12th Bienal de Cuenca: Leaving to Return
Fundación Municipal Bienal de Cuenca, 03/28/2014 - 06/27/2014
ABOUT
The 12th Bienal de Cuenca is conceived as an open thought process, in which the artworks form a constellation of independent yet deeply interrelated concepts. Informed by Édouard Glissant's (Martinica, 1928–Paris, 2011) understanding of knowledge as stemming from movement and relation, the Bienal addresses the suspension of the privileged condition of the artist.
In some cases, this results in nomadic artworks, not only because of their physical movement, but also through the outsourcing of creative production to the point of following an almost industrial modus operandi. In other cases, artists recuperate traditional know-how, by working with craftsmen or rescuing fables and forgotten stories, or they reinterpret already existing works and even collaborate with spirits and other-than-human beings. The dissolution of the border between the conceptual and the physical author undermines the bases of economic, geographic and political status quos, often referring, in more or less direct ways, to postcolonial debates and the need to undermine market logic. Problematizing those issues, other artists question the validity of standard and universal measurements of time and space, and point to the impossibility of reducing the world to uniform criteria.
The title of the exhibition is based on the Ecuadorian expression Ir para volver (Leaving to return), which describes a physical and temporary absence (frequently even without a definite duration). While highlighting the state of movement as the key aspect of many artworks included in the exhibition, this expression also situates the 12th Bienal de Cuenca in the undefined field of speech, emphasizing the importance of dialogue and of the mixture of apparently distant, disparate, and even opposed forms of knowledge. Leaving to Return signals an ongoing dialogue that takes place far away from the rigidity of strict and polished discourses, and ultimately delves into life itself.
Dialogues, the discursive program of Leaving to Return, is structured around four of the main concepts of the exhibition. Nabil Ahmed, Sarah Demeuse, Max Jorge Hinderer and Manuel Segade were invited to organize the four table of discussion. On the final day of the program, architect Paulo Tavares will moderate a session that will explore the relation between the topics and the questions raised in the previous days, and articulate a collective dialogue.
For More Information
The 12th Bienal de Cuenca is conceived as an open thought process, in which the artworks form a constellation of independent yet deeply interrelated concepts. Informed by Édouard Glissant's (Martinica, 1928–Paris, 2011) understanding of knowledge as stemming from movement and relation, the Bienal addresses the suspension of the privileged condition of the artist.
In some cases, this results in nomadic artworks, not only because of their physical movement, but also through the outsourcing of creative production to the point of following an almost industrial modus operandi. In other cases, artists recuperate traditional know-how, by working with craftsmen or rescuing fables and forgotten stories, or they reinterpret already existing works and even collaborate with spirits and other-than-human beings. The dissolution of the border between the conceptual and the physical author undermines the bases of economic, geographic and political status quos, often referring, in more or less direct ways, to postcolonial debates and the need to undermine market logic. Problematizing those issues, other artists question the validity of standard and universal measurements of time and space, and point to the impossibility of reducing the world to uniform criteria.
The title of the exhibition is based on the Ecuadorian expression Ir para volver (Leaving to return), which describes a physical and temporary absence (frequently even without a definite duration). While highlighting the state of movement as the key aspect of many artworks included in the exhibition, this expression also situates the 12th Bienal de Cuenca in the undefined field of speech, emphasizing the importance of dialogue and of the mixture of apparently distant, disparate, and even opposed forms of knowledge. Leaving to Return signals an ongoing dialogue that takes place far away from the rigidity of strict and polished discourses, and ultimately delves into life itself.
Dialogues, the discursive program of Leaving to Return, is structured around four of the main concepts of the exhibition. Nabil Ahmed, Sarah Demeuse, Max Jorge Hinderer and Manuel Segade were invited to organize the four table of discussion. On the final day of the program, architect Paulo Tavares will moderate a session that will explore the relation between the topics and the questions raised in the previous days, and articulate a collective dialogue.