OUTSIDER IN.On November 21, the Bienal Foundation of Sao Paulo confirmed the appointment of German Alfons Hug Alfons Hug (b. 1950 in Hochdorf, Southern Germany) is a curator, critic and exhibition organizer. Hug studied Linguistics, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies in Freiberg, Berlin, Dublin and Moscow. He curated the XXV and XXVI São Paulo Art Biennial in 2002 and 2004. as curator of the 25th Bienal, scheduled for April 2002--the first time a non-Brazilian has helmed the event. But given the crisis that has rocked the institution since May of last year--two postponements and infighting in·fight·ing n. 1. Contentious rivalry or disagreement among members of a group or organization: infighting on the President's staff. 2. Fighting or boxing at close range. that resulted in the resignation of six council members and curator Ivo Mesquita (see November issue)--now is as good a time as any for an outsider to step in. Indeed, many in the Brazilian art Brazilian visual art began in the 18th century with painting with a strong European accent. Only in the 19th century was an original Brazilian art style introduced by Belmiro de Almeida Jr. world support the appointment of a foreign curator: "Choosing a stranger is a good thing because he's not part of the political games that surround the Bienal," explains emerging artist Jurandy Valenca. And, in any event, as internationally acclaimed artist Cildo Meireles Cildo Meireles (born Rio de Janeiro, 1948) is a Brazilian installation artist and sculptor. A retrospective of his work, organized by Dan Cameron and Gerardo Mosquera, was presented at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York in 1999 and then traveled to the Museu de points out, "A good Bienal depends more on the curator's ability than on his place of origin." Still, there is a measure of concern regarding Hug's relative inexperience. "I feel he lacks the stature necessary for Sao Paulo, as his most important previous work was as deputy curator of the Dakar Biennale The name Biennale is Italian and means "every other year", describing an event that happens every 2 years. One of the most important Biennales is an art exhibition that takes place for three months in Venice — the Venice Biennale — but there are numerous others: Born in 1950 in Hochdorf, Germany, and trained in comparative literature, linguistics, and cultural studies, Hug has been a director of Goethe Institute branches in Africa, South America, and, since last July, Russia. Between 1994 and 1998 he was director of visual arts at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, where he also curated a number of international exhibitions, including "Die anderen Modernen" (The other moderns), a 1997 show of thirty contemporary artists from Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Hug is planning a "Metropolitan Iconographies" theme for the Bienal, which will span artistic production in Sao Paulo, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Caracas, Johannesburg, London, Berlin, Moscow, Istanbul, Beijing, Tokyo, and Sydney. He will curate CURATE, eccl. law. One who represents the incumbent of a church, person, or20 vicar, and takes care of the church, and performs divine service in his stead. the Berlin section himself and has already secured commitments from the painter Franz Ackermann and the photogra pher Frank Thiel. Celso Fioravante is a journalist based in Sao Paulo. Translated from Portuguese by Clifford E. Landers. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion