Ciudades turísticas latinoamericanas, relatos posibles desde las artes visuales. El caso de Punta del Este

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Punta del Este is one of the most recognized tourist cities in South America, its characteristics as a global tourist enclave and its status as a fishing village turned into an international seaside city, place it as a possible example to understand how the vertiginous transformations of tourist cities that affect the environment, the landscape and also social relations, between people and also between people and the environment. This permanent state of transformation, which often places exceptionality as the rule, generates complex situations of inequality, of inclusions and exclusions, of receptions and expulsions. Although there is an academic background of research that has investigated these issues, it is interesting to do so from the perspective of the visual arts. As “memory devices” (Giunta, 2014) they contribute to the social and political memory of cities, favoring other possible stories about the link between individuals and their environment. A reflection on these issues through a visual arts frame will potentially help to account for the complex relationships that are established in tourist cities between those who inhabit them and those who visit them, how they do it, how they relate them and how they represent them.