São Paulo – The 10th edition of the Sharjah Art Biennial, in the United Arab Emirates, should present works by 119 artists, from 36 countries, among them Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. The theme of this edition is Plot for a Biennial. The contemporary art exhibition should take place from March 16th to May 16th, and is organized by Sharjah Art Foundation.
The curator chose 65 latest generation works in visual arts, music, performances and videos. The theme of the Biennial, programmed to be a narrative of a movie plot, has as its key words: treason, necessity, insurrection, affiliation, corruption, devotion, disclosure and translation.
The Brazilian curator, Solange Oliveira Farkas, should present a programme of videos made by Latin American artists at the exhibition in the Emirates. "The programme is an answer to an intriguing proposal by the Brazilian team of curators of the Biennial, which aims at covering resistance, borders and utopias. The works to be included use original strategies to speak about the South American reality," said Solange to ANBA by e-mail.
According to her, the videos of the exhibit were originally presented at the Sesc-Videobrasil Contemporary Art Festival, an event established over 25 years ago, in Brazil. The objective of this festival is to show the art currently produced in the world’s geopolitical south, which covers Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia.
According to Solange, the festival, to be promoted in September, is at its 17th edition, and the original idea was due to the regions having much in common, including emerging artistic production in the nations. Solange, who presides the Videobrasil Cultural Association, was invited to participate in the Sharjah Biennial.
The programme of the exhibit in the Emirate includes works by artists like Jonathas de Andrade, Roberto Bellini and André Denegri, among other South American artists. The movie by the Brazilian Jonathas de Andrade, for example, called “4 mil disparos” (4,000 shots), was part of work developed in six countries in South America. According to the artist, on his site, work “Documento Latinamerica-Condução à Deriva” (Latinamerica Document-Conduction Out of Control) is a trip for reconnaissance of territory, starting from a feeling of historic amnesia, which makes “latinamerica” such a united and disconnected place, where you "belong without belonging".
According to Solange, Videobrasil Cultural Association is greatly aware of many editions produced in the Arab world. In 2003, the 14th Sesc-Videobrasil Contemporary Art Festival included special participation of works by Lebanese artists, like Akram Zaatari and Walid Raad.
International curator
Solange is an international curator with 25 years of experience. She created the Sesc-Videobrasil Contemporary Art Festival, which is reference for artistic production in the world’s geopolitical south. The curator has headed the exhibition in Brazil, Argentina and Spain.
Between 2007 and 2010, she was the director and head-curator of the Bahia Modern Art Museum. This year, Solange is also among the six curators invited to the 16th Cerveira Biennial, in Portugal. The curator is also preparing participation in Videoakt, in Spain, in May, and in project “An Ideal Library”, by African curator Koyo Kouoh.
Further information
Bienal de Sharjah
Site: www.sharjahart.org
*Translated by Mark Ament
