Repeat All – Sao Paolo – Brasil
25 January – 29 March 2009
Repeat All is proposed as a journey through 14 video installations or intimate spaces, with the idea of representing, through international and Brazilian video works from the last decade, a vast panorama of proposals with contents of excellent artistic and production quality. The approach used in the selected works has been to confront narrative, contemplative or simply radical works.
The diverse origins of the participating artists allow for the confrontation of different cultures and their dialectics of influence, providing a broader vision, both in geographical and narrative terms. In this sense, each artist has used his or her own language and has narrated various events of both political and cultural contingency, whether incorporating new technologies or reflecting real and complex behaviours through classical themes,
Repeat All is a travelling and mouldable exhibition that was born in collaboration with two independent cultural entities, one in Switzerland ” Toit du Monde ” and the other in Barcelona and Buenos Aires ” KBB ” (Kültur Büro Barcelona/Buenos Aires).The first presentation of the project was made in September 2006 in the framework of the Biennial ” IMAGES 06 ” in Vevey, Switzerland, and then it was presented in MATUCANA 100, in Santiago de Chile in the spring of 2007. In 2009 it was presented at the MIS in Sao Paulo before continuing its journey to Caraca, Venezuela.
At this station the exhibition includes the work of: Carlos Amorales (Mexico), Alejandro Vidal (Spain), Hassan Khan (Egypt), Sanna Kannisto (Finland), PinkTwins (Finland), Mark Formanek (Germany), Cao Guimarães(Brazil), Santiago Sierra (Spain), John Bock (Germany), El Perro (Spain), DEMOCRACIA (Spain), Muntean/Rosenblum (Austria/Israel), Sean Snyder (USA), Solmaz Shahbazi (Iran), Leandro lima/Gisela Motta (Brazil).
At the beginning, the concept of the project was to propose a selection of artists’ works gathered with the intention of showing the different possibilities offered by a work methodology based on a specific tool, video. On the other hand, it was also interesting to try to present these artists in countries where most of them had not yet exhibited their work.
In a second phase, that began with the Sao Paulo exhibition at MIS, “Repeat all” initiates a mutation or evolution, that is, not only have certain works or artists been integrated or modified in direct reaction to certain events that have occurred in recent years, but also local artists from the country in which the exhibition is being presented have been integrated, in order to give rise to a process of transition and intercultural dialogue.
In contrast to the title of the exhibition, in which everything should logically remain the same and be repeated, the idea of formalizing changes and mutations during the exhibition’s itinerancy has become more than necessary, since this project is a living and open process. This “work in progress” that is updated depending on the physical space in which it is presented, the geographical or political situation in which it takes place, and the artists’ trajectory or new encounters along the way, gives the project an energetic and flexible aspect. Likewise, after this show in Sao Paulo, it becomes feasible to have the selected Brazilian artists perform in other spaces in Brazil or in another country.
If the exhibition’s itinerary does not necessarily denote a fixed theme, what we do manage to perceive are the possibilities and freedom that video provides as means of artistic expression. It is interesting to note that almost all the artists selected for “Repeat all” use video as another tool for visual creation, since most of them are painters, performers, musicians, photographers, installers or a mixture of several of these categories. In this way, “Repeat all” offers a reflection on this abolition of artistic borders through a homogeneous vision of the creation by an artist group brought together under the same work methodology.
This methodological detail made the selection process easier and more natural during the research stage. At a time when artist groups or movements are no longer something formalized or brought together by a manifesto – unlike a significant number of artists in the last century – we witness a growing number of these groups being formed without ideology or common creative development: they are artists who, without knowing each other, mix together to form one big family that has been improvised over the years. In the case of “Repeat all”, as the project progresses and develops from one side of the globe to the other, a similar phenomenon could be occurring.
Sigismond de Vajay,
Artist and Curator
Barcelona/Buenos Aires
Project Coordinator in Sao Paulo : Vivian Wolf de Grivel
This project would not have been possible without the precious support of:
The artists
The Cultural Service of the City of Vevey, Switzerland
La Loterie Romande
The Spanish Ministry of Culture
The Institut Ramon Llull
SEACEX
AECID
FRAME
The Ministry of Culture of Finland Pro Helvetia
The KBB and Toit du Monde volunteer team
The project coordinators Carolina Olivares, Vivian Wolf de Grivel, Yésula Varela, Ana Printezi
The Galleries: Klosterfelde, Berlin, Maureen Paley, London, Salvador Diaz, Madrid, Chantal Crousel, Paris, Prometeo, Milano, Peter Kilchmann, Zurich, Kurimanzutto, Mexico Nara Roesler, Sao Paulo, Vermelho, Sao Paulo
The producer: Datenstrudel, Berlin
Ivan Hernandez
Ángeles Moreno
Pedro Donoso
