Antonio Sánchez-Gómez, who earned his MA and PhD at Bard Graduate Center, studies the history of laundry in Colombia. In this Alumni Spotlight Lecture, he reflects on the many detours, adaptations, and unexpected encounters that have shaped his scholarship. Framed by a broader personal and professional history of migration, adaptation, and acculturation, this talk considers how uncertainty, failure, and changing institutional and global conditions can redirect research in productive ways, revealing new questions, unexpected connections, and unlikely objects of study.

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Antonio Sánchez-Gómez (BGC PhD 2021) is assistant professor of Latin American/Latinx Art and design history and material culture at Parsons School of Design, the New School. His research examines the intersections of art, design, craft, and material culture in twentieth-century Latin America. He holds a PhD and MA from Bard Graduate Center and a BA and MA from the National University of Colombia. His publications include the book chapter “Memory, Mediation, and Affordances in Colombia’s Mampuján Quilts” and the book Manos al agua: Una historia de aguas, lavado de ropas y lavanderas en Bogotá (Hands in the Water: A History of Water, Laundry, and Washingwomen in Bogotá). Prior to joining Parsons, Sánchez-Gómez was the founding coordinator of the Department of Histories of Culture and Creativity at the School of Creative Studies, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá.

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Object Labs

At Bard Graduate Center, we use an object-centered approach to advance the study of the decorative arts, design history, and material culture. Join our student educators before select Fall 2026 public events to learn about some of the objects in BGC’s Study Collection. Each week we will showcase three objects carefully selected from the collection, which includes more than five thousand objects in a variety of media. Drop in anytime between 5 and 6 pm; the experience takes roughly ten minutes.

October 7, 14, and 21
November 4, 11, and 18

38 West 86th Street, New York
5–6 pm

Founded in 2011, the BGC Study Collection supports student research by providing opportunities for hands-on close examination of objects. Learn more about the BGC Study Collection here.