The V VentoSul Biennial is announcing the works that have been selected to the VentoSul Exhibition: Artists’ Video to take place between October 7 and 11, at the Cinemateca de Curitiba (Film Library). The video selection was made by a committee formed by art critic and member of the consulting council of the V VentoSul Biennial, Fernando Cocchiarale, and by the Exhibition coordinator, Tom Lisboa.
Besides the videos selected by the committee, there will be a display of works of the “In This Together” exhibition, produced by Kultour (www.kultour.com.au), fostering institution of the Australian culture in partnership with the VentoSul Biennial. After Curitiba, the videos will also be displayed in several cities of Brazil, such as Florianópolis (SC), Fortaleza (CE) and Macapá (AP).
Among the 15 artists selected by the committee, nine are from Brazil and the others are from Bolivia, Spain, Uruguay, Germany, Australia and Japan (living in Germany).
Complete list of selected works

• Passagem (9’, 2008) - Arthur Tuoto (Brazil)
• Água do Peji (3’50”, 2008) - Roderick Peter Steel (Brazil)
• Q`aiturastro - Rastro de linhas (5’, 2007)  - aruma - Sandra De Berduccy (Bolivia)
• Tempestade (1’, 2008) - Bárbara de Azevedo (Brazil)
• DRUM (7’44”, 2009) - Javier Fresneda (Spain)
• Pedra Mole em Água Dura (2’10”, 2009) - Paula Barreto (Brazil)
• Territórioland (9’, 2007) - Laerte Ramos (Brazil)
• B_g B_ng (5’, 2006 - Fernando Velázquez (Uruguay)
• Como pode alguém impedir uma gota d’água de jamais secar? (40”, 2008) - Bernardo Damasceno (Brazil)
• Westcoast (7’, 2009) - Ulu Braun (Germany)
• Cheias e Vazantes (2´, 2009) - Felipe Pereira Barros (Brazil)
• Arrasto (1’20”, 2008) - Jimson Vilela (Brazil)
• STREET WALKS.PORT SERIES – HAKODATE (14’, 2007) - Paul Gazzola (Austrália)
• Le Brasseur de Vent (2’, 2005) - Isabel Cunha de Almeida (Brazil)
• Ordnung (3’55”) – Yukihiro Taguchi (Japan / Germany)

        On September 9, 10 and 11 the art critic Fernando Cocchiarale will be in Curitiba to teach the course “Who is afraid of contemporary art?”. The event will be held at the Tristão de Ataíde Auditorium, in the yellow block at PUCPR (Rua Imaculada Conceição, 1155 – Prado Velho), from 7 to 10 p.m. and it is part of the program of the V VentoSul Biennial, contemporary art exhibition taking place in Curitiba until October 11. Registrations are free and must be made by e-mail to: cursos@bienalventosul.com.br.
        The three classes will be based on an explanatory introduction, when Cocchiarale will present some topics to help the understanding of contemporaneity along its general lines. More than 200 images will be projected and commented during the classes. “This course is far from clarifying the complexity of relations in a network world. It works as a brief introduction to the sharpest questions on the art evolving in front of our eyes today”, explains Cocchiarale.
        Besides being an art critic, Fernando Cocchiarale is also an Esthetics Professor of the Department of Philosophy for PUC/RJ and for the School of Visual Arts of the Lage Park. He was the general curator of the IV VentoSul Biennial in 2007 and is currently the curator of the video art exhibition of the event. He is the author of Abstracionismo geométrico e informal (‘Geometric and Informal Abstractionism’), in partnership with Anna Bella Geiger, and hundreds of texts published in art catalogues, magazines and books. He was a member of selection juries and committees at art events such as the X and the XV National Salon of Plastic Arts and curator of the exhibition O Moderno e o Contemporâneo – Coleção Gilberto Chateaubriand (‘The Modern and The Contemporaneous’ - Gilberto Chateaubriand Collection), at the museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, where he was also a curator.

Information:
Course “Who is afraid of contemporary art?”, with art critic Fernando Cocchiarale
September 9, 10 and 11 – 7 to 10 p.m.
Tristão de Ataíde Auditorium – Yellow block – PUCPR (Rua Imaculada Conceição, 1155 – Prado Velho)
Free registrations by e-mail to cursos@bienalventosul.com.br

A work that can be re-invented every day. This is the proposal of Japanese artist Yukihiro Tagushi for the V VentoSul Biennial. With material gathered after a demolition in the Alto da Glória district in Curitiba, different formats will be given to the work on a daily basis.

Last Monday, the artist reproduced a tube bus station with timber and wood beams. Tomorrow, (August 20) at 3 p.m. he plans to build a stage at the São Lourenço Park. A presentation of capoeira with professionals will take place in the venue. On Friday (August 21st), a table will be prepared for dinner with local artists at the Centro de Criatividade de Curitiba (‘Creativity Center of Curitiba’), at 6 p.m.  

Those who pass by Praça Espanha (‘Spain Square’) on the coming days will realize that there is something different around. It is the work of artist Patrícia Gerber, one of the more than 100 names that the V VentoSul Biennial brings to Curitiba until October 11. In this intervention by Patrícia, the square’s fountain was taken by the red color, result of a non-toxic, cooking pigment applied to water. The work named “Fantasmas” (‘Ghosts’) has already been presented in other Biennials such as Havana (Cuba) and São Paulo.

According to the artist, the choice for this strong color symbolizes the reflection on the women’s place in Latin America. At the same time, Patrícia makes a political criticism to power, social exclusion, sense of shame and sexuality. “In the work there is a fundamental disturbance of contestatory, critical and reflexive content about the reproduction of moral values and mass codes, condemning existence in categories”, the artist explains.

The opening of the V VentoSul Biennial, that occurred last Saturday (August 8) at the Memorial de Curitiba, was well attended. The event had the presence of important names of the contemporary art, besides performances of the Bijari Group, Gustavo Godoy and the artist Nezaket Ekici, who entertained the audience.

The Canadian artist Jean-Yves Vigneau is exposing his word “H2O” on the lake of the Wire Opera. People will be able to know the work of this important artist in one of the main postcard scenarios of Curitiba until October 11.

        Following the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO), some lectures at the V VentoSul Biennial were cancelled. To prevent transmission of the H1N1 virus, through the reunion of many people in closed places, the round table events that were to take place at the Teatro Londrina on August 05 and 07 will not be held. The remaining program will not be changed.
        The opening of the V VentoSul Biennial next Saturday (August 8) at the Memorial de Curitiba at 7 p.m. is confirmed.

Last Wednesday (July 30), the Japanese artist Yukihiro Taguchi participated in the demolition of a house for the construction of his artwork of the V VentoSul Biennial. He will build his work “Moment” from a house wreckage and will expose it at the Solar do Barão (Engraving Museum). The artist recorded every demolition stage in pictures and video filming to exhibit during the work presentation.

Those attending the exhibition on different days will never find the same scenes. The works of this artist are transformed daily. Different compositions are created with the same material, such as a table and some stools around for a dinner.

One more artist is landing in the capital of Paraná for the V VentoSul Biennial. Bertrand Planes will present the video-installation named “mar: 3d” (www.bertrandplanes.com). The work will be at the Solar do Barão (Photography Museum) for you to check, between August 9 and October 11.

Next Tuesday (July 4), at 4 p.m., there will be a talk with Bertrand Planes at the Alliance Française about the theme “Video-installation: the challenge of real time”. It is a good opportunity to know his work better.

The French artist has participated in exhibitions at the Galerie Griesmar & Tamer and at the project “Futur en Seine”, at the docks of Senna River, in Paris (France), “J’aime beaucoup ce que vous faites”, at the Envoy Gallery (New York), Temporary Art Center, in Eindhoven (Holland) and the Bienal Internacional de Arte – SIART (Bolivia).

The 5^th Latin-American Bienal of Visual Arts - VentoSul will stir the scene of visual arts in the whole country. The event will take place in Curitiba, between August 8^th and October 11^th and then moves on to other Brazilian states and Latin America countries.

Under the title Big Water: the Altered Maps, the Bienal will discuss contemporary art and exhibit the works of artists from 29 countries of the five continents, more than one hundred guests are expected to take part in it. Besides the exhibitions there will be urban interventions, video shows, art performances, meetings with art critics, talks, round tables with artists and an intense programme of educational activities.

The general curatorship is under the responsibility of Ticio Escobar and Leonor Amarante, both art critics. Escobar explains the choice of the theme: “River Iguaçu is born in Curitiba, it flows across the state and reaches the triple frontier. Besides representing the integration of countries, the cycle shows the importance of water for our everyday life. Water is a strategic matter not only in environmental affairs but also in politics and economics”. It is worth remembering that “Iguaçu” in Guarani means “Big Water” and “Altered Maps” refers to the various geographical modifications that the world has been undergoing.

For curator Leonor Amarante the Bienal contributes for the artistic development of students and the public in general. “Not only does the 5^th Bienal VentoSul call the attention for the number of works and countries involved, it also impresses because it brings together names of international prominence and emerging artists. This will ensure a fairly positive exchange”, she states.

In order to give support to the Bienal there is a Board of Curators composed of Fernando Castro Flórez (from Spain) and Tereza de Arruda, and a Board of Consultants composed of Adriana Almada, Ivo Mesquita, Fernando Cocchiarale, Simon e Landal, Fabio Magalhães, Justo Pastor Mellado, Andréa Giunta, Osvaldo Salerno and Berta Sichel.

Bienal in Curitiba

In the capital of Paraná the artists who have been selected will be displayed at the Museu de Arte da Universidade Federal do Parana (MUSA), Museu de Arte Contemporanea, Memorial de Curitiba, Centro de Criatividade, Solar do Barão, Museu da Gravura, Museu da Fotografia, Museu do Cartaz, Museu Alfredo Andersen. Works and artistic interventions are also programmed for Casa Erbo Stenzel, Osorio Square, Barigui Park, Espanha Square, Botanical Gardens, Opera de Arame, Passeio Publico, Pinheirinho Bus Terminal, Tiradentes Square and other places in town.

When the exhibition is Curitiba is over, selected works and events will also be displayed in Foz do Iguaçu (PR), Florianopolis (SC), Fortaleza (CE), Brasilia (DF), Asunción (Paraguay) and Buenos Ayres (Argentina).

On July 22 (Wednesday), the American  video artist Gary Hill will be in Curitiba for the first time to lecture on “Remarks on Color and other works of art”. The artist will display video clips and some of his works involving the relations between video, text and sound. The lecture will have simultaneous translation and will be held at the auditorium of the Museu Oscar Niemeyer (R. Marechal Hermes, 999 – Centro Cívico), from 7:30 p.m. and it is part of the program of the V VentoSul Biennial, reuniting more than 100 names of artists from 30 countries between August 8 and October 11 in Curitiba. Enrollment is free and can be made by email to palestras@bienalventosul.com.br.

Gary Hill is one of the most important contemporary artists investigating the relations between words and electronic images. With a background in sculpture, Hill started to work with video in 1973 and has produced an important collection of video artworks and video installations that include some of the most significant works in the field, exhibited in museums of the highest prestige in the world (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, in Madri, Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and in six editions of Documenta, in Kassel, Germany). In addition, he won a Leone d’Oro at the Venice Biennale (1995).

His first video works explored the properties of video through the whole combination of an electronic look and audio elements. Such exploration would give room to uneven investigations on linguistics and consciousness offering resonating conjunctions between philosophic and poetic criteria.

Hill’s lecture is supported by the General Consulate of the United States of America and is part of the program of the V VentoSul Biennial, that relies on the sponsorship of Petrobras, Eletrobrás, Destro MacroAtacado and Correios, besides the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Pró-Reitoria de Extensão e Cultura da UFPR (PROEC), the Pontific Catholic University of Paraná, Government of the State of Paraná, State Secretariat for Culture of Paraná, City Hall of Curitiba, Secretariat for the Environment, IPPUC, Municipal Tourism Institute, URBS, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Government of Québec - Canada, Consulate of the United States of America in São Paulo, Embassy of Colombia in Brasilia, Embassy of Spain in Brasilia, AECID - Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo, IFA - Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, SEACEX - Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior, Japan Foundation, Consulate of Japan in Curitiba, Consulate of Uruguay in Curitiba, Instituto Cervantes, Instituto Goethe, The South Project Inc. - Austrália, Manif d´Art - La Bienalle de Québec, JTM Gallery - Paris, Alliance Française, Year of France in Brazil, Museum of Arte of São Paulo - MASP, Gol Airlines, Slaviero Hotel Network and Heads Advertising Agency.

Information:

Lecture “Remarks on Color and other works of art” with American video artist Gary Hill (with simultaneous translation)
July 22 (Wednesday) – 7:30 p.m.
Auditorium of the OscarNiemeyerMuseum – R. Marechal Hermes, 999 - Centro Cívico

The VentoSul: Artist´s Video Exhibition registrations are open. Until July 10 candidates can register their works which, after a selection made by video art experts, will be exhibited from October 6 to 8 at the Cinemateca de Curitiba (Film Library of Curitiba, Brazil). The event is open to the public and is part of the V VentoSul Biennial, visual arts exhibition to take place in town from August to October this year.

With the purpose of establishing a parallel with the artwork selected for the Biennial, the video exhibition shall reflect the artists’ countries of origin. Participants can register 15-minute works in the short-film modality as long as connected to the concept of this edition of the VentoSul Biennial – Large Water: Altered Maps.

The exhibition coordination is under responsibility of Tom Lisboa, Master in Communication and Languages from the Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná.  Lisboa is also the organizer of a course on Cinematographic Culture, where he teaches classes of critical audience formation while participating in the Cineclube Contramão.

Those who are interested in registering their works should be living in the following countries: Germany, South Africa, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Spain, The United States, France, Guatemala, India, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Sweden, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Further information about the exhibition regulation and registration can be found at the site www.bienalventosul.com.br/videos .

Data:
VentoSul Exhibition: Artist´s Video
Free registration by July 10 (Friday) at the site www.bienalventosul.com.br/videos
Video exhibition: October 6 to 11, 2009
Information: contato@bienalventosul.com.br

The educational project of the V VentoSul Biennialwas developed by Maria Tornaghi, who works since 1963 in the area of art and teaching, maintaining an attitude of inquiry about art and its practical teaching, with top performance in these fields.

She coordinated the Center for Children and Youth of  the School of Visual Arts of Parque Lage from 1992 to 2006, and the education department of the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro from 1999 to 2006.

Since 1999, particularly interested in issues of learning the art that arises in the relationship between the public and the works exposed, she coordinated the activities of educational exhibits and displays at MAM and other venues, such as Picasso – Anos de Guerra (“War Years”), “Artes Indígenas/Brasil + 500” (“Brazilian Indigenous Arts”), Mostra Rio Gravura (“Rio Engraving Exhibit”) e O Brasil Redescoberto (“Brazil Rediscovered”).