Joaquín Torres García aspired to cultivate an artistic tradition rooted in Uruguay and South America, rather than drawing inspiration from the United States and Europe.
"Our North," he proclaimed, "is the South."
He challenged the notion that cultural contributions from the northern hemisphere were inherently superior to those from the global south.
By reorienting the map of South America "upside down," he questioned prevailing assumptions about the world, the flow of influence, and global power dynamics.
This act highlighted that all maps are subjective constructs that can be manipulated to convey specific messages.
By placing Uruguay at the centre of the map, marked with a cross, he underscored the idea that the cartographer controls the map's narrative, and that its meaning must be critically interpreted rather than taken at face value.
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*Uruguayan artist, Jose Torres Garcia, 1943.
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