Grito e Escuta (Screaming and Listening)
October 16 – November 29, 2009
Porto Alegre, Brazil
The conceptual foundation for the 7th Mercosul Biennial entails a methodological shift: it places at its core a reflection on contemporary artistic processes, rather than specific themes. Such reflection is the basis for the functioning of the Biennial as a whole. For this purpose, we work with artists who affirm their importance as social players and constant producers of necessary critical visions. We have placed the artist’s vision at the core of the Biennial’s exhibitions and programs with artists responsible for curating exhibitions, developing its educational tools and programs and playing leading roles in articulating the Biennial’s media communication and publications system. We are working on a set of small transformations, that enable artistic practices to insinuate themselves into the operating systems of the Biennial. We are exploring the ways in which the artist constructs a non-hierarchical system of knowledge.
320 artists – mostly from Latin America – invited to the Biennial´s exhibitions and programs
118 artists in 7 expositions in 3 locations near the Río Guaíba, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, as well as in the public space
14 artists in education-based residency programs working in 20 cities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, with public schools
170 artists producing sound works especially for the Biennial´s Radio program
14 artists creating works especially for the mass media: TV, newspaper and city billboards
The Exhibitions investigate specific aspects of the creative process and propose reflections on the artist´s experience:
• The artist as a social subject, whose creative processes question the cultural and political nature of specific contexts
• The artist as a creative subject, who uses the absurd as an instrument for destabilization and questioning
• The artist as an individual subject, who divests artistic language of its props and stages his or her relationship with the artistic process
• Transformation, as a tool capable of dislocating the usual perception of an artwork
• Art as a space in which to explore notions of planning, communication, and imagination
• Drawing as the first space for translating the artist’s thinking and conceiving projects
• The city as a public text, whose grid is altered and re-signified by the artists
The Biennial’s emphasis on the artistic process is also manifest in its Programs. This is the case of the Education Project, with its decentralized residency program in Porto Alegre and in various communities throughout the State of Rio Grande do Sul. It is also the case with the Editorial Program which entails a system of mobile publications that can be assembled by the viewers themselves, and fosters a multifaceted conception of the Biennial, whose artworks may be found even in the mass media. Finally, the Radiovisual program embodies this 7th Biennial’s interest in communication, while fostering the contamination of languages and the democratization of meaning. From 10 to 11 pm every night it broadcasts sound productions created especially for the Biennial, as well as information pertinent to the Biennial´s debates during the exhibition period itself.
Finally, the Biennial’s title indicates its intention of including a wide range of contents: from the artist who undertakes an action to effect a change or specific impact on reality, to the artist with a reflexive attitude who carefully heeds his or her environment; the artist who captures the power of conversation as a possible model for the construction of society.
Chief Curators: Victoria Noorthoorn (Argentina)
Camilo Yáñez (Chile)
Curator of Education: Marina De Caro (Argentina)
Editorial Curators: Erick Beltrán (México)
Bernardo Ortiz (Colombia).
Curators: Roberto Jacoby (Argentina)
Artur Lescher (Brasil)
Laura Lima (Brasil)
Mario Navarro (Chile)
Radiovisual: Lenora de Barros (Brasil)
General information:
Event name: 7th Mercosul Biennial
Porto Alegre – Río Grande do Sul – Brazil
Dates: from October 16 to November 29, 2009
On exhibition for 45 days
Visiting hours: 9am to 9pm
Open to the public: Tuesday to Sunday
Admission free
Group reservations: 00 55 (51) 3433.7686
Site: www.bienalmercosul.art.br
Venues and addresses:
• Cais do Porto Warehouses (Docks)
Av. Mauá, 1050 (entrance A3 and A4) – Downtown
In Cais do Porto, between warehouses A3 and A4, is the institucional space, the information center, the Biennial shop, the Café and the space for sponsors
Exhibition entitled Absurd, Institutional Space, Press Room, Education Project and Production: Warehouse A3
Exhibition entitled Fictions of the Invisible: Warehouse A4
Exhibitions entitled Collective Biographies, Public Text and Radiovisual center of operations: Warehouse A5
Exhibition entitled Magnetic Tree: Warehouse A6
Support area: Warehouse A7
• Santander Cultural
Rua Sete de Setembro, 1028 – Downtown
Exhibition entitled Projectables
• MARGS – Museo de Artes de Río Grande do Sul
Praça da Alfândega, s/nº – Downtown
Exhibition entitled Drawing Ideas
Visit us at www.bienalmercosul.art.br and contact us by contato@bienalmercosul.art.br
