“Protruding from three of MACBA’s columns like sails lashed to the masts of a ship, Rosa Tharrats’ Akaal / Selene \ Uluru (2021) is composed of layers of woven and printed cloth that have been stitched and fused together in combination with composites of homemade bioplastics—polymers made from biological sources such as seaweed and starch that have the potential to alleviate the growing problem of marine pollution.”
“Hermetic philosopher Giulio Camillo built his Theatre of Memory in Venice in around 1530. Inverting the perspective of ancient theatre, a single spectator could stand on a central “stage” to look out at a wooden auditorium of seven rows of seven pictures. ”
Since Spring 2015, Latitudes has published a monthlycover storyon its homepagewww.lttds.org featuring past, present or forthcomingprojects, as well as ongoing research,texts, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects, or travel related to ourcuratorial practice. Here's how 2021 looked like on our homepage.
In the 17th dispatch, curator Inga Lāce and artist Linda Boļšakova forage for environmental histories in Riga. The day that takes them from manicured park lawns to a thicket of sea buckthorn bushes near a “post-apocalyptic” sauna, and from a housing project allotment to the laboratories of the National Botanic Garden of Latvia.
This is the latest dispatch of the series produced by KADIST and edited by Latitudes since 2016, exploring the chartered itinerary as a format of an artistic encounter between curators and artists. Incidents (of Travel) is presented in one continuous immersive read interwoven with images and short videos in a mobile-friendly format.
Selection of screengrabs from the 17th dispatch of Incidents (of Travel) from Riga.
Incidents (of Travel) was conceived in 2012 when Latitudes commissioned 5 day-long artist-led tours around Mexico City in the framework of their short residency at Casa del Lago. The project had sequels in 2013 in Hong Kong with live dispatches of videos, photographs and soundscapespublished through social media, and continued in 2015 in San Francisco with daily posts as part of Kadist's Instagram take over initiative “Artist Not In The Studio Curator Not At The Office”.
In 2016 KADIST and Latitudes partnered in a new ‘distributed’ phase of Incidents (of Travel) extending the invitation to curators and artists working around the world and publishing their dispatches as part of KADIST's Online Projects.
Since 2016, seventeen extended conversations between curators and artists have taken place in Riga (Latvia), Beirut (Lebanon), Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Singapore (Singapore), Cabo Rojo (Puerto Rico), Tbilisi (Georgia), Panama City (Panama), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Reykjavík (Iceland), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Hobart (Tasmania), Yerevan (Armenia), Terengganu (Malaysia), Lisbon (Portugal), Suzhou (China), Jinja (Uganda) and Chicago (US).
The first dispatch launched in April 2016 with an itinerary by curator Yesomi Umolu and artist Harold Mendez from Chicago – a day photographed by Nabiha Khan.
The second dispatch came from Jinja in Uganda, where curator Moses Serubiri invited photographer Mohsen Taha to explore Jinja's Indian architectural legacy and Idi Amin's notorious expulsion of Uganda's Asian minority in 1972.
The third episode took place while curator Yu Ji and poet Xiao Kaiyu hiked on Dong Shan (East Mountain), 130 km west of Shanghai, on a peninsula stretching into Tai Hu lake near the city of Suzhou, China.
The fifth episode took place in April 2016, when curator Simon Soon and artist chi too visited the Malaysian North Eastern state of Terengganu, where chi spent some time in 2013, surrounded by “men and women who work(ed) multiple jobs as fishermen, housebuilders, boat builders, farmers, coconut pickers, food producers, and everything else that matters.”
The sixth episode narrates a walking itinerary conducted by curator Marianna Hovhannisyan with Vardan Kilichyan, Gohar Hosyan, and Anaida Verdyan in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, documenting the transformed, disappeared, or permanently-closed art institutions in the city centre.
The seventh episode comes from Hobart, the capital of Tasmania. It is narrated by curator Camila Marambio, following an itinerary devised by artist Lucy Bleach. They spent the day "encircling the outer limits of human understanding by visiting the histories, both past, and present, of attempts to reach beyond our sensory capacities through governance, technology, and reverie", and ended the day cooking at Lucy's home-sharing their mutual love for quinces.
In the eighth 'Incidents (of Travel)' dispatch Móvil co-founder and curator Alejandra Aguado followed the itinerary devised by the artist Diego Bianchi around Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Their exploration took them from the self-regulated community Velatropa to the buzzing commercial area of Once, identifying human and non-human flows and interactions. This became an entry point for discussing Bianchi's interests in how, as consumers, we define a particular zeitgeist and appropriate trends that enable us to affirm our identities.
In the ninth dispatch, Canadian curator Becky Forsythe and Icelandic artist Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir navigate Reykjavík's surroundings considering Þorgerður's “current interest in Icelandic Spar (a form of transparent calcite), its double refraction and light-polarizing properties. In a race with daylight, they travel between sites collecting moments and considering the ways in which geologic time surfaces in the context of human time.”
The tenth dispatch begins with an itinerary proposed by Barcelona-born, Rio de Janeiro-based artist Daniel Steegmann Mangrané and is followed by images and videos recording a day roaming Rio's natural and artistic landscapes with Bogotá-born, Mexico City-based curator Catalina Lozano, who narrates their day spent together.
In the 11th episode, Swiss curator Sandino Scheidegger (Random Institute) visits Panama City in preparation for a solo exhibition by Donna Conlon and Jonathan Harker at Casa Santa Ana in 2021. Conlon and Harker collaboration since 2006 (while also pursuing their own individual art practices) has resulted in seventeen video works to date. The places Sandino, Donna and Jonathan visited together pointed to the origin of some of their video works, the ideas behind them, or simply served as stages in their pieces, turning into “an exercise in sneaking through fences to reach former recycling plants, imagining how things looked before the skyscrapers took over, and navigating the complex social fabric of Panama City — all while getting a taste of local food between every stop.”
The 12th episode from Tbilisi, Georgia, set a different tone in the online series as it was programmed to take place in late May 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The itinerary set by Tbilisi-based artist Nino Kvrivishvili to lead Melbourne-based Associate Professor Tara McDowell became a WhatsApp video tour/conversation around Nino's artistic practice and the Georgian silk industry — a production that began in Tbilisi in the 5th century and continued until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.
In the 13th dispatch, and on week 23 of lockdown, Sofía Gallisá and Marina Reyes begin their day together driving to the Cabo Rojo Salt Flats where Sofía researched her 2018 film ‘Assimilate & Destroy I’. They later end up in Poblado de Boquerón, the queer capital of Puerto Rico's south where a large public beach and a usually busy street still show traces of 2017’s devastating Hurricane Maria.
Desktop view of → Incidents (of Travel) from Singapore.
In the 14th dispatch, Singapore-based curator Kathleen Ditzig joins artists Fyerool Darma and Nurul Huda Rashid nearby ‘Safe Entry‘ (2020), a mural presented at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) by the artist Heman Chong that repeats a single, enlarged QR code, “the new digital skin of the city”, as Nurul points out. From there, they head towards the boardwalk connecting Harbourfront with Sentosa Island, the pleasure island home to many tourist attractions. Fyerool and Nurul weave in stories of past pirates and deities against the backdrop of the glass-green waters that stage the “blue aesthetics against the imported sands [from Indonesia] of reclaimed lands.”
In the 15th dispatch curator Àngels Miralda (current participant of de Appel's Curatorial Programme 2020-21) and artist Salim Bayri (current resident at Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten 2019–21) follow a tour created during the winter 2021 Covid-19 restrictions in the Netherlands. Their day together features public sport locations as social meeting spaces, as well as urban architecture, a visit to a supermarket chain, and a food takeaway.
In the 16th dispatch, curator Marie-Nour Hechaime navigates Beirut with artist-filmmaker Panos Aprahamian a year after the August 2020 explosion, when hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored for six years without safekeeping in the port of the Lebanese capital were set on fire and exploded. The blast killed more than 200 deaths, 6,500 wounded, 300,000 displaced and great destruction in the city [1]. “I say that I am living with ghosts—of people, places, memories, stories”, she reflects. “He answers that Beirut is disintegrating in front of our very eyes.”
The December 2021 monthly Cover Story “Between Meier and Meller: Toni and Pau at the Teatre Arnau” is now up on our homepage: www.lttds.org
“Antoni Hervàs’ La Meiers / La Mellers (2021) is a two-part artwork created for the exhibition Apunts per a un incendi dels ulls (Notes for an Eye Fire) (at MACBA, Barcelona, until 27 February 2022) and inspired by Barcelona’s Teatre Arnau.”
La programación de la 5a edición del Festival de Cine Documental sobre Arte Contemporáneo 2021 (25 de noviembre al 3 de diciembre) se muestra por segunda vez en la plataforma online Filmin (accesible para todo el territorio español entre el 25 de noviembre al 12 de diciembre), manteniendo una sesión presencial el 25 de noviembre con el estreno europeo en los cinemes Girona en Barcelona del documental Sergio Larraín, el instante eterno, el primer fotógrafo latinoamericano en unirse a la agencia Magnum.
(Arriba y abajo) Dart Festival 2019 en Cinemes Girona.
Proyección en la Sala Phenomena del estreno en España del remaster en 4K de “A Bigger Splash” (1973).
Dart Festival es el primer festival de cine documental dedicado al arte contemporáneo cuyo principal objetivo es entrelazar la cultura y el conocimiento con el gran público, y lo hace a través de documentales sobre fotografía, comisariado de arte, pintura, performance, arquitectura, movimientos artísticos y, en general, sobre arte contemporáneo, prestando especial atención a los artistas, sus procesos de creación y las historias que hay detrás de sus trabajos.
Una edición más, Latitudes ha tenido el placer de formar parte del jurado del festival junto al crítico de cine Quim Casas y el periodista cultural Ianko López.
El jurado ha decidido que los documentales premiados dentro de la sección competitiva de la 5a edición del festival sean “Esther Ferrer: Hilos de tiempo” (2020, ES, 69') del director Josu Rekalde como mejor producción nacionaly “Beijing Spring” (2021, EEUU/Suiza,100') dirigida por Andy Cohen y Gaylen Ross como mejor produccióninternacional.
Es un retrato íntimo, sin ser apologético, que hace un completo ejercicio histórico para situar a una de las figuras más relevantes del panorama artístico nacional. Es una película que destaca por su voluntad coral, en búsqueda de un diálogo constante con el espectador. El uso de material de archivo y el intento de representar la performance como parte integrante del documental permiten apreciar el recorrido histórico de Esther Ferrer y cómo éste se integra en el contexto más amplio del arte performativo y feminista internacional.
“Beijing Spring” de Andy Cohen y Gaylen Ross (2021, EE.UU)
La película arroja luz sobre un período poco conocido del arte chino de los años 70, contextualizando una acción artística realmente extraordinaria. Gracias a material inédito, vemos un documental dentro un documental que da forma a la importancia de narrar las luchas por la libertad de expresión desde el contexto del arte y los movimientos de vanguardia que surgieron a raíz (o detrás) de la Revolución Cultural. Aún siendo un trabajo sobre un momento histórico específico, lanza reflexiones sobre los derechos y el poder del arte que nos llevan a la contemporaneidad.
Fotograma de “Beijing Spring” (2021, EEUU/Suiza,100') dirigida por Andy Cohen y Gaylen Ross.
Premios de la 4a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2020, 3 dic 2020
Premios de la 3a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2019, 1 Dec 2019
Mariana Cánepa Luna vocal del jurado del Premi Ciutat de Barcelona 2017 en el ámbito de las Artes Visuales, 1 Febrero 2018
Jurado y equipo tutorial de Barcelona Producció 2017 – Anuncio de los proyectos ganadores, 25 Mayo 2017
Jurado y equipo tutorial de BCN Producció 2016, La Capella, Barcelona, 2 Febrero 2016
Latitudes-nominee artist Annette Kelm shortlisted for the Aimia | AGO Photography Prize 2015, 24 June 2015 Resolución Convocatoria 2012 de Artes visuales y Tutorial de la Sala d'Art Jove, 7 Diciembre 2011
El programa público de la exposición “Apuntes para un incendio de los ojos” (MACBA, 22 octubre 2021–27 febrero 2022) incluye visitas comentadas, recorridos performativos, visitas cantadas, ensayos abiertos y encuentros.
Actividades gratuitas. Con inscripción previa. Plazas limitadas.
20 noviembre 2021, 18:30 h: Ensayo abierto de Ocells perduts (2021) de Laia Estruch, artista de la exposición.
2 diciembre 2021, 18:30 h: Hablemos de... Cabaret con Antoni Hervàs, artista de la exposición. El itinerario continuará fuera del museo y finalizará en el Teatre Arnau.
29 enero 2022, 10 h: Sistematurgia de A quatre potes. Encuentro en la sala del museo con nyamnyam y Pedro Pineda, Lídia Guitart, Curro Claret, Ingrid Guardiola, el equipo curatorial y grupo de participantes de los talleres.
29 enero 2022, 18:30 h:Ensayo abierto de Ocells perduts (2021) de Laia Estruch, artista de la exposición.
26 febrero 2022, 18:30 h:Ensayo abierto de Ocells perduts (2021) de Laia Estruch, artista de la exposición.
Ensayo de Ocells Perduts (2021) de Laia Estruch. Foto: Eva Font/Latitudes.
Ocupando la segunda planta del MACBA, “Apuntes para un incendio de los ojos” reúne obras obras encargadas para la ocasión y producciones recientes realizadas por 17 artistas afincados en Barcelona y alreadedores. La exposición presenta pintura, la escultura, obra en papel, la videoinstalación, la performance, la fotografía y el textil, y se podrá visitar hasta el 27 de febrero 2022.
“Apuntes para un incendio de los ojos” evoca una potente metáfora que nos lleva a cuestionar el predominio de lo visual y nos alienta a explorar una definición expandida del ver que implique al resto de nuestros sentidos mediante nuevos modos de navegar el mundo, de recordar y de producir conocimiento. La forma ocular adquiere vida propia en la imaginación de esta muestra evocando los panoramas del siglo xviii, y representa los lazos que el museo establece a su alrededor y viceversa, en una época en que quizá reconsideremos qué lugar deberíamos ocupar en el mundo.
The November 2021 monthly Cover Story “Notes for an Eye Fire” is now up on our homepage: www.lttds.org
“There are days when an event, by the logic of the unforeseen, makes a cut in history and a different world is born. The MACBA exhibition ‘Apunts per a un incendi dels ulls’ (Notes for an Eye Fire) welcomes us after the global reset with a new generation.”
Notes for an Eye Fire is the first exhibition of a new series of triennial transdisciplinary projects entitled Panorama, focusing on artistic practices in and around Barcelona. As the “notes” of the title suggests, this group exhibition attempts to jot down, to lay out and to connect without seeking to be in any way definitive.
Notes for an Eye Fire brings together a group of specially commissioned works and recent productions being shown in Barcelona for the first time. It comprises a wide range of disciplines, including painting, sculpture, works on paper, video installation, performance, photography and textiles, and is driven by a desire to defend and verify the making of on-site exhibitions as experiences that envelop us as whole sensing bodies in space.
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