oscar Aleman, Frances Taylor

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