The Bienal de São Paulo and the Brazilian artistic milieu: memory and projection

Organization:  Luisa Duarte

This series of events is the first platform of debates proposed for the 28th Bienal de São Paulo – “em vivo contato” [in living contact], and officially opened the exhibition’s activities in June, 2008. While the Bienal does not create an art collection derived from each one of its editions, it is a fact that a collective imaginary collection does exist in the memory of each one of its visitors. In this cycle we attempt to recover these dispersed memories, as well as to identify hopes and expectations for the future of the institution. Thus, the aim is to bring together a varied repertoire of viewpoints, taking as a starting point three basic questions:

. What was the work, artist or room at the Bienal de São Paulo which marked your memory in a relevant manner and was important for your development?
. How do you define the vocation of the Bienal de São Paulo, taking into account its fifty-seven year history and the challenges it currently faces?
. What do you expect from the Bienal de São Paulo in the future?

These questions suggest an outline for each one of the speaker’s. In this manner, we will seek to compile different views of the Bienal’s history, as well as diagnoses of its place in the present and possibilities for its future. In each weekly session, we will cultivate the processes of speech, listening and dialog, systematically preparing a reflection on the Bienal de São Paulo. The entire output is to be registered on video and will be made available on this site. The final result will be available for research at the Arquivo Histórico Wanda Svevo [Wanda Svevo Historical Archive].

Between October 30 and December 4, the series enters a new phase. The debate regarding the history and future of the institution will remain, but the focus will shift to six specific editions of the Bienal, which are seen as fundamental to the exhibition’s history. They are the 9th (1967), 10th (1969), 16th (1981), 17th (1983), 18th (1985) and the 24th (1998) Bienal. Each one heralded a change, a victory or a dialog with the specific historical moment, thus marking the history of the event in São Paulo.

Entry to all events is free of charge, first come first served.

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