Associação Cultural Videobrasil

In Panel 2 of the Seminar Places and meanings in art: debates from the South –Rethinking Spaces: Art, Uses and Daily Life, the artists Keli-Safia Maksud and Berhanu Ashagrie Deribew and curators Till Fellrath and Hoor Al-Qasimi, members of the 19^th Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil jury, discussed the use of urban space in art – both as an exhibition space and as creative material – as well as the relationship between local communities and modernization from the perspective of art. The meeting took place last Saturday, October 10, and was moderated by Seminar curator Sabrina Moura as part of the Festival’s Public Programs.

One of the highlights of the Southern Panoramas | Commissioned Projects exhibit, the Kenyan-born, Canada-based artist Keli-Safia Maksud discussed the use of textiles in her work, in different African cultures, and in the role of women as creators, distributors, and receivers of said materials. “Historically speaking, women are at the forefront when it comes to distributing textiles throughout the whole continent. Some have amassed such wealth (from distribution) that they have become fundamental to local development. In Togo, there are places and monuments in honor of these women, who contributed so much to their economies between 1930 and 1950.”

According to her, the symbology of textiles varies among countries and regions in Africa, and this often makes it incomprehensible to other cultures. “Not even I, who am from the continent, can understand the full meaning. It’s different for someone from Mali than it is for someone from Nigeria. It’s important to realize the historical role of textiles. In East Africa, where I come from, there’s a more contemporary way of interacting with fabric.”

The artist also noted how the symbology changes when the items are away from their local African cultures. When abroad, the textiles lose their cultural, traditional and political connections, “they become symbols of their motherland,” she said.

The artist and director of the School of Fine Arts and Design at Addis Ababa University, Berhanu Ashagrie Deribew (Ethiopia), delivered a critical and image-based account of the true story and urban experience behind the seeming modernization of African cities. There, town squares, monuments, villages and open-air markets are torn down and replaced with buildings similar to those found in Western metropolises.

The artist said the consequences of this type of urban intervention include the pushing away of populations and communities from the center to the periphery, the demolition of buildings, monuments and historical sites, the privatization of public spaces, and a rise in average temperature due to the materials the buildings are made of, such as aluminum. “Collective memory has no place in this sort of modernization,” he said. According to him, art interventions in these spaces of exclusion, threatened by this sort of urban progress, “are a form of resistance and preservation of collective memory.”

The curator and cofounder of the multidisciplinary curatorial platform Art Reoriented, Till Fellrath brought to the debate the experience of having visual arts converse with the urban space, the local public, and other fields of culture – such as music and dance. “It’s important to be aware of how you intend to show art and to combine different languages into an exhibition. Not just visual arts, but video, music and dance as well,” he said.

Besides discussing the dialogue between different art languages, Mr. Fellrath also touched on the timeless, universal character of the artwork. “The artwork must first and foremost be apprehended as work of art, rather than as an anthropological or political phenomenon,” said he, who illustrated his speech with pieces from different periods and cultures. “An artwork is always contemporary at some point, and this must be understood. It is important to discuss where art comes from, where it is discussed, what are its boundaries.”

The artist and president of the Sharjah Art Foundation (founded in 2009), which holds the Sharjah Biennial, Hoor Al-Qasimi (UAE) spoke of the organization’s work with local and immigrant communities in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates. “Our exhibitions target different groups: from the baker to artists and art students.”

According to her, the Foundation works with an understanding of the population’s relationship with the place they live in. It creates art interventions that remain in the urban setting for two years, and then the Sharjah Biennial is held; this way, the city becomes a constant art space.

To a large extent, the social media have enabled a close connection with different communities within the city, and this led to a three-fold increase in exhibition and art intervention attendance, as well as to the public’s involvement with the execution of projects.

Launches
Following the seminar, two of the 19^th Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil publications were launched: Southern Panoramas |Guest Artists and Southern Panoramas | Readings | Perspectives for other geographies of thought.