the brazilian curator private

8/14/2019 The Brazilian Curator Private

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The Brazilian Curator Private

by Paulo Herkenhoff and Adriano Pedrosa

I worked with Paulo Herkenhoff in the XXIV Sao Paulo Biennial as an adjunt urator

and as editor of !ubliations for a little "ore than a year and a half# Atually$ des!ite

bein% a Biennial$ the e&hibition was oneived of$ !ut to%ether and e&hibited in just '(

"onths# The Sao Paulo Biennial is the "ost o"!le& art e&hibition on the !lanet$ and

its hi%h nu"bers of urators$ artists$ works$ s)uare "eters$ ost$ visitors$ eduational!ro%ra"s and !ubliations are !roof of that# But$ as I wrote a few years bak about

another Sao Paulo Biennial$ the nu"bers "ay !rove the size of the event$ but they

never o""ent on its e&ellene# It is not the %reat nu"bers and statistis that will be

"ost re"e"bered about the XXIV Biennial$ but rather the indelible "ark left by its

urator on the history of the institution# *ith his fine ross between ritiis" and

!oetry$ his o""it"ent to eduational !ro%ra"s and art theory$ his ability to

ne%otiate with forei%n "useu" diretors and with those of the Biennial foundation

itself$ Herkenhoff has established new strutural and one!tual standards both for

the e&hibition and the institution# Herkenhoff has done all of this with a o"!le& and

"ulti!le one!tion of the e&hibition$ one that is Brazilian and o!en to the world$ bothonte"!orary and in dialo%ue with history+ anthro!o!ha%y ,I have yet to e&!lore its

e&tre"e relevane sine we took so lon% to !rodue an e&hibition on the subjet-#

.our "onths after the e&hibition$ I returned to /io de 0aneiro$ where Herkenhoff had

one a%ain reinstalled hi"self in his book1filled a!art"ent for a few "onths before

"ovin% to new 2ork$ and we s!oke about the rih and dizzyin% e&!eriene that was

the onstrution of the 3Biennial of the Century$3 as a Brazilian weekly alled it# At

ho"e$ Herkenhoff revealed to "e a side of hi"self that I thou%ht I knew inti"ately$

refletin% on the role or future of a .irst1*orld "e%a1e&hibition or%anized and finaned

by a Third *orld soiety# The days I had sheduled to be in /io turned out to not be

near lon% enou%h to o"!lete our disussions$ and at the end I ae!ted$ without a%reat deal of resistane$ Herkenhoff4s a!!eals to e&tend "y stay in the "ost sedutive

ity in the world# A"idst tele!hones that ran% softly every fifteen "inutes and !auses

to a!!reiate one or another book or art objet in the Brazilian urator4s olletion$ we

arrived at the followin% te&t#

Basket of 5ouns

*hen I be%an workin% on the Biennial I brou%ht with "e a basket full of nouns+ will$

joy$ fear$ hallen%e$ ertainty ,that a Biennial is an intelletual !roess$ a !roess of

knowled%e$ rather than a !roess throu%h whih works$ books$ atalo%s or te&ts are!rodued-$ solitude ,in the sense of not knowin% I first I refused to aknowled%e what

the Biennial "eant in the way of !ower$ until I understood that it eno"!assed

!ossibility and !oteny-# There were also nouns that were not e"otions+ density$

alteridade ,or what is the res!onsibility of assoiated alteridade in uratorial work6-$

ideas on eduation$ Brazil as a startin% !oint$ 7atin A"eria as a !rini!al territory$

asynhroniity and differene in a world without enter#

Ba%un8a

I love ba%un8a and not just Tun%a4s idea of it# Bak then$ the Biennial had a bit of that

ba%un8a# Ba%un8a "eans that one is searhin% to understand the flutuations that are!art of life$ of art and of the reative !roess# That is where we %et two basi Brazilian

senti"ents 1 saudade ,lon%in%- and )uintal ,bakyard- 1 whih are hard to e&!ress in

other lan%ua%es# 9uintal is not just the notion of bakyard$ it is so"ethin% different#

Ba%un8a is not just haos$ it is instead a flu& of ativities$ a %ivin% into the i"!ulse#


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That flu& of thin%s whih touhes us so dee!ly and about whih we re)uire so "any

e&!lanations$ is !art of Cildo :ereiles4 ;esvio !ara o ver"elho ,;efletion for /ed-#

Beatriz :ilhazes traes the idea of onsolidation$ of a s!eifi tradition of

anthro!olo%ial desire in Brazil# Adriana Varejrnesto 5eto# This was aBiennial that had a reative !art very "uh linked to the /io de 0aneiro tradition# And

in bein% the first urator fro" /io de 0aneiro to take har%e of the Sao Paulo Biennial$ I

also wanted to i"!rint u!on the e&hibition so"e of that ity4s harater$ so"ethin%

beyond the !rovinial dis!ute between the ountry4s two "ajor ities# There was then

so"ethin% of a seretive uratorial attitude that I deided not to announe$ whih led

"e in turn to %ive "yself u! to the funda"ental i"!ulses of the work of so"e of

Brazil4s "ost funda"ental artists# I learned fro" *alterio Caldas this entire business

about the s!ae between thin%s$ s!ae or air$ the li%ht that e&ists between thin%s# A

bit like :orandi$ really# Take for e&a"!le$ the notion of 3"a%netized s!ae#3 Caldas

wanted to "a%netize the entire Biennial$ he e&!lained that there should be no s!aewhere thin%s were hidden$ all !laes were worthy of attention$ ideas whih are also

!resent in the one!tion of 7y%ia Pa!e4s work# *hat I arried fro" these e&!erienes

was$ in fat$ that I wanted to !ut to%ether a Biennial that took as its startin% !lae the

thin%s I had learned fro" the artists#

Snail$ Periwinkle$ Abyss

5o one knows how to !ut to%ether a Sao Paulo Biennial# Those who have or%anized

one do not know how to or%anize another$ sine they should always be different# A

Biennial is wrou%ht like a snail$ a !eriwinkle shell built throu%hout the ti"e of its

e&istene# In the ase of an e&hibition involvin% ?@ thousand s)uare "eters and urators$ there is no !ossible$ !ratial or real ti"e to first !ut to%ether a uratorial

arhiteture$ seek out the work and announe the results# The Biennial develo!s in its

own ti"e$ develo!s its own "usles$ %rows$ onstruts and e&tends the shell whih is

the final view of it !eo!le will have# That ti"e is so heavy that the !roess beo"es

invariably "uh "ore si%nifiant than the urator intends# This is one of the Biennial4s

li"itations# In the !resent "odel$ the hu%eness of the Sao Paulo Biennial is its abyss#

There is an o!erational "ehanis" at work here$ the ity4s and the !ubli4s

e&!etations# The ity odified its own Biennia lon% a%o+ they have %reat e&!etations#

They lon% or the Bienal to "ake a %reat i"!at# /elations within the ity beo"e

sin%ularized$ thus redesi%nin% the li"it %o the e&hibitions own abyss#

Size

If I had had "ore ti"e$ I would have "ade the Biennial s"aller#

.ar1near

Initially$ we establish an a!!roah in a entrifu%al !roess that seeks to raise a

"a&i"u" of !ossibilities with re%ard to inter!retin% annibalis" and anthro!o!ha%y$

so"ethin% whih a!!eared dis!erse# All of the inter!retations of urators$ te&ts or

!eo!le involved in the Biennial were inor!orated into a list !ublished under the title

3'D .or"s of Anthro!o!ha%y and Cannibalis" fro" A"on% '@@@#3 It see"ed a!arado& to ae!t a entrifu%al !osition and at the sa"e ti"e return to a fous$ to a

onentration$ in entri!etal for"# Cannibalis" is "ulti!le and a way to shed

"eta!hors$ a to!os of ar%u"entation that obviously does not allow for the ree!tion of

everythin% and anythin%# In a %lobalized world$ the Biennial sou%ht out likenesses to


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e&!lore s!eifiities#

>duation

I have always said that the Biennial is an i"!ortant eduational tool# It4s also lear to

"e that the ost of a Biennial is often too hi%h# This e&!ense inreases when we

onsider that Brazil is a Third *orld ountry# Consider the !olitial risis inside the

Bienal de Svelyn 7osh!e and her tea"#

History,ies-

The )uality of the !eo!le who worked on this Bienial indiates that we were

e&!eri"entin% with another "odel of the e&hibition4s relation with art history#

Historial i"!ortant should be seen in the ontat if the Bienal to revoke the need for

that kind of history F !reisely beause we are elebratin% a history that is not so

>uroentri# .or"erly$ the Bienal de S


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Anthro!ofa%ia

Anthro!ofa%ia is a Brazilian !roess aross the enturies in whih a soiety as o"!le&

as ours11 one "ade u! of Afrians$ Indi%enous !eo!le and the Portu%uese$11 absorbs

"ulti!le influenes fro" other ulture be%innin% in the seventieth entury$

transfor"in% and ontratin% its own lan%ua%e while assu"in% new relations with the

*estern world# Anto!ofa%ia was already "anifest in the Baro)ue literature of Bahia in

the XVII entury# It is a Brazilian tradition$ but also a 7atin A"erian one# *hat isurious about that this !roess of eatin% the other 11 the other4s ulture11 and

transfor"in% it into one4s own$ worked to sti"ulate urators and historians ro" other

!art of the world to study Brazilian ulture$ to offer a res!onse and to find a dialo%ue#

It is interestin% to onsider tat a :o:A urator 11 so"eone fro" the Po!idou or the

7ouvre11 has studied anthro!ofa%ia in Brazil$ written on it$ and e&!lored !arallels and

differenes within the one!t# Throu%h this$ we !lae >uro!e in the !osition of

refletin% on its annabalisti %hosts# These are !roesses whih$ as disussed$ si%nal

the "aturity of Brazil4s ultural "ilieu#

PresentidentifiationThe Bienal we are disussin% had no history$ In s!ite of its historial nuleus$ it was a

Bienal in whih )uestions were wholly !ertinent to the !resent$ and the sense of the

works !resented therein were relent to onte"!orary issues# The e&hibition %ave

density to the ondition of e&istene and %aze of the !resent# .or a ountry like Brazil$

a !aintin% by Albert >khout "ade in the si&teenth entury and a Tun%a sul!ture

fro" the @s have the sa"e relevane# *e live in o"!letely differene soial and

synhroni ti"es# /J%is :ihel$ e urator who disussed issues of annibalis" in the

ninetieth entury was$ in fat$ s!eakin% about ideas that are absolutely neessary for

us to e&a"ine today# I dare say that this was an e&hibition of funda"ental i"!ortane#

5ot for the at of history %azin% u!on annibalis"$ but rather for the relation of a "anwith hi"self+ his relation to the State$ learnin% who" devours who" and who devours

hu"anity and desire today# In the !ast$ rival %rou!s e&isted# In .reud$ sons devoured

their fathers# That ontinues to be relevant today# The hronolo%ial relations between

the works were nullified# History was takin% as %round zero !oint of onte"!orary art#

Conta"ination

An e&a"!le of onta"ination as a uratorial strate%y is the inlusion of onte"!orary

works in an e&hibition at the Historial 5uleus of the XXIV Bienal# *e "ay also invert

this$ sayin% that we onstruted an e&hibit dediated to the XVI1XVIII enturies around

Tu%nas work# Tun%a4s TaCaPe$ for e&a"!le$ s!eaks of birth$ !ri"ordial sul!ture$ witha %rade at its interior$ whih Tunda identifies as the first sul!ture of a wo"an$

en%a%in% in the lovin% %esture of o"bin% her hair# Besides TaCaPe$ there were have

e&traordinary !aintin% by Albert >khout fro" the XVI entury 11 of the Indians4 dane$

where we also find the one!t of taa!e$ and of four wo"en# Besides that lay two

lar%e books that revealed annibalis" to the >uro!ean world in the si&tieth entury#

These are books by Hans Staden$ 0ean de 7ery and Andre Thevenet# The first book

e&hibited was o!ened u! to a !a%e featurin% a "ean in whih the taa!e fi%ures one

a%ain# It !resents an i"a%e of the instru"ent by whih the viti" of e&o%enous

annibalis" was killed# Another onta"ination is later revealed in the Pro!osal for a

Cata)uesis$ a !aintin% by Adriana Varej


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"ake use of its sakin%# At the sa"e ti"e$ indi%enous !iees whih whih we

!resented in the Brazilian :odernis" e&hibition were arheolo%ial !iees fro"

ultures that were already e&tint when the Portu%uese arrived in Brazil#

Conta"ination took !lae in that !assa%e of ti"e+ in what is !ast$ in the !resent of

those %hosts of the future in hu"an e&!eriene$ in the soial !roess of art history$

and in onte"!orary art# iI learned about the relevane the notion of onta"ination

ould arry fro" Adriano Pedrosa# The idea of onta"ination is o!!osed to the white

ube as the ideal site for art re)uire by "odernity# The ounter!art of onta"inationin uratorial arhiteture is the fat that we seleted 11as the site for the white

"onohro"e e&hibition11a roo" that had a olu"n in the "iddle as we4ll as a red fire

e&it si%n# In this ase$ we ould have just as well set u! a white eilin%$ white alls$

thereby i"!rintin% a hu%e li%htness$ a beauty sus!ended in relation to the world# =ur

o!tion instead re"i&ed jus that it is i"!ossible to isolate art fro" life# Those

one!tual or arhitetural onta"inations onstitute a !assa%e that eah hu"an

bein% establishes and e&!eri"ents with in his or her own sense of ti"e# =n the other

hand$ onta"ination is onneted to annibalis"$ to its afflition insofar as hu"an

flesh onta"inated hu"an flesh# *hen a !erson doesn4t follow the rules as re%ards to

onsu"!tion of the hu"an body$ he or she i""ediately beo"es a diseased !erson#This is so for he of she has eaten so"ethin% that does not find into the struture if that

ulture4s status# *e think than in the illnesses that devour "en+ one subjet the rih

disussion of annibalis" o!ens u! for# Hu"an knowled%e is infused with enor"ous

!ossibility for "eta!hor#

5oises$ /efletions$ :i%rations

In !uttin% to%ether the Biennial$ there was a %reat deal of la"or for the onte"!orary

over the historial$ as in$ for e&a"!le$ the refletion !rovided by Brue 5au"an4s work

whih in /obert Storr4s installation is !rojeted onto the window enlosin% the works of

Aleijadinho and on the seventeenth entury ;uth varnish of >khout4s and .ransPost4s !aintin%s# That refletion see"ed s!lendid to "e$ as it "ade the viewer searh

out an an%le of vision# At the sa"e ti"e$ the refletion ast a yle of historial

!reursors in the Biennial4s :useolo%ial S!ae$ !rojetin% the 5au"an into the first

roo" in the Historial 5uleus$ whih was dediated to the seventeenth and

ei%hteenth enturies# >atE;eath refleted onto a !aintin% whih re!resented a

annibalisti Indian as a "onster$ due to the fat that he devoured other bein%s of his

own %rou!+ a destiny was traed out then and there of a !eo!le4s e&tintion# The

deliay of that neon li%ht ould be seen as a !rojetion of new "eanin%s for the

e&hibition# These are very refined$ s!eial details whih obviously the wider !ubli did

not have the o!!ortunity to a!!reiate and inter!ret# In the sa"e way$ there is thevirtual line traed out by iao"etti4s Bust of ;ie%o in the Historial 5uleus and the

ai" of abriel =rozo4s The ;S$ in 3Itineraries sy"bol ' Kf 3Sy"bol3 Ks 'L 3 MCH>CN

SP>77I5 >XHIBITI=5O# =r the work of =itiia$ Ho"a%e to Horse .ae$ that traveled

the Biennial Pavilion durin% the e&hibition$ !assin% before the :onohro"es$ :atta$

Si)ueiros$ Brue 5au"an and before eriault$ in the e&hibition dediated to the

nineteenth entury# In the e&hibition of the Venezuelan !ainter /evern in the Historial

5uleus setion$ with its totally white e)uatorial !assa%es$ it was !ossible to feel the

te"!erature of =lafur >liasson4s work$ loated in the s!ae reserved for the setion on

5ational /e!resentations# In >liasson4s installation$ an ie landsa!e$ it was !ossible to

re"e"ber /ever6n4s torrid landsa!e#

:edusa4s .leet

These are the transfor"in% a!!ro!riations of the /aft of the :edusa# Beyond

eriault4s own studies$ there was a /aft by As%er 06rn MCH>CN SP>77I5O in the CoBrA


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e&hibition$ and another where ;avid Alfaro Si)ueiros work was# There was also ;ead

Troo!s Talk by 0eff *all in the 3Itineraries sy"bol ' Kf 3Sy"bol3 Ks 'L 3 setion$ a

!hoto%ra!h that has a one!tual and o"!ositional or%anization that referenes

eriault# There were still other rafts$ thou%h so"e were "ore !er"anent than others#

In s!ite of the effort to seure the loan$ we were left without Tho"as Struth4s 7ouvre

IV$ a !hoto%ra!h that a!tures eriault4s /aft at the 7ouvre$ whih we re!rodued in

the atalo%# Another absene was Nho$ whose shi!s artiulate !olitis$ territoriality

and ho!e$ and for these reasons reall the libertarian raft# So"eti"es we have to learnhow to die on the beah#

5ational /e!resentations

At the ti"e$ a"idst the o"!le&ity of the Biennial$ I felt that I arrived at "y li"it of

!ossible dialo% with other ountries# I find that it is !ossible to advane a bit further$

yet there is a li"it$ and that should lead the Sao Paulo Biennial to ask itself+ *hy

ontinue with the setion on 5ational /e!resentations6 *hy6 *hat funtion does it

serve6 It see"s that it is "erely a "atter of tradition# So"eti"es it see"s like a

"atter of eono"is# :any have said that the Biennial always allows for the arrival

and !artii!ation of eono"ially !eri!heral nations$ and that today those nationsdon4t have the finanial onditions to re!resent the"selves in a Biennial$ sine

everythin% is so e&!ensive# I !ersonally believe that the Biennial no lon%er needs

national re!resentations$ and that the Biennial needs to have an even lar%er voie

to%ether with the ountries in the for"ulation of the e&hibitions# There was a

>uro!ean urator who asked "e what a re%ulation was so that she ould break it#

*hat does that re!resent in a situation of dialo%ue6 .or so"e a re%ulation is

bureaurati$ for others it is a barrier to be trans%ressed$ for others yet it is an

e&erise with a !olitial role that is absolutely loal$ whih attends do"esti interests$

and evidently the interests of those who work seriously with the Biennial# In any event$

the li"its of dialo%ue are very lear# The !roess of "ountin% the 5ational/e!resentations have suffered a test and now await a radial transfor"ation#

Institution

This Biennial "arked a !eriod of uratorial autono"y within its !roess# This was

!ossible beause 0ulio 7and"ann$ as President$ understood fro" the outset that the

idea was not to 3onede3 autono"y$ but rather to reo%nize the inde!endene of the

urator in the !roess# That is not what ha!!ens in the !eri!hery$ but it does in the

nited States$ in >uro!e$ and in other !laes where the intelletual ativity of a

urator is reo%nized as a disourseF it does not our to the bureaurati authorities

to use the very !resene of artists within a ritial or theoretial disussion# That isso"ethin% 1 I have to say$ with a %reat deal of !ride 1 that han%ed in this Biennial#

There were urators in the !ast that "ana%ed to ne%otiate territories of autono"y

within the Sao Paulo Biennial# 2et it was the XXIV Biennial that "arked the %rowth of

the uratorial !roess and a "aturin% of the institutional !roess of the Sao Paulo

Biennial# =n the other hand$ I think that Brazil is a bureaurati ountry$ where insider

%rou!s and friends i"!ose the"selves on soiety$ and why should that not ha!!en in

arts institutions6 I a" not sayin% that Brazilian art institutions are any different or

su!erior to the rest of the ountry# *hat I enountered was an e&traordinary kind of

a%ree"ent with 0ulio 7and"ann$ and had in the President of the Biennial .oundation a

workin% !artner and an enli%htened "an#

Absenes

There are artists who$ for one reason or another$ were left out$ artists whose work I

like very "uh# .or e&a"!le$ :ario Cravo 5eto$ whose absene fro" the Biennial is


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"ore si%nifiant and has %reater wei%ht than that of "any !resenes# Another ase is

5elson 7eirner$ and it is a !ity that the bureaurati wei%ht of the Biennial e&luded

hi"+ he is !ratially a revelation of "ine# It was also hard to do a Biennial where the

fi%ure of the father was disussed by "any urators and works$ like 7ouise Bour%eois4

The ;estrution of the .ather$ and her father died a few "onths after the event was

inau%urated# :y father %ave "e aess to art books# In "y house$ in the interior of

Brazil$ there was a book on onrete art whih I ould leaf throu%h before I learned

how to read and that oinided$ at the ti"e$ with the .rente :ove"ent# As aneveryday e&!eriene I also e&!eriened the absene of /io de 0aneiro$ thou%h Sao

Paulo is evidently a tre"endously sti"ulatin% ity# There is also ;avid Ha""ons$

who" I "issed very "uh# Tho"as Struth was a tre"endous absene$ sine we ould

unfortunately not ount on the hel! of the %allery he asked to handle the "atter#

There was the absene of the Brazilian artist :are!e$ fro" Bahia$ in the Afrian

Itinerary$ due to the fat that he was ill and ould not !artii!ate# ;ue to the lak of

!iees in the olletion of the Sao Paulo niversity Conte"!orary Art :useu"$ there

were works denied on the eve of the e&hibition$ like the white Ar! for the "onohro"e

roo"$ after it had been indiated that they would be available# But there is also the

fantasy of !erfetion# >r%o the fat that this Biennial re"ains "e"orable !rini!allydue to the ener%y that went into it$ a"on% the urators and artists of the different

setions as well as in the e&hibition4s relation to the !ubli#

Central S!ae

The XXIV Sao Paulo Biennial is a disourse of the "ar%ins direted towards an

enounter in the entral s!ae$ the s!ae of irulation# There is use "ade of the

"ar%in or for the "ar%in# Sy"bolially$ u! to that ti"e$ I had not wanted to work in

the entral s!ae of the Pavilion$ whih orres!onds to a three story s!ae whih has

always been in %reat dis!ute# In the !ast$ the !lae has been used to e&hibit work by

Anish Na!oor$ /ihard 7on% and 0ose!h Beuys# It is a very "arked s!ae har%ed withan intense arhitetural dra"a# I did not want to si%nifiantly e&erise !ower over it#

So the riteria bea"e whih re)uests I %ot for the s!ae+ if no one asked for it$ no

one would show there# .inally$ Choi 0eon% Hwa showed there$ an artist in the

3Itineraries sy"bol ' Kf 3Sy"bol3 Ks 'L 3 setion$ so did 0ennifer Allora and uiller"o

Calzadilla$ a Puerto /ian artist ollaborative$ and :isha Nuball$ fro" er"any# At the

last "inute$ a work of 7y%ia Clark4s was taken out of the show$ otherwise it would have

found a !lae there# The seletion of Choi 0eon% Hwa by A!ina" Poshyananda$ the

urator of Itineraries Asia$ was very interestin%# .or the first ti"e the s!ae was

do"inated fro" floor to eilin% by >nore$ >nore$ >nore$ a lar%e$ %old$ inflatable

!lasti olu"n on whih rested a fat fi%ure with his win%s o!en# There was %reat dealof noise reated by iao"etti and :aria :artins on the third floor$ a ontrast

between "odernist sul!ture and a bitin% riti)ue of sul!ture itself$ of the !edestal$

%randness$ so"ethin% whih ertainly u!set an ele%ant$ "ainstrea" view#

Trans!areny =ver Sao Paulo

.ro" the outset I had ertain ideas about the arhiteture of the Biennial# *e should

not ou!y the s!aes outside the Biennial$ addin% roo"s$ et# *e would definitely not

have losed roo"s$ whih would have "ade the Biennial s!ae look si"ilar to Art

.airs$ those warrens where !eo!le enter a little roo"$ see work$ et# The roo"s are a

"a!$ they have a arto%ra!hi sense$ of restorin% frontiers$ es!eially where we knowthat art and ideas irulate throu%h and above frontiers$ a%ainst or in s!ite of the"#

That division of roo"s would not e&ist based on the !olitial territories defined by the

national re!resentations$ but rather out of an intrinsi$ essential and un"ovable need

of the works the"selves+ silene$ onte"!lation$ isolation$ !enu"bra# In an anti1


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historiist Biennial in whih there are dialo%ues between art and riti)ue and !ast and

!resent$ trans!areny is neessary so that there is no ri%id se!aration between the

historial and the onte"!orary# At the sa"e ti"e$ we o!en the windows onto the ity

of Sao Paulo# The resident of Sao Paulo and the Biennial had always denied the ity as

a !hysial fat$ and there it was$ a Biennial in whih the ity really a!!eared+ in

Staden4s si&teenth entury book$ in Vol!i4s !aintin%s$ in :6rio Andrade4s Pauli6a

;esvaraida$ on the over of our four books# At the sa"e ti"e$ the buildin% was o!en to

the ity# That is a very i"!ortant orrelation u! to that !oint beause anthro!o!ha%yhas been a !heno"enon of Brazilian ulture for enturies$ and further"ore it found its

for"ulation in =swald de Andrade4s '(L 3Anthro!o!ha%y :anifesto#3 Trans!areny

also indiates a very !reise study of arhiteture whih is akin to sul!tin% an

absene of walls$ onstrutin% both arhitetural absene and !resene within the

Pavilion# In this onte&t$ it was a %reat !rivile%e to work with Paulo :endes da /oha

and his %reat sensibility# His ad"iration for =sar 5ie"eyer "ade !ossible the

interru!tion of a te"!orary internal tradition of arhiteture in onflit with the

Biennial4s !er"anent arhitetural struture$ desi%ned by 5ier"eyer# In the desi%n of

3Itineraries sy"bol ' Kf 3Sy"bol3 Ks 'L 3 the uratorial artiulation and interfae

!rovided by Ivo :es)uita was very i"!ortant# This Biennial was to the best of itsability a Biennial where trans!areny si%nified that ertain !hysial or "ental

strutures were neessary to !lay an inter"ediate role between artist and work$ on

the one hand$ and for the !ubli$ on the other$ without havin% that inter"ediate role

!lay a disturbin% or obsurin% role#

Cohesions

There were two e&a"!les where territorialization was !arado&ially i"!ortant# The

first ase was Central A"eria and the Caribbean in the national re!resentations# .or

the first ti"e$ the Biennial visited the re%ion$ and we ta!!ed Vir%inia Perez1/atton$ a

loal urator$ to !ut to%ether an e&hibition of artists fro" the re%ion# This was asin%ular e&!eriene and of lose dialo%ue$ and in turn we "ana%ed to !resent a

ohesive view of the re%ion$ !rovidin% a ertain visibility while "aintainin% a

one!tual relation with the lar%er %rou!# The result was si%nifiant$ and seondly

Vir%inia herself for the first ti"e !resented a view of Central A"eria and the

Caribbean in an international e&hibition of this "a%nitude$ an effort that was

o""ented on by "any ritis# Another very i"!ortant !oint of ohesion was Afria in

the 3Itineraries sy"bol ' Kf 3Sy"bol3 Ks 'L 3 MCH>CN SP>77I5O setion# =n the

seond story of the Pavilion$ the visitor who attended the Conte"!orary Brazilian Art

setion around the a&is of =ne A"on% =thers ,whih was about an abandoned soiety

with intense internal onflits$ about abandoned hildren$ the situation of the Indians$internal "i%rations$ et#- !assed throu%h the Afrian Itineraries# The Afrian ontinent

was not just !resented as a for"ulatin% fore for Brazil$ but in addition the Afro1

Brazilian suffers eono"i troubles that an be onneted bak to the !eriod of

slavery and to raist !oliies# That then a!!eared as a diret !assa%e$ thou%h not so

very e&!liit# *e had also thou%ht of "akin% brid%es between the onte"!orary

ultures of Afria and Brazil with the !resene of Pierre Ver%er$ who fi%ures a"on% the

!hoto%ra!hers fro" :ali$ like Seydou Ne6ta$ and :are!e$ an artist fro" Salvador$

who" we had deided fro" the outset would be in that setion to%ether with 7orna

.er%uson and Awa :eite# At the last "inute$ due to illness$ :are!e was unable to

!artii!ate# This frustrated "e a %reat deal beause I did not want hi" to re!resentthe Brazil of Afrian ori%in in a "iserabiliste or viti"izin% "anner$ but rather as an

a%ent for dialo%ue with his Afrian ori%in#

Anthro!olo%ies


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A Biennial that has as its enter an anthro!o!ha%y jud%ed to be one of the !roesses

throu%h whih Brazilian ulture has been for"ulated and a disussion of how Brazilian

a!!ro!riation of annibalis" offers "ulti!le !ossibilities for inter!retation "ust

onsider that anthro!o!ha%y already i"!lies an antral onsu"!tionF it is already

e)ui!!ed with the reek notion of the hu"an bein%# There are those who blindly

understand annibalis" to be a s!eies of !ri"itivis" in whih Brazilian ulture did

not share that kind of attitude# nderstandin% said 3!ri"itivis"s3 as a ne%ative notion

"ay also be !roble"ati# :ulti!le usto"s assoiated with non1>uro!ean or non1"odern ultures$ like fetishis" or anthro!o!ha%y itself$ were %reat drivin% ideas in

"odernity# In the" resides .reud4s !syhoanalysis# The disussion of the fetish objet

was in :arel ;uha"!$ and the relation of art itself "ay also arry with it

i"!liations of fetish# Therefore what is !artiularly interestin% is that the redutivist

"anner$ let us even say the !ositivisti "anner$ of relatin% annibalis" to a

retro%rade !ri"itivis" has been frustrated# 0ean de 7ery4s story about the e&!eriene

of Antarti .rane in /io de 0aneiro$ a funda"ental te&t on annibalis"$ has suh a

se!aration of narrator fro" his subjet that it led 76vi1Strauss to affir" that the tale

was a su""ary of ethno%ra!hy# 76vi1Strauss even onsiders that ethno%ra!hy be%ins

with a refletion on annibalis"# It is with annibalis" that :ontai%ne be%ins hisrefletion on the relativity of hu"an values and !rodues so"ethin% akin to a non1

>uroentri reverberation within the disourse of the >uro!ean !hiloso!hy of his ti"e#

This is then a %rou! of i"a%es of annibalisti Indians in whih >khout "akes

!aintin%s of an ethno%ra!hi harater# I was very interested in this ethno%ra!hi

itinerary# *e worked with !iees or "o"ents just as funda"ental in the for"ulation of

the ethno%ra!hi idea$ just as if we had no onsiene of ethno%ra!hy$ and

annibalis" was hi%hly !resent in that !roess# There is also the !resene of 76vi1

Strauss with Tristes Tro!i)ues and other te&ts that serve to understand Brazil4s

situation$ to%ether with the Brazilian soiolo%ist .lorestan .ernandes and his idea of

onstitutin% the history of the Indian$ the Indian as a subjet of history$ whih alsosi%nifies a ru!ture with the He%elian historial !ers!etive# *hat is "ore$ in the

Biennial transfor"ed into art work$ we !resented work where the issue of ethno%ra!hy

was loudly announed# Si)ueiros4 >thno%ra!hy$ a !aintin% of a tote"i bein% with a

head that is so"ethin% between "ilitary ar"or and an arheolo%ial !iee$ traes out

a ertain devourin% sense# *e arrive here at one of the %reat "o"ents of the Biennial$

that bein% the installation AnthroESoio ,/inde .ain% Ca"era-$ by Brue 5au"an$

where the artist s!eifially s!eaks about anthro!olo%y$ a soiolo%y where

anta%onisti situations have been traed out+ 3Hel! "e$ Hurt "e$ .eed "e$ >at "e#3

3>at1"e3 is the re)uest of the individual who wishes to be devoured by knowled%e#

There was a vertial onta"ination+ ie onfrontin% the tro!is in the work of =lafur>liasson and the brilliant white of .raniso Tro!a and 7ourdes Castro4s installation in

the 5ational /e!resentationsF the arti landsa!e !oetry of eneral Idea4s .in de

Sile ,a !lush and iso!or Cas!ar ;avid .riedrih- MCH>CN SP>77I5O in 3Itineraries

sy"bol ' Kf 3Sy"bol3 Ks 'L 3F the white e)uatorial !assa%es of /ever6n and the

white "onohro"es ,=itiia$ Barsotti$ :ira Shendel$ Clark$ .ontana$ Soto$ Nlein$

=tero$ =htake$ :anzoni$ /y"an and /aushenber%- in the Historial 5uleusF and

finally the disastrous sleet shower the ni%ht after the o!enin%# ;i&it *itt%enstein+

3white "ust be the li%htest olor in a !iture#3 *hite is the olor whih devours and

di%ests all the other olors#

>nd

The urator always has to antii!ate the one!tual and visual relations in an

e&hibition 1 the works in the s!ae 1 for at botto" a uratorial !rojet is an artiulated

!rola"ation of the senses and si"ultaneously a visual revelation of a disourse


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a"on% diverse sy"bols# That "o"ent of !uttin% u! the e&hibition is like a

o"!rehension of the subli"e$ a !ersonal e&!eriene# Thus$ at the be%innin% of the

e&hibition$ I also like very "uh to see the dis"ountin% of the e&hibition and the

dis!ersion of the works# The "ore "onu"ental the effort to !ut to%ether this Biennial$

I e&!eriened and very "uh a!!reiated the !roess of dis!ersin% the works$ sine

this "eant returnin% the works to their !lae of ori%in where they reside on a "ore

!er"anent basis and are steered in the diretion of new "eanin%s# I a" alive and

stron%er than ever$ beause at last anthro!o!ha%y has not so "uh to do with deathas with life$ with the inesa!able and utterly si"!le fat that we need the =ther in our

e&istential e&!eriene#

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