#lisette lagnado

[acordediminuto]

[artatak-texts]

11th Berlin Biennale: On the Human Condition

An interview by Katerina Valdivia Bruch for the journal On Curating

The 11th Berlin Biennale chose to start its activities one year before its opening date. Following a process-based curatorial approach, the team of four curators began its undertaking at the ExRotaprint complex, working in small groups, and involving the locals and the artistic community. The programme includes reflections and discussions around vulnerability, care and solidarity, as well as extractivism, fanaticism and the rise of nationalisms. While a worldwide pandemic has forced us to stop and go back to basics, all these issues have become more urgent than ever. We spoke with the curators on creating sustainable relationships, doing things on a human scale, and the meaning of community in times of the pandemic.

The Female Voice and Ways of Working from the South

Katerina Valdivia Bruch (KVB): In recent years, political identity has been a recurring topic in the arts field. The team of curators of the 11th Berlin Biennale presents itself as a female voice. What do you mean by that?

Agustín Pérez Rubio (APR): Today, after decades of feminism and queer theory, of theories on political thought around gender, there is still – mainly in society, but also in the arts field–a macho way of thinking and a reduction of powers, managed mostly by men.

When we speak about the feminine, we do not only group what is not the masculine. What we are actually doing is seeking to break the idea of machismo. As you know, in our countries – Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Spain – the situation of violence against women and LGBTQ communities is horrendous. That is why we are interested in defeating this macho and violent view of reality that is present and reproduced in many institutions as well.

KVB: How does this voice manifest itself?

APR: It's about not imposing positions, not having prejudices, being open to communication, or doing something between several people. We, with our curator's voices, are a small example of this, but you will see that several projects of the Biennale are collaborations between different artists. The idea of process, that is at the core of our project for the Biennale, is also a way of understanding this kind of voice. Also, by slowing down the machinery of the Biennale itself, in favour of more sustainable relationships with the locals and with the idea of care. All these are modes of trying to change our ways of doing and saying, which are based on feminist and queer accounts.

KVB: The South is a concept implicit in the Biennale's proposal. How would you define it? What characterises it?

Renata Cervetto (RC): We bring different ways of doing things. For example, in the way each one of us thinks the programme or an exhibition, or in our communication with other people. Improvisation comes into play, but also a different way of planning, in which things are not so regulated. We are always in this negotiation, between a less formal structure and an established institution, trying to generate more porous and fluctuating processes that adapt to the requirements of each situation.

APR: Actually, we are not thematising the South, but there is a part of our South that is impregnated in ourselves. And, with this, I don't mean only a geopolitical relationship. What interests us is to explain that there are other achievements, lessons and theories, that come from our South and from there extend to the Global South.

Establishing Sustainable Relationships

KVB: Why did you start your first actions at the ExRotaprint building complex in Wedding, a popular neighbourhood with a fairly high migrant population?

APR: It was clear to us that we didn't want to work in the city centre, nor within an art facility. We were also very careful to not further accentuate the gentrification that has already happened in certain areas of the city, occasionally as a result of the arts context. We wanted to find an initiative that was already working, an umbrella containing social, artistic, and business parts in equal terms, as it is the case of the projects developed by the ExRotaprint community. In fact, we didn't choose to work in Wedding. We chose to work with ExRotaprint, that happened to be located in Wedding. The district interested us, because of its migrant communities and also because there are other artistic initiatives nearby that have been working for some time in this neighbourhood.

RC: When we began to think about the project, we were asking ourselves how we could work with the format of the Biennale in such a way that it would generate a sort of commitment, not only with the city, but also with the people we are working with. We are not revolutionising the space or bringing in novelty. For us, it's more about integrating what people can bring to the project from what they are already doing, from their own initiatives. And that takes more time, more presence from us in the space, a different engagement. One example of this are the schools we were working with in the first stage. We offered them a project that might work for their curriculum, and opened up the space to develop it.

APR: With all this, what we are trying to do is to point out how a biennial might help to establish sustainable relationships and intertwine different agents: artistic, social, economic, political, etc., within a city, among themselves and with the rest of the community. We consider it fundamental to understand the Biennale as an open process that includes the neighborhood, the people and its initiatives, and, of course, the artistic community of Berlin. Besides this, our space at ExRotaprint is a sort of tribute to the famous CAM (Club de Artistas Modernos, English: Club of Modern Artists), founded in 1932 by Brazilian artist Flávio de Carvalho (1899-1973), who is like our ally in this Biennale's edition. We are trying to bring Flávio's experiences back to the present, and also include the current experience we are going through due to the pandemic. While the CAM of São Paulo proposed a kind of open artist workshop for the community, our idea is that of an open curatorial process, in collaboration with and open to our social surroundings in Wedding and with the ExRotaprint building complex.

Reflecting from the Arts

KVB: What were the reasons to choose to work with Flávio de Carvalho's legacy for the first phase of the Biennale?

Lisette Lagnado (LL): I have always been attracted to working with artists who have a conceptual density. For instance, I have spent many years researching Hélio Oiticica's writings. For me, it was no longer important to show his work, which was widely known, but rather to present his urban and environmental programme for the public space. The case of Flávio de Carvalho is also an example of an artist with multiple interests, including anthropology, psychoanalysis, architecture, etc. I could have started referring to theorists such as Walter Benjamin or Hannah Arendt, philosophical figures who have formed my own theoretical background, but I needed to start from an artist's point of view. This allows the Biennale to have a more conceptual structure. Of course, it is completely legitimate to take references from theorists or social scientists, but it is different to work with an artistic perspective as an entry point. From there, we can elucidate common points, difficulties or contradictions, and then contrast them with the present.

María Berríos (MB): For us, it was necessary to have something, a kind of vehicle or guiding principle that was familiar to us. This was one of the reasons why we chose to work with Flávio de Carvalho's artistic practice.

LL: We began to think about Flávio's failed experiences and how they could be contextualized today. The idea of experience brings with it the idea of failure as well, of things that don't turn out the way one wants. We are interested in dismantling a modernist narrative that only chooses the highlights within a trajectory and doesn't problematise the failures. Flávio was considered a transgressor in his time, and this also reflects how civilization has been thought of over the years.

On Building Alliances and Collective Work

KVB: The Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende (Salvador Allende Solidarity Museum), presented as part of the Biennale, was inaugurated in 1972 by Brazilian art critic and journalist Mário Pedrosa, who was in exile in Chile at that time. What is the meaning of the museum in today's context?

MB: The history of the Museo de la Solidaridad has been usually told either from Allende's or from Pedrosa's perspective. But, the truth is that the principles of the museum were developed long before that. In the late 1950s in Chile, for example, there were a number of initiatives that took art to remote locations, by train or by bus, managed by an entourage of artists. The museum project itself was the collective work of a group of Chilean artists, journalists, and art historians. They were the ones who invited Mário Pedrosa to take on the direction of the museum. Many artists, including the strategic incorporation of some internationally renowned artists at the time, donated works as a political act of solidarity with the Chilean people and their struggle.

The generation of alliances between more fragile positions and the need to bring together vulnerabilities, principles that were at the base of the museum's establishment, are present in what we are doing for the Biennale. I think the Museo de la Solidaridad is an exceptional experiment in that sense.

Solidarity and Care in Times of the Pandemic

KVB: The Biennale had to close its exhibition space due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). What reflections can be drawn from this worldwide pandemic?

LL: Before closing our space, the Biennale had more than 50 invited participants. Several projects were already taking place. In the midst of all these changes, I began to reflect on how we would be able to process such a radical global change. Immediately, the motto “ninguém solta a mão de ninguém” (no one should release the hand of anyone) came to my mind. This slogan arose in 2018, as soon as the results of the presidential elections in Brazil were known. Many people went out to the streets to protest against the newly elected president Jair Bolsonaro, known for his racist and sexist statements. However, the vast majority were afraid to go out alone to demonstrate, because inside the crowd were infiltrated members of law enforcement agencies and police, who generally use violence against protesters. That phrase, told by a mother to her daughter, just before the latter was about to leave the house to protest, allowed us to feel the strength of the collectivity, of a united and protective crowd. And now I think: our strength, the fact of holding the hand of our peers, has become a danger of contagion. What a cruel contradiction!

MB: At the moment, it is fundamental to insist on different ways of supporting each other. A “social distance” is demanded, but what is actually needed is to think socially, to take care of one another. This is not just an individual or isolated act —it is a social act. The virus accentuates inequality, which means that those who will perish will be the most vulnerable. It is essential to reflect on how people are going to meet again during and after the pandemic. Instead of this, what is unfolding around the world are severe measures, typical of authoritarian regimes: border closures, police and military deployments, restrictions on free movement or citizen denunciations. The current situation forces us to think about how to slow things down, to return to a more human scale, without accentuating the fierce elitism and violent exclusion that are already structural to and systematically reproduced by the cultural institutions we work in.

RC: I believe the change has to happen first in oneself, in order to be able to transmit and generate a collective consciousness of care. This virus makes it clear: any decision one makes in relation to one's body is going to affect others sooner or later. Coping with this virus implies trusting strangers, trusting that there is someone else who takes care of herself/himself in order to take care of me as well. It is a very powerful gesture, since it generates a network of containment and support among people. We are privileged, because we have a job that allows us to think of new ways to meet and, from there, continue to build a joint journey. This also entails a great responsibility, because it is not a change that will happen in a year. It will take time to meet again, not only physically, but also emotionally and from our own feelings.

LL: Several of the urgent issues we are experiencing right now were already part of our agenda for the Biennale, among them the emphasis on the local audience, small meetings on a human scale, as well as issues on solidarity and crisis management, a job mostly done by women. Right now, borders have been closed again. This is something against essential human rights, such as mobility and the right to life, especially in the case of migrants and refugees. How can we re-found a community of human beings in a situation of confinement, prohibition of mobility, and restrictions on physical contact? It is too early to draw conclusions about this pandemic, but enough to observe that neoliberalism is fueling human arrogance, instead of reassessing and putting into place the necessary measures to provide a greener economy and global solidarity. I would like to finish with a sentence by the artist duo The Black Mamba, that sums it up quite well: “Some curves will not be flattened”.

Translation from Spanish: Katerina Valdivia Bruch

This interview took place in September 2019 at KW Institute for Contemporary Art and ExRotaprint. It was updated in May 2020, during the outbreak of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

A shorter version of this interview, with the title “11ª Bienal de Berlín: Voces femeninas, acciones colectivas y enfoques desde el Sur”, was first published in November 2019 in the online magazine of Goethe-Institut Argentina (in Spanish and German). The Portuguese version was published in May 2020 in the online magazine of Goethe-Institut Brasil.

Katerina Valdivia Bruch is a Berlin-based independent curator and arts writer. She holds a BA in Philosophy (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú), a Cultural Policies and Management Diploma (Universitat de Barcelona), and an MA in Museum Studies and Critical Theory (Independent Study Programme, MACBA/Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). Katerina has curated exhibitions and organised symposia, talks and lectures for a number of institutions, including ZKM-Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Bielefelder Kunstverein (Bielefeld), Grimmuseum (Berlin), CCCB (Barcelona), Instituto Cervantes (Berlin and Munich), Instituto Cultural de León (Mexico), Para/Site Art Space (Hong Kong), and the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore. In 2008, she was co-curator of the Prague Triennale at the National Gallery in Prague. Besides her work as a curator, she contributes essays, interviews and articles to art publications and magazines. Among her publications are several articles and interviews on previous editions of the Berlin Biennale, Biennale Jogja, Kochi-Muziris Biennale and Manifesta Biennale. For more information, visit www.artatak.net

Notes

11th Berlin Biennale The 11th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art is conceived as an extended process of unfolding artistic projects and encounters. The Biennale's presence in the city has not been limited to the dates of the exhibition. The intergenerational, female identified team of curators is composed by María Berríos from Chile, Renata Cervetto from Argentina, Lisette Lagnado from Brazil, and Agustín Pérez Rubio from Spain. They started to build up their programme in a temporary space at the architectural complex ExRotaprint, located in the district of Wedding.

The curatorial group was established from its personal backgrounds and affinities with South America, mainly Brazil, Chile and Argentina. The three countries, together with Spain, form a particular constellation, which served as a starting point for discussing various social and political issues that we are currently experiencing, such as the "return" of racist and fascist manifestations, the growth of hate speech and religious fanaticism, the appreciation of an ecological feminism, among others.

Over the last few months, the curators have developed a series of experiences in three moments:

exp. 1: The Bones of the World The experience of arriving in Berlin was marked by the meteorite that survived the fire that  burned down the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro in September 2018. It is an attempt to hold on to the complicated beauty of life when the fire erupted. It is not an obsession with the ruins, but an attempt to be attentive to what is made with the rubble. A way of working with and remaining beside that which moves us now.

exp. 2: Virginia de Medeiros and the Feminist Health Care Research Group Series of discussions and meetings on topics such as the repoliticisation of health and illness, care, accessibility and sharing vulnerabilites, amongst others.

exp. 3: Affect Archives, with Sinthujan Varatharajah and Osías Yanov Recollection and reflections on bodily memories and practices of survival, communion, borders and mobility, through different political and affective geographies.

Since September 2019, the 11th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art has been unfolding as a process through a series of lived experiences with exp. 1, exp. 2 and exp. 3. In a fourth step, conceived as an epilogue, the 11th Berlin Biennale will bring these experiences together with artistic participations from around the world. In their diverse modes of articulating solidarity, fragility and resistance, these contributions rise up to materialise the complicated beauty of life amidst the turbulent times we inhabit.

The Corona pandemic has affected the preparations for the 11th Berlin Biennale, which was originally scheduled from June 13 to September 13, 2020. We are currently looking into new dates, in close cooperation with the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the exhibition venues. The dates will be made public as soon as they are determined.

Berlin Biennale für zeitgenössische Kunst (11th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art) https://11.berlinbiennale.de/

Image: Installation view exp. 1: The Bones of the World, 7.9.–9.11.2019, 11th Berlin Biennale, ExRotaprint, Photo: Mathias Völzke

[artatak]

“11ª Bienal de Berlín: Voces femeninas, acciones colectivas y enfoques desde el Sur”, now available in Portuguese

My interview with the 11th Berlin Biennale curators has been translated into Portuguese and has been published by the online magazine of Goethe-Institut Brasil.

Photo: curators of the 11th Berlin Biennale. From left to right: Renata Cervetto, Agustín Pérez Rubio, María Berríos, Lisette Lagnado © F. Anthea Schaap

[rethinkingconceptualism]

In order to stay connected during these exceptional times, we have started a blog in which we will share some information on topics related to the project  Rethinking Conceptualism and its participants. Interviews, articles, essays and videos will follow.

In this interview with the curators of the Berlin Biennale, Lisette Lagnado speaks about the importance of working together and tells us about her experience with the co-curators of the biennale (the interview is in Spanish and German).

Let's stay in touch!

*

Para seguir conectados durante este tiempo de excepción, hemos creado este blog donde empezaremos a compartir material con información sobre algunos temas relacionados con el proyecto Repensar el conceptualismo y los participantes del mismo. Incluiremos entrevistas, artículos, ensayos y videos.

Aquí los dejamos con una entrevista a las curadoras de la Bienal de Berlín. En ella, Lisette Lagnado habla sobre la importancia del trabajo en conjunto y nos cuenta sobre su experiencia con las co-curadoras de la bienal.

¡Sigamos en contacto!

Interview/Entrevista: Katerina Valdivia Bruch for/para el Goethe-Institut Argentinien

Photo: Curators of the 11th Berlin Biennale/Curadores de la undécima Bienal de Berlín. From left to right/De izquierda a derecha: Renata Cervetto, Agustín Pérez Rubio, María Berríos, Lisette Lagnado © F. Anthea Schaap

[artatak-texts]

11ª Bienal de Berlín: Voces femeninas, acciones colectivas y enfoques desde el Sur

Una entrevista de Katerina Valdivia Bruch para el Goethe-Institut Argentinien

La undécima edición de la bienal de arte contemporáneo de Berlín cuenta con un equipo curatorial integrado por la argentina Renata Cervetto, la chilena María Berríos, la brasileña Lisette Lagnado y el español Agustín Pérez Rubio. En esta entrevista, que tuvo lugar en el KW Institute for Contemporary Art y en el ExRotaprint de la capital alemana, hablan de la curaduría como proceso, y de su enfoque en clave política y femenina desde el Sur.

La voz femenina y las formas de trabajar desde el Sur

La identidad política es un tema actualmente muy presente en el campo del arte. Ustedes se presentan como una voz femenina. ¿Qué es lo que entienden por esa voz?

Agustín Pérez Rubio (APR): Hoy en día, después de décadas de feminismo y teoría queer, de teoría de pensamiento político en torno al género, aún sigue habiendo, sobre todo en la sociedad y también en el arte, un pensamiento machista y una reducción de los poderes, gestionados en su mayoría por hombres.

En la manera en que enuncias, estás proyectando. No pensamos en términos biologistas. Cuando enunciamos lo femenino, no sólo agrupamos esa parte que no es la masculina, sino justamente buscamos quebrar esa idea de machismo. Como sabemos, en nuestros países la situación de la violencia contra las mujeres y los colectivos LGBTQ es horrorosa. Por eso nos interesa quebrar esa mirada machista, violenta, que está presente también en las instituciones.

Quizá podríamos decir que somos un grupo que se asume desde el Sur, femenino, no biologista, pero es demasiado específico, sobre todo en una frase.

¿De qué forma se manifiesta esa voz?

APR: Se trata de no imponer posturas, no tener prejuicios, estar abierto a la comunicación, hacer algo entre varios. Nosotros somos un pequeño ejemplo, pero verá que varios proyectos de la bienal son colaboraciones entre varios artistas. Una de las iniciativas que queremos readecuar con nuestro proyecto para la bienal es esa idea de proceso, que también es una manera de entender ese tipo de voz.

El Sur es un concepto implícito en la propuesta de la bienal. ¿Cómo lo definirían? ¿Qué es lo que lo caracteriza?

APR: Nosotros no estamos tematizando el Sur. Al contrario, lo estamos entendiendo. Hay una parte de nuestro Sur que lo llevamos impregnado. Y no se trata sólo de una relación geopolítica, sino de una serie de logros, aprendizajes, teorías, etc.

Renata Cervetto (RC): Traemos formas de hacer distintas, por ejemplo en la forma cómo cada uno de nosotros piensa el programa o una muestra, o en la comunicación con la gente. Entran en juego la improvisación, una planificación distinta, donde no todo está tan reglamentado. Estamos todo el tiempo en esa negociación, entre una estructura y una institución como la Bienal de Berlín, tratando de generar procesos más porosos, más fluctuantes, que puedan cambiar.

¿Por qué eligieron iniciar sus primeras acciones en el ExRotaprint en Wedding, un barrio popular con una población de origen migrante bastante alta?

APR: Hemos escogido el ExRotaprint, en Wedding. Si no estaba el ExRotaprint, no veníamos a Wedding, porque no hubiéramos escogido un edificio vacío de apartamentos o una casa antigua, que luego podría ser comprada por un empresario. Eso ya se ha visto y todo Berlín está así, gentrificado. Lo interesante era no crear algo que no estuviera ya creado, sino estar en un paraguas que contenga una parte social, política y artística, pero también de negocio. De otra manera, no hubiéramos venido. No es solamente Wedding, sino nos interesa el contexto en el que estamos trabajando.

RC: No estamos revolucionando el espacio o trayendo la novedad. Se trata más bien de integrar lo que esas personas pueden aportar al proyecto a partir de su propia iniciativa. Y eso lleva más tiempo, más presencia en el espacio, un compromiso diferente. Un ejemplo son las cinco escuelas con las que trabajaremos en esta primera etapa. Nosotros les ofrecemos un proyecto, que tal vez les pueda servir para sus currículas, y abrimos el espacio para su uso. Normalmente abrimos de jueves a sábado, pero si las escuelas pueden venir un martes, entonces abrimos un martes.

¿Qué rol asume la pedagogía aquí? ¿Suple alguna carencia de algún espacio de instrucción?

RC: No suple, sino que suma, porque genera espacios de encuentro que de otra forma no serían posibles. Artistas, profesores, estudiantes, personas de distintos campos, que no necesariamente se encontrarían en una escuela, quizás se encuentren en estos espacios que generamos con esa intención.

Sobre la creación de alianzas y el trabajo colectivo

El Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende, que se presenta como parte de la bienal, fue inaugurado en 1972 por el crítico de arte y periodista brasileño Mário Pedrosa, exiliado en Chile en ese momento. ¿Qué significa el Museo de la Solidaridad en el contexto de hoy?

María Berríos (MB): La manera en que la historia del Museo de la Solidaridad se ha contado ha sido mucho desde Allende, desde Pedrosa, pero la verdad es que los principios del museo ya se estaban gestando en Chile desde hace mucho tiempo. Muchos artistas, periodistas e historiadores del arte chilenos estaban trabajando en el proyecto del museo para hacerlo posible. Todas esas personas, que llevaban años trabajando en iniciativas semejantes, invitaron a Mário Pedrosa para asumir la dirección de esa iniciativa. Además, el museo fue impulsado en su etapa inicial desde el exilio, sobre todo por mujeres.

También hubo muchas donaciones de obras de artistas reconocidos.

MB: En ese momento no era un museo, sino que eran sólo donaciones de artistas. Se trataba de un acto político de solidaridad con el pueblo de Chile. Es así como nace el museo. Esa idea de generar alianzas, la necesidad de juntar vulnerabilidades, está totalmente presente en lo que estamos haciendo para la bienal. Ver cómo nos juntamos en este estado de quebramiento. Y creo que el Museo de la Solidaridad es un experimento excepcional en ese sentido.

Lisette, la Bienal de São Paulo, que usted curó en el año 2006, tenía como título “Cómo vivir juntos”. ¿Cómo entiende el tema de la convivencia?

Lisette Lagnado: La inauguración de la bienal fue durante el segundo gobierno de Lula y ya estábamos viviendo el comienzo de la campaña contra la corrupción, que fue instrumentalizada y concluyó con la destitución de Dilma Rousseff.

Cuando lo pienso, las prácticas colaborativas que se dieron en mi bienal hoy no serían posibles. En ese momento, los avances sociales fueron increíbles, por ejemplo en términos de prácticas queer. Además, la noción de extractivismo cultural estaba muy presente en la consciencia de los artistas.

Fue una bienal que planteó proyectos colectivos con una presencia grande de activistas, algo inesperado para la Bienal de São Paulo, caracterizada por una fuerte carga museológica. Pienso que hoy la bienal “Cómo vivir juntos” sería en cierto sentido la bienal de la solidaridad.

La convivencia con las curadoras de la décimo primera Bienal de Berlín, en el formato en el que me encuentro hoy, es un formato mucho más colaborativo. En el formato anterior, yo tenía co-curadores que eran asociados, y es algo muy distinto a trabajar a partir de voces iguales, como sucede en esta bienal.

11a Bienal de Berlín

https://11.berlinbiennale.de/

exp. 1: Das Gerippe der Welt (Los huesos del mundo)

07.09.–09.11.2019

exp. 2: Virginia de Medeiros – Feministische Gesundheitsrecherchegruppe (Virginia de Medeiros: Grupo Feminista de Investigación para la Salud)

30.11.2019–08.02.2020

exp. 3

22.02.–02.05.2020

epílogo – 11a Bienal de Berlín

13.06.–13.09.2020

Autora: Katerina Valdivia Bruch es curadora y crítica de arte independiente. Vive y trabaja en Berlín.

Enlaces sobre el tema

Gabi Ngcobo: “We are all postcolonial”

Künstler-und Kiezgemeinschaften gegen Verdrängung

Biennalen und Stadtentwicklung – Mythos oder Realität?

Bienal de São Paulo “Cómo vivir juntos”

ExRotaprint

KW Institute for Contemporary Art

>> Deutsche Fassung

Foto: Curadores de la undécima Bienal de Berlín. De izquierda a derecha: Renata Cervetto, Agustín Pérez Rubio, María Berríos, Lisette Lagnado | © F. Anthea Schaap

[quintalinvisivel]

Para que serve o curador?

Dez análises lúcidas e debochadas de artistas e curadores sobre o papel desse profissional no meio de arte contemporânea

Tadeu Chiarelli, Diretor de Museu, Professor e Curador:

“Para nada”. Seria essa a resposta, se eu levasse em conta a primeira impressão que me dá a leitura da pergunta. Ali, parece que o curador é um objeto, uma “coisa” que pode ou não ser usada; é o curador como uma mercadoria a mais do circuito de arte, do mercadão que ele se tornou. Nesse contexto, o curador não passa de um logo que chancela qualquer outra mercadoria, conferindo-lhe, quase sempre, um status não muito mais espesso do que uma nota de 1 real. Mas o curador pode ser o filtro entre a arte e o tal mercadão; o elemento que sublinha a real importância de determinados artistas, de determinadas obras. Aí, então, a resposta seria: “Serve muito”

Eduardo Srur, Artista e Agitador Cultural:

Vejo o curador como um agente que intermedeia conceitos e negócios dentro do circuito da arte. A atual força de controle da arte nas mãos de curadores deve-se, em parte, à incapacidade de muitos artistas para construir diálogos claros e convincentes sobre seus próprios trabalhos e para negociar a produção no sistema. A minha trajetória sempre mostrou uma urgência no desenvolvimento e realização de obras visuais que se comunicam diretamente com o público e a cidade. E minhas exposições ocorrem em espaços não controlados pelo circuito artístico convencional. Dessa forma, abro uma possibilidade de caminho alternativa, em que a figura do curador não é necessária. Manter um relacionamento com os curadores é sempre bom, por serem intelectuais que ampliam o conhecimento, mas não devem ser vistos como figuras imprescindíveis no percurso de um artista e as convicções.

O papel do curador, depois da fase personalista dos anos 1990, tem se diluído em verdadeiras comissões técnicas – como as dos grandes times e seleções de futebol – capazes de abranger leques muito maiores de manifestações culturais. Essa amplidão faz-se necessária justamente pela própria diluição da arte na cultura, que pode não somente flertar, impregnar-se ou citar, mas mesmo fazer as vezes de manifestações tão díspares como o showbiz ou a ciência aplicada, a etnografia ou o vandalismo.

Lisette Lagnado, Curadora do Panorama MAM 2013:

Achei particularmente difícil responder, devido à formulação da pergunta: “Para que serve...?” Talvez devesse ser para quem. Aí, minha resposta seria direta: para os artistas e para o público. A curadoria no Brasil dispõe de uma narrativa que começou há pouco tempo. Se, nos fóruns internacionais, o debate alcança níveis sofisticados (discute-se o curador como artista, o curador-ativista, o curador-etnógrafo), no Brasil ainda vigora a ideia de que o curador ora justapõe obras disparatadas entre elas de forma arbitrária, ora tem “mão pesada”. São argumentos que depõem contra a competência intelectual do curador, sua capacidade de pesquisa e associações criativas, sua memória histórica e seu real engajamento com questões do presente.

Felipe Chaimovich, Diretor de Museu e Curador:

O curador de arte constrói ciclos visuais reunindo obras independentes entre si, mas que passam a formar um conjunto por ocasião da curadoria. Esses ciclos visuais representam a interpretação do curador sobre um tema. Caso o tema aborde a história contemporânea, o curador colabora com a investigação sobre valores do presente, pois a contemporaneidade é definida como um período em desenvolvimento, logo é desprovida de valores definitivos; assim, a curadoria de arte contemporânea permite testar hipóteses sobre o presente por meio da reunião de obras de arte.

Nino Cais, Artista:

O curador como semeador – “Outra parábola lhes propôs, dizendo: O reino dos céus é semelhante a um homem que semeou boa semente no seu campo; mas, enquanto os homens dormiam, veio o inimigo dele, semeou o joio no meio do trigo e retirou-se. E, quando a erva cresceu e produziu fruto, apareceu também o joio. Então, vindo os servos do dono da casa, lhe disseram: Senhor, não semeastes boa semente no teu campo? Donde vem, pois, o joio? Ele, porém, lhes respondeu: Um inimigo fez isso. Mas os servos lhe perguntaram: Queres que vamos e arranquemos o joio? Não! Replicou ele, para que, ao separar o joio, não arranqueis também com ele o trigo. Deixai-os crescer juntos até à colheita e, no tempo da colheita, direi aos ceifeiros: ajuntai primeiro o joio, atai-o em feixes para ser queimado; mas o trigo, recolhei-o no meu celeiro”. (Fonte: Mateus, 13)

Kika Nicolela, Artista e Cineasta:

A palavra “curador” vem do latim curare, que significa algo como “aquele que cuida”. Por um lado, talvez o curador tenha essa função de cuidar de uma exposição ou de uma coleção institucional, ou até de cuidar das obras e dos artistas. Mas o mais importante, a meu ver, é a capacidade (dos bons curadores...) de realmente entender e apreender o que há de mais relevante num determinado contexto e num determinado momento, e de articular isso sob a forma de exposição de arte.

Fernando Velazquez, Artista e Curador:

Para articular conhecimentos específicos, fruto de uma pesquisa séria e aprofundada sobre um assunto qualquer. Conhecimentos que promovam, mobilizem e/ou questionem o já conhecido, em prol de novas perspectivas que expandam a nossa consciência de mundo.

Gustavo Rezende, Artista e Professor:

Acho que o curador atua em diversas frentes, e funciona ao mesmo tempo como um radar, ligado à produção dos artistas, possibilitando uma visibilidade para essa produção. Pode atuar junto a instituições, feiras etc., pode ter um olhar mais ou menos conservador sobre essa mesma produção, assim como abrir espaços de discussão. É lógico que, ao mesmo tempo em que inclui, pode excluir. Também pode ser uma figura com um olhar especializado, ou muito imperativo, querendo ser artista ou defendendo que não há diferença entre uma coisa e outra, ou ainda um ativista. Os curadores, quanto mais diversificados e autônomos forem, melhor, porque isso democratiza; e são importantes dentro do sistema da arte, o que inclui o próprio mercado.

XICLET, artista e diretora de galeria independente:

Curador serve para organizar o que já está organizado na cabeça dele. Organizar o que esta organizado é fácil; quero ver desorganizar o que está organizado. Queria muito ver alguns curadores se organizarem assim, de supetão criarem um percurso dentro daquilo que surge (sem regras, sem limites). Eles, ao contrário, criam um viés e depois vão escolhendo obras e artistas de acordo com seus temas. Eu não (até dou o tema mas ninguém precisa seguir). Se o curador é um organizador, minha mãe (Iodália Matos Duarte) também é curadora, pois organiza e administra a casa dela muito melhor do que já vi muitos curadores por aí fazer.

[avecaesar]

Saiba como foi o debate de Verônica Cordeiro, Jorge Coli, Carlos Adriano e Lisette Lagnado a respeito da obra do artista americano Matthew Barney.