Pooling voices sensitive to contemporary impasses, drawn from different fields, fronts, and backgrounds, the Seminars explore such themes as the invention of a new political imagination, the particularities of time that have emerged since the advent of virtual life, a de-colonial approach to current feminisms, and the reverberation of the symbolic production of indigenous peoples and social movements.
A central axis on which the Public Programs are plotted at the 21st Biennial, the meetings are designed to generate opportunities to produce previously unheard-of forms of thinking the future, both around and beyond the works on display, and with room for discussion and dissension.
The Seminars are held at the Theater (lower ground) and Auditorium (6th floor), in two stages, spanning three consecutive evenings apiece. The first takes place between October 15 and 17, and the second, November 12 and 15. In the interests of more thorough access, all sessions will have simultaneous translation in sign language.
The addresses prepared by the speakers were edited for publication under the title Leituras [Readings], which, along with the catalogue of works and artists, completes the 21st Biennial's editorial platform.
JOÃO SILVÉRIO TREVISAN — Author and activist, he founded the first homosexual identity group (Somos) and the first journal geared towards the gay community in Brazil, Lampião da Esquina, back in the 1970s. His study Devassos no paraíso (A homossexualidade no Brasil, da colônia à atualidade) was republished in 2018. In 2017, he published his first autobiographical work, Pai, pai (Alfaguara).
PAULO MENDEL — A filmmaker, Mendel researches the interfaces between art and video, video art, and the documentary. His work has been seen at such shows as the Prague Quadrennial and incorporated into collections including the Circuito Videodanza Mercosur and the Centre de vidéo-danse, Bourgogne.
VITOR GRUNVALD — Visual artist, filmmaker, and lecturer. He researches the appropriation of artistic methodologies and practices in the anthropological process. He is a member of the Visual Anthropology Group and the Center for Anthropology, Performance, and Drama at USP’s Sound and Image in Anthropology Laboratory.
ELVIS STRONGER — A human rights activist, Stronger is part of the Stronger Family collective and the Municipal LGBT Council in São Paulo. Related to LGBTQI+ issues and the empowerment of black youths from the slums, his projects include the LGBT Parade in Cidade Tiradentes and Cinedivercidade at the Centro Cultural do Grajaú, São Paulo (2013).
GABRIEL BOGOSSIAN — An independent curator, editor, and translator, he researches the representation of indigenous peoples in Brazil. His exhibitions include Nada levarei quando morrer, aqueles que me devem cobrarei no inferno (Galpão VB, 2017) and Akram Zaatari – Amanhã vai ficar tudo bem (Galpão VB, 2016), all in São Paulo. He is associate curator with Associação Cultural Videobrasil.