- Associação Cultural Videobrasil
- SESC São Paulo
The fourteenth edition, held in Sesc Pompeia, celebrated a special occasion: the 20th anniversary of Videobrasil International Electronic Art Festival, by now already recognized worldwide as the main convergence point for the so-called southern scene artistic output. The long-lasting partnership with SESC-SP gave birth to the largest exhibition ever, featuring the “Displacements” theme, a phenomenon which permeates contemporary life. Artists from Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Eastern Europe were featured in the event, which focused on work from the geopolitical south of art for the first time. A retrospective show of 30 years of video’s national production, curated by Arlindo Machado, was included in the History Axis, while the Contemporary Axis featured an important exhibition of art from Lebanon, a country constantly facing the “Displacements” concept. Christine Tohme and Akram Zaatari curated this exhibition. Festival payed tribute to Brazilian artist Waly Salomão, an active collaborator with Associação Cultural Videobrasil. A DVD entitled “Nomadismos: Homenagem a Waly Salomão” (Nomadisms: A tribute to Waly Salomão) was released. The DVD was specially produced with the aid of friends and partners. Waly, who integrated the programming commission, died a few months prior to the Festival. Marco del Fiol is the coordinator of the production of the Videobrasil CD-ROM, included in the edition's catalog, based on the Festival's program. Beginning with this edition, video and new medias now competed in the same category.
Visual identity and graphic design| Angela Detanico and Rafael Lain
Photographic record | Isabella Matheus
Programme
competitive show
Southern Competitive Show | 14th Festival
Submissions for the 14th Videobrasil Competitive Show numbered 765 pieces from 40 different countries. From these, 97 works in video, CD-ROM and for the Web were chosen for participation in the Festival's programmes by the selection committee.
film and/or video screenings
"Contemporary Investigations"
After scrutinizing the artwork submitted for the Competitive Exhibition, the selection committee shortlisted 29 pieces based on the quality of their research and the fact that they signal emerging trends in the art field.
Historical Axis: "French Presence in Videobrasil"
The programme, curated by Gabriel Soucheyre, was screened in the auditorium. It is a selection of French videos produced by artists who have participated in the last 20 years of Videobrasil's activities.
Historical Axis: "Made in Brasil - Three Decades of Brazilian Video"
It is a wide-ranging retrospective of creative videos produced in Brazil, since the beginnings in the 1970s until the present. It was produced by Itaú Cultural and curated by Arlindo Machado. Containing 84 video pieces, this show was presented in ten programmes.
Historical Axis: "On and Off the Air", Marcelo Tas
The show features programs created by Marcelo Tas for TV, dating from 1988, highlighting the pilot for the series Fora do Ar (Off the Air), conceived for TV channel Rede Globo’s department managed by director Guel Arraes. The pilot was never approved or shown.
Panoramas Africa: "Re-Presenting Time"
The curator Miguel Petchkovsky selected a group of artists to discuss issues such as memory, cultural hybridism, and the historical representation of time. The show features 11 videos and is divided into localities: South Africa, Angola, Mozambique and Diaspora.
Panoramas Caribbean: "Random Notes, Random Sites"
Charlotte Elias and Christopher Cozier selected nine Caribbean videos made between 1999 and 2003, whose contexts connect through the similarity of conditions in which their authors operate, to address the way in which the pieces articulate with technology.
Panoramas China: "People's Video"
The show features 21 videos made from 2001 to 2003 by professors, students, poets, construction workers, policemen, physicians, journalists and designers who converted their access to extremely cheap DV technology into video art, fiction and documentary.
Panoramas China: "Short Drama Films - Sociological Images"
The program curated by Shulin Zhao featured five Chinese short films made in 2002 and 2003 that reflect about elements characterized as typical of traditional Chinese culture.
Panoramas Hungary: "Video Art in Hungary - Past and Present"
The curator Miklós Peternák selected 30 videos made between 1984 and 2002, some of them were produced by Intermídia students at the Hungarian Academy for the Fine Arts.
Panoramas Singapure: "Signs, Sights & Sounds"
curator: Yuni Hadi Yuni Hadi's curated programme explores the ideas of the native land,memory, navigation and opression. The show was composed by ten videos made between 1999 and 2002.
Possible Narratives - Artistic Practices in Lebanon "Beyond Evidences": Single-Channel
Curated by Akram Zaatari and Christine Tohme, this video compilation was part of the “Possible Narratives - Artistic Practices in Lebanon” axis, bringing together 10 videos produced betwen 1994 and 2002.
Retrospective Akram Zaatari
In this edition, the Festival dedicates one of the volumes in the Retrospectives series (a product from the Associação’s collection) to Akram Zaatari. The video compilation features unique pieces by the Lebanese artist, highlighting artwork shown at Videobrasil Festivals.
Retrospective Marina Abs André
In this edition, the Festival dedicates one of the volumes from the Retrospectives series (a product from the Associação’s collection) to Marina Abs. The compilation features key pieces by the artist, one of the most enthusiastic members of the first wave of independent video makers in Brazil.
exhibition
Possible Narratives - Artistic Practices in Lebanon
The program is part of the exhibition about art production in Lebanon. The installations at the warehouse are examples of how the artists use image to re-establish identity and memory in a conflict-ridden country. Video is a source of aesthetical and political experimentation.
performance
"Colectivo Nortec", Nortec Collective
Part of the "Panoramas" programme, the performance Colectivo Nortec was selected by curator Priamo Lozada to represent new Mexican electronic production. DJs and VJs manipulated live sounds and images, evoking a spirit similar to raves, with aesthetic intentions.
"Desconstructing Letícia Parente: 'Trademark'", Luiz Duva
Deconstructing Letícia Parente was part of the Historical Axis programme. In his performance, Luiz Duva deployed live pre-manipulated images to the sound of improvised musical exercises by LCD group. The artist does a fresh reading of the piece Trademark, by pioneer Letícia Parente (1930-91).
"Fold 24.9.2003", Dobra
Part of the "Panoramas" programme, the performance "Fold 24.9.2003" took place in SESC's Beer Hall. It synthesises the process of language overlapping, sample exchange and the fusion of procedures in interfaces that generate hybrid image and sound compositions. Invited artists appropriated elements created by the group and organised it in a collective composition. Angela Detanico and Rafael Lain conceived the performance, as well as Carlos Farinha.
"God Guiding Us in the Dark", D+8
Deus nos Guiando no Escuro (God Guiding us Through Darkness) is a part of the Panoramas show program. Conceived by Domenico Lancellotti, the performance features eight other artists who create live music guided by a sequence of looped projections, rebuilding cities, fixations and memories.
"Luz Morena", Duncan Lindsay and Quito Ribeiro
The Luz Morena (Dark-Skinned Light) project, a part of the Panoramas show, features a series of videos about dark skin, made by Duncan Lindsay and Quito Ribeiro, alongside music played by a quartet formed by Arto Lindsay, Naná Vasconcelos, Pedro Sá and Hugo Carranca.
"Tabla Dubb", Hassan Khan
As a part of the Panoramas show, the performance Tabla Dubb, by Egypt’s Hassan Khan, is an invitation to ponder about the politics of the body in a chaotic urban setting, the city of Cairo. The artist combines music and repeated statements with footage of the capital.
"The Loudest Muttering is Over: Documents From the Atlas Group Archive", Walid Raad
The Loudest Muttering Is Over: Documents From the Atlas Group Archive is a lecture-performance delivered by Walid Raad, in which he presented the Atlas Group's Archives. It's part of the “Possible Narratives - Artistic Practices in Lebanon” curatorship.
"Where Are the Heroes?", Tadeu Jungle
As a part of the Historical Axis program, the artist Tadeu Jungle pays tribute to poet Waly Salomão with the piece Onde Estão os Heróis? (Where are the Heroes?). The performance is presented in various areas inside and outside Sesc Pompeia.
"Who is Ernesto Varela?", Marcelo Tas
The performance Quem é Ernesto Varela? (Who is Ernesto Varela?) is a part of the Historical Axis program. The presentation includes the screening of a video of Ernesto Varela’s career, interspersed with archival footage, followed by live narration from the character himself.
public programs
Authors in the Competitive Show
Over three days of open meetings, artist in the Competitive Show discussed the context in which they found themselves, as well as creation processes and the recurring themes in their work.
Panel Contemporary Investigations: "Body in Displacement"
The debate "Body in Displacement" was part of a series of panels from the Contemporary Investigations axis – coordinated by Christine Mello –, and addressed the trends in practices carried out at the confluence of art-science and contemporary art.
Panel Contemporary Investigations: "Culture in Displacement"
The debate "Culture in Displacement" was part of the series of panels from the Contemporary Investigations axis – coordinated by de Christine Mello –, and addressed the trends in practices carried out at the confluence of art-science and contemporary art.
Panel Contemporary Investigations: "Languages in Displacement"
The debate "Languages in Displacement" was part of the series of panels from the Contemporary Investigations axis – coordinated by Christine Mello –, and addressed the trends in practices carried out at the confluence of art-science and contemporary art.
Panel Contemporary Investigations: "The Art Circuit in Displacement"
O debate "Circuito de Arte em Deslocamento" integrou a série de painéis do eixo Investigações Contemporâneas, sob coordenação de Christine Mello, que abordaram os caminhos observados nas práticas criativas realizadas nas confluências entre a arte-ciência e a arte contemporânea.
Panel Panoramas: "Contemporary Memories"
Coordinated by Eduardo de Jesus, the “Panoramas” panels discussed the diversity of image production strategies in peripheral environments. The debate “Contemporary Memories: the image as redemption of recent cultural heritage in the context of traditional culture” was mediated by Christine Mello and the panel was composed by Miguel Petchkovsky (artist cultural producer, Mozambique), Stephen Wright (correspondent editor of Parachute magazine, Canada) and Akram Zaatari (curator and artist, Lebanon).
Panel Panoramas: "Multiculturalism, Identity and Gender"
Coordinated by Eduardo de Jesus, the “Panoramas” panels discussed the diversity of image production strategies in peripheral environments. The debate "Multiculturalism, Identity and Gender: the role of images in the formulation of the contemporary subject” took place in the auditorium, with the presence of Vivian Paulissen (Prince Claus Foundation, Netherlands), Priamo Lozada (curator, Mexico) and Rodrigo Alonso (teacher and critic, Argentina).
Panel Panoramas: "Technocultural Imagery"
The Panoramas show panels, coordinated by Eduardo de Jesus, focused on image production strategies in peripheral scenes. The debate "Technocultural Imagery: New medias, art and participation " was mediated by José Carlos Mariátegui.
Possible Narratives - Artistic Practices in Lebanon: Lecture Jalal Toufic
In the lecture “Defending Human Beings' Own Names”, Jafal Tufic spoke in the auditorium about his work, before the screening of Ashura: This Blood Spilled in My Veins.
Possible Narratives - Artistic Practices in Lebanon: Presentation
Curators Akram Zaatari and Christine Tohme presented the artists and their work, besides concepts that guided “Possible Narratives - Artistic Practices in Lebanon”, in the auditorium.
Videobrasil Database Presentation
The presentation focused on the creation of a network system designed to organize electronic media contents, with an emphasis on the geopolitical South, juxtaposing them into an online interface. The data bank allows for cutting-edge research-oriented navigation.
documentation
Making Of 14º Videobrasil
The video documentary directed by André Finotti gave an overview of the events and ideas that circulated in the Festival. Featuring statements from artists, curators and organizers, the making-of featured program highlights and artwork footage.