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.
MARIO A. CARO — Researcher, independent curator, and contemporary art critic, Caro lectures at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he researches the history and theory of contemporary indigenous arts. He also works with various communities to promote global cultural exchange.
AMPAM KARAKRAS — A Shuar activist with wide-ranging involvement in indigenous resistance movements in Ecuador, in 2018 Karakras founded and presided over the Federación Interprovincial de Centros Shuar. That same year he published Miguel Tankamash y la lucha Shuar (Artes Gráficas Silva). Living in the Amazon Rainforest, between Peru and Ecuador, the Shuara resisted the Spanish conquistadors.
KAMIKIA KISÊDJÊ — Photographer, filmmaker, and editor trained by the NGO Vídeo nas Aldeias, he works for the Kisêdjê and Terra Indígena do Xingu indigenous associations and administers audiovisual workshops around the country. He also runs a web channel about the national indigenous movement.