This article explores the neglected contributions of Peruvian indigenous and neo-Indian movement members in their initial research and documentation of Andean colonial art from the 1920s to the 1950s. 1 considered how this diverse group of interlocutors, through its most visible manifestations, engage in imaginative dialogue with the colonial past: paintings, sculptures and architectural monuments. Their eclectic knowledge output, such as papers published in Pioneer magazines, documentary photos, lectures and even the art itself, challenges the normative definition of art history research because it is done at the university or museum level Plain text effort. Artists, journalists, amateurs, and collectors under consideration provide instructive case studies that follow their unique trajectory in developing art history practice in a Latin American context.