Associação Cultural Videobrasil

Artists Mahmoud Khaled from Egypt and Claudio Bueno from Brazil are at the final stages of producing their works commissioned by the Videobrasil em Contexto Prize. During three-month residencies in São Paulo and London, they are developing pieces which relate to the Videobrasil Collection. During their stint in London, the two participated in a public meeting at the Whitechapel Gallery on November 8th, when they gave brief descriptions of their projects and showed the Videobrasil Collection videos that informed their research.

Claudio Bueno is creating Dispositivos relacionais [Relational devices]. The piece involves one artistic object and one text that deals with how real contact between people in our days of superconnectivity is somehow tentative or even impossible. “It’s a piece of clothing that repeals touch between people, to highlight this approach-through-denial, at a time in which we all seem very connected—but deep down it is still uncertain whether there is actual contact,” the artist explains. Using works by Analívia Cordeiro, Paula Garcia (who also signs as a co-author of the material piece), and Coco Fusco as references, Bueno’s piece is based around performance, as stressed in his speech at the Whitechapel Gallery.

One’s surroundings, especially the city, are a key element in the work of the other prize-winning artist, Egypt’s Mahmoud Khaled. Architecture and art history will also play major roles: “The project is a sort of dialogue with architecture, and it is also about issues that have been romanticized throughout the history of painting—themes such as humanity, solidarity, and isolation, in the context of a megacity like São Paulo,” says Khaled. At his Whitechapel presentation, Khaled showed works by Wagner Morales, Akram Zaatari, and Estúdio Bijari, among others; to Khaled, the pieces address the statute of art by tackling issues such as urbanity, space occupation, sexuality, loneliness, and mobility.

The main source of research and production for the Videobrasil em Contexto Prize is the Videobrasil Collection—a video and performance collection amassed over the course of three decades. The Prize selects two artists each year, being one from Brazil and another from the geopolitical South of the world. In this first edition, the winning artists are undertaking residencies in São Paulo and London, and participating in a program that includes public presentation of the creative process and results. The works of art will be incorporated into the Videobrasil Collection and made available by an online publication.

Learn more at the project web site and the Casa Tomada page. Soon, further developments will be announced in our channels. Stay tuned.

Videobrasil em Contexto Prize is an accomplishment by Associação Cultural Videobrasil in partnership with Sesc-SP, Delfina Foundation, and Casa Tomada.