Gabriel Mascaro
Vitor César
Artists in residence: Gabriel Mascaro and Vitor César
In May, Brazilian artists Gabriel Mascaro and Vitor César started their residencies at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus , USA and at A-I-R Laboratory in Warsaw, Poland. The artists were awarded residency prizes by the 18th Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil and by the second edition of Videobrasil in Context, the two projects that outline Videobrasil Residency Program. Their research processes will shortly be shared via the blog In Residence.
The Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil has a pioneering role in promoting international artistic exchanges granting two-month residency awards in partner institutions around the world at each of its edition. Gabriel Mascaro, from the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, was awarded for the film Doméstica (2012), which gathers footage of domestic workers made by middle-class teenagers whose families they work for. The work examines an arrangement that jumbles relationships of employment and affection, protection and violence, familiarity and class struggle.
Videobrasil in Context aims to sponsor international artist exchange in connection with the Videobrasil Collection and those of partner institutions. From May to July, Vitor César will be at A-I-R Laboratory. The artist will conceive a project based on the connections between the city’s archives and the urban surroundings, drawing raw material from the archives of Warsaw. Vitor César's work is permeated by various modes of visibility based on the political dimension of daily life and by graphic propositions. In 2016, it will be Karol Radziszewski’s turn to explore the Videobrasil Collection, in São Paulo. At the end of the residency, each of them will present the outcomes of their experiences in a commissioned artwork that will be integrated into the collections of Videobrasil and the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, the cultural institution responsible for A-I-R.
The Videobrasil Residency Program sponsors connections and exchange between artists, organizations and communities in Brazil and the world over. By awarding scholarships and commissioning artworks, Videobrasil intends to help usher in a new artistic and cultural cartography.