São Paulo – The 19th edition of the Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil, taking place in São Paulo until December 6th, features work by artists from 20-plus countries, including Lebanon and Morocco. The Arabs are represented by one of the festival jury members, Hoor Al-Qasimi, the curator and president of the Sharjah Art Foundation, and organizer of the Sharjah Biennial, held in the eponymous city in the United Arab Emirates. The in São Paulo is a partnership between Associação Cultural Videobrasil and Serviço Social do Comércio (Sesc) and features videos, films shown at movie theaters, and publication launches.
The festival offers a slew of attractions at different venues. Sesc Pompeia houses the “Southern Panoramas/Guest Artists” and “Southern Panoramas/Selected Works” shows, among other actions. Another unit, o Galpão VB, in São Paulo’s Vila Leopoldina district, features “Southern Panoramas/Commissioned Projects,” in which the festival’s curators oversee the work of young artists.
In yet another venue, Paço das Artes, in the University of São Paulo campus, 16 pieces from the Associação Cultural Videobrasil collection will be showing as part of a show entitled “Those born for adventure don’t stray from the path.” The artworks relate to the contents covered by the festival, which also includes publication launches and workshops, among other actions.
In October, a jury picked the winners from among the 53 artists shortlisted from among the festival’s entrants. The grand prize winner was China’s Hui Tao, who won BRL 75,000 in cash. Nine residency prizes, whose winners will spend time working at education and culture institutions in eight countries, were been awarded. Winners include Roy Dib, from Lebanon. Another Lebanese, Ali Cherri, earned one of three honorable mentions.
Arabs in the spotlight
One of the guest artists is Yto Barrada. Born in France from Moroccan parents, she moved to Tangiers, Morocco, in 1999. She brought a photographic panel to the festival, portraying a generic landscape that in turn embodies the desire of Africans to migrate to Europe, and the desire of European artists to get to know Morocco. Two pieces by Lebanese artists were also shortlisted for the show: Cherri’s and Dib’s.
Cherri was born in Lebanon and lives in Paris and Beirut. His video draws a parallel between political turmoil and four fault lines that run through Lebanon. Dib presents a video installation exploring issues such as behavior, sexuality and power.
This year’s edition is entitled “Southern Panoramas” and is intended to showcase contemporary art production from the Southern hemisphere, even though it features work from around the world. According to the Festival’s chief curator and director of Associação Cultural Videobrasil, Solange Farkas, the project’s organizers did in-depth research into productions created in the Southern hemisphere, or ones “We were thorough in our selection. This is a way of raising global awareness to production from this region, which finds a hard time when it comes to becoming inserted into the art scene,” Farkas told ANBA this Wednesday (28th).
She also said the Lebanese projects that have been selected are a sample of the “outstanding” contemporary output from the Arab country. “I study Lebanese art and Lebanon is extremely connected with the rest of the world. Productions that reference sexuality, like one of those featured in the festival, are recurrent in Lebanese and Egyptian projects. (The piece that’s been selected) is not just about behavior, but it deals with this approach exceptionally well and with great quality. Besides, this is a chance to show art from the region that deals with other things besides conflicts. It’s a way to avoid stigmatization,” the curator said.
The Arabs are also represented by a video by Malek Bensmaïl, of Algeria, which is part of the Videobrasil Collection and was selected for the show “Those born for adventure don’t stray from the path.” Another Arab is the jury member Hoor al-Qasimi. “She is very important to artistic expression in the Gulf. Bringing her was an act of kindness and an opportunity,” said Farkas.
19th Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil/Southern Panoramas
Until December 6th
At several venues across São Paulo
Additional information: www.19festival.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
