Associação Cultural Videobrasil

Between July and September, São Paulo will host five meetings part of the “Transatlantic Relations” project, created by the Swiss curator Bruno Z’Graggen, researcher of contemporary art who proposes a reflection on the current production in video and photography in Brazil as well as in European and African countries. 

Researcher at the University of Lucerne, Z’Graggen runs the Video Window platform, in Zurich, where he presents and discusses pieces by Switzerland-based video artists, and since 2002 he has been researching Mozambican photography.

The meetings, hosted at different venues in São Paulo, will consist of film sessions followed by a debate with the audience. For the first event, on July 5, at 7:30 p.m., at Galeria Vermelho’s Antonio Hall, the curator presents an overview of Switzerland’s contemporary video production. 

The second event, on July 20, at 8 p.m., at Galpão VB, is the exhibition of the documentary Sem flash: homenagem a Ricardo Rangel (1924–2009) [No Flash: A tribute to Ricardo Rangel (1925–2009)], directed by Z’Graggen and Angelo Sansone, about the life and work of the pioneer Mozambican photographer.

The three following events will present a selection of videos from the Videobrasil Historical Collection, in which Z’Graggen has been working as a resident researcher. The exhibitions of these works make public his analysis and criticism on the institution’s Collection, and seek to link the colonial past of Brazil and that of the European and African countries the researcher examines.

The “Transatlantic Relations” project is a partnership between Associação Cultural Videobrasil and the Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council, part of the Pro Helvetia in South America 2017–2020 exchange program, which seeks to promote cultural exchange and spark partnerships between Switzerland and South American countries.

Session 1
Between Reality and Illusion
July 5, Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., at Galeria Vermelho
Duration: 140 min. (with break)
Note: three out of the 26 films shown include dialogues in other languages with no subtitles in Portuguese
Films by: collectif_fact, Quynh Dong, Marianne Halter & Mario Marchisella, Susanne Hofer, Georgette Maag, Christoph Oertli, Doris Schmid

Session 2
No Flash: Homage to Ricardo Rangel (1925–2009) (2012), by Bruno Z’Graggen and Angelo Sansone
July 20, Thursday, 8:00 p.m., at Galpão VB
Duration: 56 min.
Language: Portuguese

Session 3
Social Status and Resistance
August 30, Thursday, 5:00 p.m., at Biblioteca Mário de Andrade
Duration: 57 min.
Films by: Ayrson Heráclito e Danilo Barata, Maria Lucia Silva and Rita Moreira, Dan Halter, Beth Formaggini, Flávio Ferreira, Henri Gervaiseau, Solange Padilha, Aza Pinho and Jasmin Pinho

Session 4
Migration and Territory. Talk with Mauricio Dias and Walter Riedweg
September 5, Tuesday, 8:00 p.m., at Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage
Duration: 68 min.
Films by: Bakary Diallo, Michael MacGarry, César Meneghetti and Elisabetta Pandimiglio, Dias & Riedweg

Session 5
Identity and Memory
October 19, Thursday, 8:00 p.m., at Pivô
Duration: 58 min.
Films by: Marcia Vaitsman, Eder Santos, LucFosther Diop, Marcondes Dourado, Mônica Simões