Sala Rekalde de Bilbao
Tue, Sep 29 2009Desde el blog de 'Sala Rekalde: arte contemporáneo y responsabilidad pública' siguiendo al comunicado enviado el 21 Abril, donde se expresaba la preocupación por el cese de la directora de la sala Rekalde.
Más información en http://www.rekaldeadhesiones.com
29/09/09
Estimad@ amig@,
Nos tomamos la libertad de responder con este mail a tu apoyo al texto del 21 de abril de 2009 (www.rekaldeadhesiones.com) con el que exponíamos nuestra preocupación ante una serie de decisiones políticas con respecto a la Sala Rekalde de Bilbao. Lo hacemos ahora, en la confianza de contar con tu interés y porque es cuando algunas de las consecuencias de aquellas decisiones empiezan a hacerse efectivas.
La carta de apoyo convocó la adhesión de 647 personas relacionadas con la realidad del arte contemporáneo desde un gran número de países. Fue publicada en prensa y enviada a los representantes de los diferentes partidos políticos integrantes de la Comisión de Cultura de las Juntas Generales de Bizkaia, encargada de evaluar la situación.
Si bien las primeras reacciones por parte de la Diputada de Cultura de la Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, responsable de la sala Rekalde, parecían responder positivamente a través de pronunciamientos en la prensa a nuestra demanda de refrendar el programa realizado por la sala, es sólo ahora que se hace pública la conclusión real del problema:
El cese de la directora de su cargo ha supuesto su vuelta al puesto de comisaria que ocupaba antes de su designación y que es el puesto que han venido ocupando las sucesivas responsables de la programación de la sala. La situación administrativa creada supone en la práctica que Leire Vergara, responsable del programa desde 2006, y ajena al cese decretado en abril, ha sido despedida de su puesto. Es clara la incoherencia en la que incurre la Diputada de Cultura, Miren Josune Ariztondo, que ha mostrado a través de los medios y ante la Comisión de Cultura de las Juntas Generales de Bizkaia su respaldo al programa realizado, pero que cesa por supuesta razón administrativa a quien es responsable de ese programa.
En su momento, distintas agrupaciones de profesionales (entre otros, la Asociación de directores de Arte Contemporáneo de España, el Instituto de Arte Contemporáneo y el Consejo de Críticos de Artes visuales) exigieron a la Diputada de Cultura que aplicara las recomendaciones del Documento de Buenas Prácticas en museos y centros de arte firmado por distintas agrupaciones profesionales y el Ministerio de Cultura. La Diputada de Cultura no ha anunciado, hasta la fecha, concurso público alguno para cubrir la dirección artística de la sala Rekalde. Entendemos, de acuerdo con las citadas agrupaciones, que la sala Rekalde ha adquirido una posición entre las instituciones artísticas en la que no se puede permitir prescindir de un procedimiento estimado como básico por la totalidad de los agentes e instituciones del sector.
En nuestro anterior escrito, quisimos dejar fuera de toda duda el contrastado valor que ha tenido el programa de la sala Rekalde. Ahora que incluso quienes han causado esta situación han reconocido públicamente este valor, sólo nos queda pedir que se tomen decisiones en consecuencia y que se evite la irresponsabilidad de dilapidar el prestigio internacional que Rekalde ha conseguido en estos años. Quienes hemos valorado este hecho somos además conscientes de la dificultad y la fragilidad de tales logros, sólo posibles en situaciones de confianza mutua entre los agentes del arte y los gestores de la cultura. Tras tantas equivocadas decisiones, esta confianza no puede darse ya por hecha. Seguiremos atentos a las consecuencias de este proceso con gran preocupación y determinación.
Te haremos saber si surge alguna iniciativa pública de respuesta a esta situación e intentaremos mantenerte al corriente de la conclusión de este lamentable proceso.
Otra vez gracias y un saludo,
Peio Aguirre, José Ramón Amondarain, Ricardo Antón, Xabier Arakistain, Ibon Aranberri, Aimar Arriola, Txomin Badiola, Haizea Barcenilla, Daniel Castillejo, Guadalupe Echevarría, Miren Eraso, Santiago Eraso, Inazio Escudero, Oier Etxeberria, Jon Mikel Euba, Esther Ferrer, Charo Garaigorta, Iñaki Garmendia, Beatriz Herráez, Eduardo Hurtado, Fernando Illana, Iñaki Imaz, Pello Irazu, Miren Jaio, Iratxe Jaio/Klaas van Gorkum, Abigail Lazkoz, Maider López, Asier Mendizabal, Juan Luis Moraza, Ignacio Múgica, María Mur, Isabel de Naverán, Itziar Okariz, Lucía Onzain, Moisés Pérez de Albeniz, Sergio Prego, María Ptqk, Josu Rekalde, Natxo Rodríguez, Arturo f. Rodríguez, Xabier Sáenz de Gorbea, Xabier Salaberria, Azucena Vieites
–ENG-
Dear friend,
By means of this email we are taking the liberty of responding to your support for the text of April 21st 2009 (www.rekaldeadhesiones.com), in which we expressed our concern over a series of political decisions concerning the Sala Rekalde of Bilbao. We are doing so now as we trust in your interest in this question, and because some of the consequences of those decisions are beginning to come into effect.
The letter of support was signed by 647 people related to the reality of contemporary art from a great number of countries. It was published in the press and sent to the representatives of the different political parties who form part of the Cultural Commission of the Representative Assembly of Biscay, which was responsible for evaluating the situation.
While the first reactions, in statements to the press, by the Representative for Culture of the Provincial Council of Biscay, responsible for the Sala Rekalde, seemed to respond positively to our demand for endorsement of the programme developed by the Sala Rekalde, it is only now that the real conclusion of the question is being made public:
The dismissal of the Director from her post has meant her return to the curatorial position she held before her appointment, a position that has been occupied successively by the persons responsible for designing the Sala Rekalde’s programme. The administrative situation created has in practice meant that Leire Vergara, who has been responsible for the programme since 2006 and who has no connection with the dismissal decreed in April, has been dismissed from her position. What is clear is the inconsistency of Miren Josune Ariztondo, the Representative for Culture: after expressing, in the press and before the Cultural Commission of the Representative Assembly of Biscay, her support for the programme developed, she has dismissed the person responsible for that programme for a supposedly administrative reason.
At their time, different professional groups (amongst them the Association of Directors of Spanish Contemporary Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Council of Visual Art Critics) demanded that the Representative for Culture should apply the recommendations of the Document of Good Practices in Museums and Art Centres, signed by different professional groups and the Ministry of Culture. To date, the Representative for Culture has not announced any open public competition to fill the position of artistic director of the Sala Rekalde. We understand, together with the abovementioned groups, that the Sala Rekalde has acquired a position amongst the artistic institutions in which it is not permissible to dispense with a procedure considered as basic by all the agents and institutions of the sector.
In our earlier communication, we wished to leave beyond all doubt the proven value of the programme of the Sala Rekalde. Now that even those who brought about this situation have publicly recognised this value, all we can do is ask that they take decisions accordingly and avoid the irresponsibility of squandering the international prestige that Rekalde has won in recent years. Such achievements are difficult and fragile, and are only possible in situations of mutual trust between the agents of art and the managers of culture. In the wake of so many erroneous decisions, this trust can no longer be taken for granted. We will continue to monitor the consequences of this process with great concern and determination.
We will let you know if any public initiative arises in response to this situation, and we will try to keep you informed about the conclusion of this lamentable process.
Thank you once again, and best wishes,
arte contemporáneo, curators, profesionalización, sala rekalde
Más información en http://www.rekaldeadhesiones.com
29/09/09
Estimad@ amig@,
Nos tomamos la libertad de responder con este mail a tu apoyo al texto del 21 de abril de 2009 (www.rekaldeadhesiones.com) con el que exponíamos nuestra preocupación ante una serie de decisiones políticas con respecto a la Sala Rekalde de Bilbao. Lo hacemos ahora, en la confianza de contar con tu interés y porque es cuando algunas de las consecuencias de aquellas decisiones empiezan a hacerse efectivas.
La carta de apoyo convocó la adhesión de 647 personas relacionadas con la realidad del arte contemporáneo desde un gran número de países. Fue publicada en prensa y enviada a los representantes de los diferentes partidos políticos integrantes de la Comisión de Cultura de las Juntas Generales de Bizkaia, encargada de evaluar la situación.
Si bien las primeras reacciones por parte de la Diputada de Cultura de la Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, responsable de la sala Rekalde, parecían responder positivamente a través de pronunciamientos en la prensa a nuestra demanda de refrendar el programa realizado por la sala, es sólo ahora que se hace pública la conclusión real del problema:
El cese de la directora de su cargo ha supuesto su vuelta al puesto de comisaria que ocupaba antes de su designación y que es el puesto que han venido ocupando las sucesivas responsables de la programación de la sala. La situación administrativa creada supone en la práctica que Leire Vergara, responsable del programa desde 2006, y ajena al cese decretado en abril, ha sido despedida de su puesto. Es clara la incoherencia en la que incurre la Diputada de Cultura, Miren Josune Ariztondo, que ha mostrado a través de los medios y ante la Comisión de Cultura de las Juntas Generales de Bizkaia su respaldo al programa realizado, pero que cesa por supuesta razón administrativa a quien es responsable de ese programa.
En su momento, distintas agrupaciones de profesionales (entre otros, la Asociación de directores de Arte Contemporáneo de España, el Instituto de Arte Contemporáneo y el Consejo de Críticos de Artes visuales) exigieron a la Diputada de Cultura que aplicara las recomendaciones del Documento de Buenas Prácticas en museos y centros de arte firmado por distintas agrupaciones profesionales y el Ministerio de Cultura. La Diputada de Cultura no ha anunciado, hasta la fecha, concurso público alguno para cubrir la dirección artística de la sala Rekalde. Entendemos, de acuerdo con las citadas agrupaciones, que la sala Rekalde ha adquirido una posición entre las instituciones artísticas en la que no se puede permitir prescindir de un procedimiento estimado como básico por la totalidad de los agentes e instituciones del sector.
En nuestro anterior escrito, quisimos dejar fuera de toda duda el contrastado valor que ha tenido el programa de la sala Rekalde. Ahora que incluso quienes han causado esta situación han reconocido públicamente este valor, sólo nos queda pedir que se tomen decisiones en consecuencia y que se evite la irresponsabilidad de dilapidar el prestigio internacional que Rekalde ha conseguido en estos años. Quienes hemos valorado este hecho somos además conscientes de la dificultad y la fragilidad de tales logros, sólo posibles en situaciones de confianza mutua entre los agentes del arte y los gestores de la cultura. Tras tantas equivocadas decisiones, esta confianza no puede darse ya por hecha. Seguiremos atentos a las consecuencias de este proceso con gran preocupación y determinación.
Te haremos saber si surge alguna iniciativa pública de respuesta a esta situación e intentaremos mantenerte al corriente de la conclusión de este lamentable proceso.
Otra vez gracias y un saludo,
Peio Aguirre, José Ramón Amondarain, Ricardo Antón, Xabier Arakistain, Ibon Aranberri, Aimar Arriola, Txomin Badiola, Haizea Barcenilla, Daniel Castillejo, Guadalupe Echevarría, Miren Eraso, Santiago Eraso, Inazio Escudero, Oier Etxeberria, Jon Mikel Euba, Esther Ferrer, Charo Garaigorta, Iñaki Garmendia, Beatriz Herráez, Eduardo Hurtado, Fernando Illana, Iñaki Imaz, Pello Irazu, Miren Jaio, Iratxe Jaio/Klaas van Gorkum, Abigail Lazkoz, Maider López, Asier Mendizabal, Juan Luis Moraza, Ignacio Múgica, María Mur, Isabel de Naverán, Itziar Okariz, Lucía Onzain, Moisés Pérez de Albeniz, Sergio Prego, María Ptqk, Josu Rekalde, Natxo Rodríguez, Arturo f. Rodríguez, Xabier Sáenz de Gorbea, Xabier Salaberria, Azucena Vieites
–ENG-
Dear friend,
By means of this email we are taking the liberty of responding to your support for the text of April 21st 2009 (www.rekaldeadhesiones.com), in which we expressed our concern over a series of political decisions concerning the Sala Rekalde of Bilbao. We are doing so now as we trust in your interest in this question, and because some of the consequences of those decisions are beginning to come into effect.
The letter of support was signed by 647 people related to the reality of contemporary art from a great number of countries. It was published in the press and sent to the representatives of the different political parties who form part of the Cultural Commission of the Representative Assembly of Biscay, which was responsible for evaluating the situation.
While the first reactions, in statements to the press, by the Representative for Culture of the Provincial Council of Biscay, responsible for the Sala Rekalde, seemed to respond positively to our demand for endorsement of the programme developed by the Sala Rekalde, it is only now that the real conclusion of the question is being made public:
The dismissal of the Director from her post has meant her return to the curatorial position she held before her appointment, a position that has been occupied successively by the persons responsible for designing the Sala Rekalde’s programme. The administrative situation created has in practice meant that Leire Vergara, who has been responsible for the programme since 2006 and who has no connection with the dismissal decreed in April, has been dismissed from her position. What is clear is the inconsistency of Miren Josune Ariztondo, the Representative for Culture: after expressing, in the press and before the Cultural Commission of the Representative Assembly of Biscay, her support for the programme developed, she has dismissed the person responsible for that programme for a supposedly administrative reason.
At their time, different professional groups (amongst them the Association of Directors of Spanish Contemporary Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Council of Visual Art Critics) demanded that the Representative for Culture should apply the recommendations of the Document of Good Practices in Museums and Art Centres, signed by different professional groups and the Ministry of Culture. To date, the Representative for Culture has not announced any open public competition to fill the position of artistic director of the Sala Rekalde. We understand, together with the abovementioned groups, that the Sala Rekalde has acquired a position amongst the artistic institutions in which it is not permissible to dispense with a procedure considered as basic by all the agents and institutions of the sector.
In our earlier communication, we wished to leave beyond all doubt the proven value of the programme of the Sala Rekalde. Now that even those who brought about this situation have publicly recognised this value, all we can do is ask that they take decisions accordingly and avoid the irresponsibility of squandering the international prestige that Rekalde has won in recent years. Such achievements are difficult and fragile, and are only possible in situations of mutual trust between the agents of art and the managers of culture. In the wake of so many erroneous decisions, this trust can no longer be taken for granted. We will continue to monitor the consequences of this process with great concern and determination.
We will let you know if any public initiative arises in response to this situation, and we will try to keep you informed about the conclusion of this lamentable process.
Thank you once again, and best wishes,
Catalogue essays: Henrik Håkansson, Museo Rufino Tamayo; Haegue Yang, Artsonje Center / samuso
Tue, Sep 29 2009Two recent catalogue essays by Latitudes' Max Andrews:
• ‘Untitled (You Are Good For Me Because You Destroy Me)’, Henrik Håkansson: Novelas de la selva / The Jungle Novels, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 2009 (Spanish and English)
• ‘Towards Haegue Yang’s ‘Blind Rooms’’, Haegue Yang, Artsonje Center / samuso, Seoul, 2009 (Korean) & forthcoming in Symmetric Inequality: Haegue Yang, Sala Rekalde, Bilbao, 2009 (Spanish, Basque and English)
Essay, haegue yang, henrik hakansson, Max Andrews, museo tamayo, sala rekalde, writing
• ‘Untitled (You Are Good For Me Because You Destroy Me)’, Henrik Håkansson: Novelas de la selva / The Jungle Novels, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 2009 (Spanish and English)
• ‘Towards Haegue Yang’s ‘Blind Rooms’’, Haegue Yang, Artsonje Center / samuso, Seoul, 2009 (Korean) & forthcoming in Symmetric Inequality: Haegue Yang, Sala Rekalde, Bilbao, 2009 (Spanish, Basque and English)
Presentación de la web www.plataformacuratorial.es durante las segundas jornadas de 'Producir, Exponer, Interpretar...', Matadero Madrid
Sun, Sep 27 2009
Presentada durante las segundas jornadas de 'PRODUCIR, EXPONER, INTERPRETAR. Estrategias y conflictos en la práctica curatorial', Matadero, Madrid, 25-27 Septiembre 2009) la web www.plataformacuratorial.es recoge resumenes de las presentaciones de la primera parte de estas jornadas que tuvo lugar en MUSAC (Mayo 2009), textos, links de interés, comentarios en formato twitter sobre las segundas jornadas, fotografías, etc. También existe una página en facebook.
Abajo imágenes de las jornadas.
[Fotos: Latitudes | www.lttds.org]Segunda parte de las jornadas 'PRODUCIR, EXPONER, INTERPRETAR. Estrategias y conflictos en la práctica curatorial', Matadero, Madrid, 25-27 Septiembre 2009
Mon, Sep 21 2009 |
| Pablo Helguera 'Artoons' published in ArtWold Salon's blog http://www.artworldsalon.com/blog |
Entre 25, 26 y 27 de septiembre 2009 Latitudes participará en las segundas jornadas de 'PRODUCIR, EXPONER, INTERPRETAR (Estrategias y conflictos en la práctica curatorial)', cuya primera parte tuvo lugar en MUSAC, León, 22–24 de mayo.
'PRODUCIR, EXPONER, INTERPRETAR' es un encuentro nacional de comisarios de arte contemporáneo, vinculados generacionalmente, cuyo objetivo es, por un lado incentivar la creación de redes sociales entre profesionales del sector; y por otro lado, poner de relieve una serie de cuestiones en torno a la práctica curatorial.
Participan: David Arlandis / Javier Marroquí (Comisarios independientes, Valencia); David Armengol (Comisario independiente, Barcelona); María Bella (Comisaria de Intermediae, Madrid); Álex Brahim (Comisario independiente, Barcelona); Amanda Cuesta (Comisaria independiente, Barcelona); Beatriz Herráez (Comisaria, Centro Cultural Montehermoso Kulturunea, Vitoria); Latitudes (Comisarios independientes, Barcelona); Iván López Munuera (Comisario independiente, Madrid); Manuela Moscoso (Comisaria independiente, Madrid); RMS La Asociación (Comisarios independientes, Madrid); Manuel Segade (Departamento de exposiciones, CGAC, Santiago de Compostela); Virginia Torrente (Doméstico, comisaria independiente, Madrid); Leire Vergara (Comisaria independiente, Bilbao).
Véase curriculum de los participantes aquí.
Dirigen: Tania Pardo (Comisaria MUSAC); Manuela Villa (Responsable de contenidos de Matadero Madrid y Coordinadora general de La noche en blanco).
Matadero Madrid
Paseo de la Chopera 14, 28045, Madrid
T: 915 177 309
info@mataderomadrid.com
www.mataderomadrid.com
Portscapes News: Launch of Ilana Halperin's 45 min-long audio field guide ‘A Brief History of Mobile Landmass’
Fri, Sep 18 2009
The two first images are courtesy of Ben Wind, rest of images courtesy of the artist.
As her contribution to ‘Portscapes’, New York-born Glasgow-based artist Ilana Halperin has created a spoken-word narrative in Dutch and English for visitors to the port. Available at the visitor centre Futureland (map here) and online (www.portscapes.nl) from September 18 until 2013, ‘A Brief History of Mobile Landmass’ is an audio field guide inspired by a perception of Maasvlakte 2 in terms of formidable geophysical phenomena and a geological sense of time.
The artist has assembled a compelling narrative of fragments which draws on fact, fiction and personal fieldwork – as well as site surveys by volcanologists, geologists and the experts involved in the construction of Maasvlakte 2. It offers echoes, speculations and interpretations surrounding both the artificial and natural processes whereby new land is created. Recalling Jules Verne’s ‘Voyages Extraordinaires’, this 'book on tape' couples a wealth of scientific information with wonder and vivid descriptions.
Halperin is your guide through a landscape with tales of newborn islands, otherworldly Hawaiian magma and the fire deity Pele, a Rotterdam ‘lava flow’ or the ‘industrial volcanoes’ of its port. To paraphrase Mark Twain’s astonished account of the eruption of Kilauea in 1866: “Here is room for the imagination to work!”.
'Portscapes' is an accumulative series of newly commissioned projects taking place throughout 2009 alongside the construction of Rotterdam's [51° 55' N 4° 29' E] Maasvlakte 2 (MV2) – an extension to Europe's largest seaport and industrial area which will be realised between 2008 and 2013 by reclaiming a 2,000-hectare area of reclaimed land (see images here) that will extend the Port of Rotterdam, Europe's largest seaport and industrial area by 20%.
Portscapes is commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority with advice and support from SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space, Amsterdam) and is curated by the Barcelona-based curatorial office Latitudes.
Performance 'The Museum of Incest' de Simon Fujiwara, sábado 19 Septiembre a las 19h en Hangar, Barcelona
Tue, Sep 15 2009
19 de septiembre 2009, 19h
Hangar, Barcelona
La performance será en inglés con subtítulos en castellano. Entrada gratuita
Vena (por la) anuncia su primer evento de la temporada: la performance 'The Museum of Incest: A Guided Tour' (El Museo del Incesto: una visita guiada) del artista británico afincado en Berlin/Londres Simon Fujiwara. El evento está organizado por Vena (por la) en colaboración con Hangar en el contexto de 'Hangar Obert'.
 |
| Simon Fujiwara durante su performance presentada el 14 mayo 2009 durante la inauguración de la exposición ‘Provenances’ en Umberto di Marino, Napoli, comisariada Latitudes. Foto: Danilo Donzelli. |
'The Museum of Incest' (El Museo del Incesto) es un proyecto que se manifiesta en tres partes: como una instalación, una performance-lecture (véanse imágenes arriba) y como publicación. La performance consiste en un tour a través del edificio de un museo ficticio que representa la historia alternativa a los orígenes del hombre a través de prácticas incestuosas. El tour se acompaña de diapositivas, un mural y artefactos provenientes de los yacimientos arqueológicos de la Garganta de Olduvai en Tanzania, conocida también como 'cuna de la humanidad' por descubrise allí restos de los primeros homínidos.
 | ||||
| Presentación del ‘Museum of Incest’ de Simon Fujiwara dentro de la exposición ‘Provenances’ en Umberto di Marino, Napoli, comisariada Latitudes. Fotos: Danilo Donzelli. |
En ocasión de la exposición 'Provenances' en Nápoles, Latitudes editó la publicación 'The Museum of Incest. A Guided Tour' publicada por Archive Books (Turin/Berlin) (imágenes a continuación), que se podrá adquirir por 6 Euros una vez finalizada la performance.
 |
| 'The Museum of Incest. A Guided Tour' publicada por Archive Books. Fotos: Latitudes. |
Simon Fujiwara (1982, Londres, Inglaterra. Vive en Berlin y Londres). Recientemente ha sido artista en residencia del MAK Center for Art & Architecture, Schindler House, Los Angeles (2008–9) y ha participado en 'Office of Real Time Activity', Royal College of Art, Londres (Marzo 2009); 'Provenances', Umberto di Marino, Nápoles (comisariada por Latitudes - imágenes aquí) (Mayo–Septiembre 2009) y 'The Collectors', Danish and Nordic Pavilions, 53rd Biennale di Venezia. Próximamente presentará el 'The Museum of Incest' en Frieze Art Fair (sección Frame), Londres, con Galerie Neue Alte Brücke, Frankfurt.
A continuación imágenes de la performance en Hangar:
+ info:
– Texto "Simon Fujiwara_ES.pdf" en el archivo de textos de Latitudes (pdfs en Español e Inglés)
– Artículo sobre 'Provenances', 3 Junio, La Repubblica (italiano)
– Entrevista que se ha publicado en la revista italiana Kult Magazine de Septiembre, realizada por Daniele Perra (pdf italiano)
Three new 'Portscapes' projects: Fucking Good Art, Paulien Oltheten and Ilana Halperin
Mon, Sep 14 2009
Three new 'Portscapes' projects: Fucking Good Art's broadcasting from their 'base camp' in Maasvlakte until 21 September; Paulien Oltheten billboard and forthcoming exhibition at Futureland and Ilana Halperin's scripted audio field guide available in English and Dutch from 18 September 2009
Project website: www.portscapes.nl
More info on this projects here
Rotterdam-based artists Rob Hamelijnck and Nienke Terpsma, editors of the printed and online magazine FUCKING GOOD ART, have been living and working in a ‘base camp’ on the Maasvlakte from 20th August and will be there until end of September producing Portscapes ON AIR – Station Maasvlakte. (+ info...)
On 14 August 2009 a billboard by Amsterdam-based artist PAULIEN OLTHETEN was placed along the A15 on the Maasvlakte. Oltheten made use of the lack of reference of natural elements, such as trees, bushes and people by arranging meetings. These stagings mostly take place in locations on the Maasvlakte that will soon disappear or be displaced and often involve variations of the theme ‘one becomes two’, referring to the Maasvlakte, of which there will later be two. (+ info...)
As her contribution to Portscapes, New York-born Glasgow-based artist ILANA HALPERIN has created an audio field guide available online and on MP3 players which visitors will be able to pick up at Futureland (map here) and experience through wandering the nearby area of the port edge. ‘A Brief History of Mobile Landmass’ is inspired by a perception of Maasvlakte 2 in terms of formidable geophysical phenomena and a geological sense of time. (+ info...)
Audioguide available online and at Futureland (map here) from 18 September 2009 until 2013. Narrated in English and Dutch. Duration: 45 min.
–
'Portscapes' is an accumulative series of art commissions taking place throughout 2009 alongside the construction of ‘Maasvlakte 2’, a 2,000 hectare area of reclaimed land that will extend the Port of Rotterdam, Europe's largest seaport and industrial area by 20%. Projects varied in size and scale will be produced under the leitmotif itineraries and destinations comprising tours, audioguides, performances, radio programmes, interventions, for example. (+ info...)
Artists involved in Portscapes: Lara Almarcegui, Bik van der Pol, Jan Dibbets, Marjolijn Dijkman, Fucking Good Art, Cyprien Gaillard, Ilana Halperin, Roman Keller & Christina Hemauer, Paulien Oltheten, Michael Rakowitz, Jorge Satorre, Hans Schabus and Jun Yang. Website collaborators: Maria Barnas (poetry) and Markus Miessen (interviews).
Read more on completed projects and on projects in production.
'Portscapes' press coverage here. To receive Portscapes news sign up here.
'Portscapes' is commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority with advice and support from SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space) and is curated by Latitudes.
LAST CHANCE: 'Provenances', Umberto di Marino, Naples & 'Sequelism Part 3: Possible, Probable or Preferable Futures', Arnolfini, Bristol, UK
Mon, Sep 7 2009
Jordi Mitjà 'Floating Lines' (2009). Photo: Danilo Donzelli.
Simon Fujiwara, 'The Museum of Incest', 2008-ongoing, hexagonal table, chairs, projection screen, wood veneer paneling, vinyl mural, map, framed portraits, six framed book pages (“The Incest Museum Cast of Actors”), slide projection loop, Museum orientation video (25 min.), Museum guidebooks, various objects, and artifacts. Photo: Danilo Donzelli.
'Provenances'
Erick Beltrán, Jordi Mitjà and Simon Fujiwara
Umberto di Marino Arte Contemporanea, Naples, Italy
until 14 September 2009
EXHIBITION PHOTO TOUR HERE.
'Provenances' reflects on the heritage industry and the museumification of history, as well as the creation, transmission, and fidelity of cultural worth. The artists share an aesthetic and pragmatic concern with the principle of the personal archive or the pre-museal wunderkammer – the categorization and veracity of objects, images, and words are always provisional. + info...
Erick Beltrán presents four works each focussed around a relic-like artifact made of a particular natural substance. Each object is accompanied by a text diagram, and together they elicit a dense proliferation of references, narratives, contexts, and interconnections. In 'Floating Lines' (2009) Jordi Mitjà reflects on practices of information retrieval, falsification, and accumulation. In his seemingly sparse installation, clusters of photocollages are hidden from immediate view by a string curtain which protects them from light while necessitating the visitor’s gesture to reveal them. Simon Fujiwara's 'The Museum of Incest' (2009) is a multipart project that unearths an implicit myth of human origins and an explicit sexual archeology. Fujiwara realised the performance-lecture 'The Museum of Incest. A Guided Tour' during the opening night.
A guide of the museum has been published by Archive Books (Softcover / 21 x 15cm / 52pp / ISBN 978-88-95702-09-4).
Press links here.
UMBERTO DI MARINO
Via Alabardieri 1, Piazza dei Martiri
80121 Napoli, ITALIA
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 15–20h
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 15–20h
'Provenances' has been kindly supported by the Institut Ramon Llull.
(Above and below) Haegue Yang, 'Holiday for Tomorrow', 2007. Painted wooden screens with metal feet (Yes-I-Know-Screen); PVC, shells (Shell Sculpture); 10 coloured Venetian blinds, steel cable (Blind Department); wooden platform with monitor showing 13 min DVD (Holiday Story). Courtesy of the artist and Barbara Wien, Berlin. Photo: Carl Newland.
Arnolfini, Bristol, United Kingdom
until 20 September 2009
Free admission
EXHIBITION PHOTO TOUR HERE.
Artists: Mariana Castillo Deball (1975, Mexico City. Lives in Berlin/Amsterdam), Heman Chong (1977, Malaysia. Lives in Berlin/Singapore), Graham Gussin (1960, London. Lives in London), Victor Man (1974, Cluj–Napoca. Lives in Cluj), Francesc Ruiz (1971 Barcelona. Lives in Barcelona/Berlin), Jordan Wolfson (1980, New York. Lives New York/Berlin) and Haegue Yang (1977, Malaysia. Lives in Berlin/Singapore), (1971 Seoul. Lives in Berlin/Seoul)
Curated by: Nav Haq (Curator, Arnolfini) and Latitudes
'Sequelism...' is an exhibition reflecting on the future and that which is yet to happen. It looks at the political, social, and ecological implications of the inexact arena of futurology: the science and interdisciplinary practice of postulating possible, probable, and preferable futures from the present. This is the first in a trilogy of Sequelism exhibitions, with Part 2 in 2010. + info...
More on the public programme related to the exhibition on http://futurologyprogramme.org
Arnolfini 16 Narrow Quay
Bristol BS1 4QA
UNITED KINGDOM
Opens: 10am-6pm Tues-Sun & Bank Holiday Mondays. Closed Mondays. Free entrance
'Sequelism' is generously supported by the Institut Ramon Llull and the Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural en el Exterior (SEACEX), IFA, the National Arts Council Singapore and The Ratiu Family.
2024 update: Images of Victor Man's works have been removed at the request of the artist.
(Above and below) Francesc Ruiz, 'Untitled' (Bristol) (2009). Self-adhesive digital prints. Courtesy of the artist, Maribel López Gallery, Berlin, and Galeria Estrany-De la Mota, Barcelona. Photo: Carl Newland.
Manifesta 8, 2010 - Curatorial Appointments
Fri, Sep 4 2009
As announced during ARCO last February (see press release at the bottom of our 27 November 2008 post) "Manifesta 8 will explore the idea of Europe in the 21st century at the edges of the continent. More specifically, the aim of Manifesta 8 will be to engage with Europe’s present-day boundaries with Northern Africa and its interrelations with the Maghreb region."Following Manifesta's invitation to "existing curatorial groups, artistic and interdisciplinary collectives and/or existing institutions to be part of the Curatorial Team of Manifesta 8" they have announced the appointment of the Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum, Chamber of Public Secrets and Tranzit.org as the curatorial collectives in charge of Manifesta 8, which will open 1 October 2010 during 100 days in Murcia and Cartagena, in the south-east of Spain.
Following are their CV's taken from e-flux, 4 September 2009. Hopefully this and further information will soon be uploaded on the (ancient) Manifesta website:
ALEXANDRIA CONTEMPORARY ARTS FORUM
Curator/Team Executive: Bassam El Baroni
Associate Curator: Jeremy Beaudry
Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum (ACAF), founded in Alexandria (Egypt) in December 2005, focuses on contemporary art, new media and discursive practice, cultivating a deeper awareness of art in relation to all aspects of contemporary life and culture. Central to its mission is an ongoing engagement with projects that bring together established and emerging artists, university students, and diverse practitioners, in contexts that recognize the value of an informal, non-hierarchical, open-ended circulation of information and experience. The ACAF is in a constant state of flux and incorporates innovative activities, guided by its socio-cultural compass.
CHAMBER OF PUBLIC SECRETS
Curators/Team Executives: Khaled Ramadan / Alfredo Cramerotti
Chamber of Public Secrets (CPS), based in Copenhagen (Denmark) and the Middle East, works as a network of artists, curators and thinkers who have been collaborating since 2004 in the organization, production and circulation of film and video festivals, art exhibitions, TV and radio programs, political fictions and documentaries. CPS also develops forums for debate and publishes books and articles about socio-political and cultural issues such as migration, mobility, representation, colonialism, gender and difference. CPS wishes to stimulate the role of debate, while reconstructing the role of art, its responsibility and its relation to society.
TRANZIT.ORG
Team executive: Vít Havránek
Team assembly: Zbyněk Baladrán, Dóra Hegyi, Boris Ondreička, Georg Schöllhammer
tranzit.org is a network of autonomous art associations, existing since 2002 in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, who cooperate working across borders - between nations, languages and histories. Each tranzit group operates independently from each other, using different formats and methods - such as discursive platforms, exhibitions, publications and research initiatives - but always aiming to generate a deep involvement in the local artistic and intellectual context. At the same time each tranzit group carries out a re-assessment of contemporary history, challenging the canons, geography and master-narratives of post-war European (art) histories. The aim of tranzit is to act trans-locally, in constant dialogue with cultural narratives on a local and global scale.
+ info:
http://www.manifesta.org
Fucking Good Art 'base camp' in Maasvlakte, Rotterdam, until 21 September
Wed, Sep 2 2009
Adapting their embedded approach for Portscapes, the editors of FGA are living and working in a ‘base camp’ on the Maasvlakte for 5 weeks, starting 20 August while producing Portscapes_ON AIR. Comprising a series of audio walks, field recordings and conversations with guests from different disciplines Portscapes_ON AIR will be broadcast on the internet (www.portscapes.nl).
Inspired by their camp’s proximity to the pipeline which carries sand from the Yangtzehaven to the future Maasvlakte 2, the editors of FGA approach their endeavour both as inhabitants of an industrial and man-made territory and in relation to the redistribution and displacement of knowledge. Alongside other grand movements of transportation and trade taking place in the port, FGA’s broadcasts take shape through encounters with others and consider the role that art and artists have in other registers of exchange. Starting from the principal that in order to really understand a place one needs to really inhabit it, and the question of how to represent a place like as Maasvlakte 2 which does not yet fully exist, the editors of FGA also aim to stimulate discussion about the representation of Dutch landscape. They hope that their project could be pilot for a further research residencies.
Participants contributing to Fucking Good Art's research on Maasvlakte and webradio:
Frank Bruggeman: Designer, artist and one of the editors of 'Club Donny', a strictly unedited journal on the personal experience of nature in the urban enviroment.
Hans Aarsman: Former photo journalist, and currently columnist for the Dutch newspaper "De Volkskrant" and playwriter. In 1988 he travelled for one year in Holland in his camper van - a Citroën HY - to produced the book 'Hollandse Taferelen'. He has published several publications: the photo book 'Aarsmans Amsterdam' (1993), his first novel 'Twee hoofden, een kussen' (1995) and in 2003 the autobiographical book 'Vrrooom! Vrrooomm!'. Some of his photos are free for download at the Nederlands Fotomuseum.
Remko Andeweg: Botanical analyst, City biologist of Rotterdam and author of the book 'Vreemde Planten in Rotterdam' [Exotic plants in Rotterdam, 2002], about the migration of plants that are considered foreign and endanger domestic vegetation.
Lino Hellings: Errorist! Recently founded the press agency P.A.P.A, an international network of artists and correspondents that creates news by taking action. Co-author of the publication "An Architecture of Interaction", and one of the founders of Dogtroep (1975), a self-styled form of visual theatre.
Gijsbert Korevaar: Industrial Ecologist.
Aurélie Barbier: A French urban planner specialised in emerging cities. Currently working for Urbaplan, an urban planning firm based in Switzerland. She has worked on various projects in Southern Europe and sub-Saharan African countries (Cameroon, Niger, Ghana). Over the past five years, she has focused on the definition of master plan, regulatory plan and slum upgrading projects through a comprehensive approach that includes both social and technical dimensions of urban development.
Martin Blum: Swiss artist and farmer. Works together with Haimo Ganz under the name GANZBLUM. In their art projects they focus on (life)cycles. Martin recently started public art projects on his farm "Frohe Aussicht" outside Zurich.
Marjolijn de Kok: Theoretical archeologist specialised on settlements and the wetlands of Holland. Also co-publisher of LIMA.
John Lonsdale: Architect. In the last years he has begun mapping the ‘Mudscapes of the Netherlands’ whereby he strives for the reconciliation of architecture with landscape.
Achilleka Komguem: Artist from Duala. Editor of journal 'Diartgonale' and worked on a radio show in Bessengue. He is in visiting Holland for 'Talking about!' a project by curators Zoë Gray and Lucia Babina that brings six artists and cultural producers from Cameroon to the Netherlands. FGA are hosting Achilleka during his visit.
CLUI: The Centre for Land Use Interpretation is a research organisation based in Culver City, Los Angeles, involved in exploring, examining, and understanding land and landscape issues. The Center employs a variety of methods to pursue its mission - engaging in research, classification, extrapolation, and exhibition. http://www.clui.org
Thank you to PUMA for providing the accommodation and Delta for the electricity.
Video of a recent sandstorm. Courtesy FGA.