Somewhere from here to heaven

Curated by Garbiñe Ortega.

Azkuna Zentroa - Alhóndiga Bilbao (Spain) presents Somewhere from here to heaven. The exhibition sketches a constellation of filmmakers from different generations inspired by Bruce Baillie’s universe, “essential” filmmaker of the 60s, who was one of the most influential in North American avant-garde film besides being a big promoter of the so-called experimental film. Baillie in 1961 together with other filmmaker friends organized a screening in a house in Canyon, California to show films “unwelcome anywhere else back then” which in itself was a subversive act at that time. As a result of this spontaneous gesture a large community was created which founded San Francisco Cinematheque, as well as an avant-garde film distributor, which to this day is one of the most important worldwide, Canyon Cinema coop.

The exhibition is divided into two sections, the first connects to the period when Baillie together with Chick Strand, Gunvor & Robert Nelson, and Lawrence Jordan, among others created this vibrant stimulating “family”, which is still alive today.

The second includes the works of four artists invited by Azkuna Zentroa to produce a new work inspired by Baillie’s imaginarium, namely: Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand), Ben Rivers (UK), Ana Vaz (Brazil) and Eduardo Williams (Argentina), who have produced audiovisual pieces conversing with Bruce Baillie’s universe and his films (Valentín de las Sierras, Here I am, Mass for the Dakota Sioux, All My Life, among others). In addition to these new works, the exhibition also shows a piece filmmaker J.P. Sniadecki created ex profeso, a film full of intimate moments shared with Bruce over recent years, which includes footage from an unfinished film by Baillie.

All these lyrical observational films in Baillie’s 16mm, likewise the works of these four artists elude any kind of category and genre yet they equally share interest in fusing the mystical and mundane, cosmic, and personal, mythological and autobiographical. A constant journey, a symbiosis between nature and modern society, an intuitive search for light, the driving force to discover the spiritual essence of things, are only some of the ideas weaving this project, sustained by a profound commitment to way of living and comprehending art—all this is found in the epicenter of these artists’ practice.

Artists
Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand) is an independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He occupies a privileged place in that small group of world filmmakers who have an absolutely unique and original look.

Ana Vaz (Brasil) is an artist and filmmaker whose films, installations and performed texts explore complex relationships between environments, territories and hybrid histories pushing the boundaries of our perception.

Eduardo Williams (Argentina) is a film director. His more recent works, shot in various locations across the globe, have come to include the uncertainty of travelling and the spontaneous connections made in unfamiliar contexts as a central part of his filmmaking process.

Ben Rivers (Great Britain) is an artist and experimental filmmaker. Rivers’s practice as a filmmaker treads a line between documentary and fiction. The raw film footage provides Rivers with a starting point for creating oblique narratives imagining alternative existences in marginal worlds.

Curator
Garbiñe Ortega is a film curator. Her curatorship work has been exhibited internationally at institutions like the Lincoln Center Film Society (NY), Tate Modern, Vienna Film Museum, Pacific Film Archive, Washington National Gallery of Art and CCBC. She has been co-director of Gira de Documentales Ambulante (Mexico), artistic director of Punto de Vista Festival (2018-2021) and curator of ARTIUM Z Hall ARTIUM (2021-2022). In addition, she has produced films and published several books.

Azkuna Zentroa—Alhóndiga Bilbao. Bilbao Society and Contemporary Culture Centre
Azkuna Zentroa is the Bilbao Society and Contemporary Culture Centre, with a local and international perspective open to dialogue with different community groups. 

Azkuna Zentroa is a place to take part in culture as a practice, process and space for experiences, through six lines of programming: Visual arts, Performing Arts, Film and Audio-visuals, and Literature. All of which dialogue among themselves generating a hybrid, multiple and expanded programming that favors the formation and everyday life of the contemporary. Always with mediation and education as a way to generate critical knowledge and transform society through art and artists.

Contact: info@azkunazentroa.eus