The work “Arrecife” by the artist Gaspar Livedinsky at the MAR Museum in Mar del Plata.Bienalsur (Courtesy)
The zero kilometer of the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of the South (Bienalsur) is in Argentina, in an old hotel on the Río de la Plata that is now a museum. From there it spreads across several countries – Bolivia, Peru, Algeria, Croatia… – and reaches Japan. Launched in 2015, the meeting wanted to be different from the start: it is decentralized, conceived and directed from a university, and intends to transform art circles. The fourth edition started in July and will run until December with the participation of more than 400 artists from 28 countries.
The Biennale kicked off this year in the city of Mar del Plata, almost a five-hour drive from Buenos Aires, in a museum overlooking the sea. Argentinian artist Delia Cancela placed sun loungers there [tumbonas] Made of fabric so visitors can sit down to see the sea and the large iron and metal alfajores sea lion that artist Marta Minujín erected in front of the museum in 2014. A cloud of plastic bottles hovers over Cancela’s work; is “A Year of Air” by the artist Esteban Álvarez. In addition, the architect Gaspar Libedinsky created a reef with crimson synthetic bristles.
The opening show is entitled EXTRA/ordinario and brings together the works of 21 artists from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, France, Turkey and Uruguay who have been invited to “accustom our view of everyday things”. The curators estimate that when the exhibition closes, “90% of the projects will return to daily traffic”, so the carbon footprint will be minimal, explains the theorist and art historian Diana Wechsler (Buenos Aires, 62 years old), artistic director of bienalsur . The purple bristles that Libedinsky used to build Arrecife, for example, will be brooms again.
Moment of a “performance” by Italian artist Antonio Della Guardia at Bienalsur.Bienalsur (Courtesy)
Because in previous years, topics such as gender or migration were in the foreground, “the topic of the environment appears in almost all issues in this issue,” explains Wechsler. The axes of the Biennale are not defined a priori, but result from the concerns and interests of the artists. The works, which will be on display through December, were selected from more than 5,000 projects submitted to the “international, open, free and no pre-set themes” calls for proposals facilitated by the organization.
18,370 kilometers to Tokyo
EXTRA/usual is only the first stop – kilometer 383 from kilometer zero – of the mission. After the inauguration, an agenda was put into effect that defines a vast cartography, connecting hundreds of artists with diverse backgrounds and origins.
This Saturday starts the exhibition Vida Pública at the Art Center of the University of La Plata – kilometer 52 from kilometer zero -. This is followed by exhibitions in institutions such as the Bogota Modern Art Center – km 4,659 – in Colombia; the Museum of the African Renaissance in Senegal – km 6,978–; the General Archives of India in Seville (km 9,659), which will host an exhibition of contemporary art for the first time, or the Center Pompidou Málaga (km 9,697) in Spain. There will also be actions in locations away from the traditional circuit, such as the 21-24 neighborhood of Buenos Aires (km 7.6) or the San Juan de Miraflores neighborhood of Lima (km 4,411) in Peru.
A work by Brazilian artist Regina Silveria, part of Bienalsur.Bienalsur (Courtesy)
“As our cartography grows, the global experience is accentuated and problematized. “We know that the globalization paradigm is in decline or at least in crisis, and this project shows that tension,” says Wechsler, adding: “We are interested in a German or Korean artist collaborating with artists from these scenes and the opposite.” . We believe that all of this serves to put oneself in the other person’s shoes. But it also serves to be able to work on site, to work with the materials and with the local conditions.”
Aníbal Jozami (Buenos Aires, 76 years old), Rector of the Tres de Febrero University – the public body where the Biennale was born – and Director of Bienalsur, clarifies: “It is not a Biennale of artists from the South, but a biennial of artists from the South.” Artists from around the world. World”. “[El pintor uruguayo Joaquín] Torres-García found it necessary to travel the world and make maps with the south to the north and the north to the south; “We don’t believe that cartography needs to be changed, but that a new cartography of art needs to be invented,” continues Jozami, who is also a businessman and art collector.
The leader of the meeting rephrased it as follows: “We believe that we must ensure that artists from the South interact with those from the North and those from the North interact with those from the South.” that he was born in a southern country has no less chance than one born in the United States or Europe.” Indeed, until December, artists such as Argentinian Julio Le Parc will be participating in the Biennale; the Brazilian Regina Silveira, the Colombian Olga Huyke or the Moroccan Amine el Gotaibi; but also the Frenchman Pierre Ardouvin, the Swiss Ursula Biemann or the American William Sorsythe.
Aníbal Jozami, Director General of Bielasur and Diana Wechsler, Artistic Director.Bienalsur (Courtesy)
What Jozami and Wechsler considered eight years ago was something “completely original,” says the collector. “We didn’t want to do a biennale like we all know it, aimed at the people of a particular city where collectors and gallery owners come. We wanted to do an international cultural project that had nothing to do with the art trade and would reach places that this type of event doesn’t usually reach,” says Jozami.
Since then, the initiative has been solidified with new venues, artists and curators. The team that organizes it consists of about twenty people and is funded by companies, governments, foundations and agreements with universities and museums around the world. They do it, they say, out of desire and because “it’s the right thing to do.” “I always say that art or artists cannot change society,” Jozami notes, “but art and artists can make people think, and those people can influence how society changes.”