5ª Mercosur Biennial

The 5 th edition of the Mercosur Biennial was fundamentally defined by rethinking the current model in view of the international parameters of the curatorial projects. It therefore sought to encourage deep reflection on not just the curatorial sphere, but also on all the organizational stages and guiding principles of putting on the Biennial. It took account of the Biennial's actions in local, national and domestic arenas to assess its impact in these different areas, without losing sight of its basic founding parameters. The 5 th Biennial showed many new works, giving the exhibition a significantly original and unprecedented character. The central theme of this edition of the Mercosur Biennial was the multiplicity of contemporary experiences of space: from subjective space - consisting of the body and in the body, through the dominant, urban space, to new notions of space imposed by digital culture. Under the title, Histories of Art and Space, the curatorial concept of the 5 th Biennial chose to divide the exhibition into four main vectors - From Sculpture to Installation, Transformations of the Public Space, Directions in the New Space, and The Persistence of Painting. These were complemented by the exhibition of the artist of honor, Amilcar de Castro, and the Frontiers of Language exhibition, with artists from outside Mercosur. The works from the participating countries were grouped according to their linguistic and formal characteristics. Divided into segments, the exhibition project brought works together under such categories as: sculpture and installation, painting, new technologies or new media and works in the public space. The two historical exhibitions - The Persistence of Painting and From Sculpture to Installation - were also divided along the same lines. The historical exhibitions were intended to provide ways of understanding contemporary work in the principal vectors. The 5 th Mercosur Biennial included 169 artists, of which 163 were from Latin America and six from Europe and the United States, with Max Bill in one of the historical exhibitions. 83 artists came from Latin American countries outside Brazil; 22 from Chile, 15 from Mexico, 15 from Argentina, 14 from Uruguay, 9 from Paraguay and 8 from Bolivia. There was no guest country for the 5 th Biennial; Mexico, which had been the guest at the previous edition, was now incorporated as a permanent member. The 5 th Biennial occupied a record 24,588.91m 2 of exhibition space. In addition to the Frontiers of Language exhibition, which brought five internationally recognized artists to the Mercosur Biennial, one of the main highlights of this edition was the exhibition of the Minas Gerais artist, Amilcar de Castro, one of the most important figures in Brazilian sculpture of the second half of the 20 th century. Works by the artist were included in all segments of the exhibition. Six monumental sculptures were installed in the Largo Glênio Peres in front of the Central Public Market, in an exhibition entitled "Amilcar de Castro Monumental Sculptures" in the Transformations of the Public Space vector. Sculptures produced from 1953 to 2001 were shown in the retrospective exhibition called "The Adventure of Coherence" in the A7 Warehouse on the Quayside, which also included two large works installed between the warehouse and the river, in the From Sculpture to Installation vector. An exhibition of 23 medium- to large-format paintings in the Historical Experiences of the Plane vector occupied the 2 nd floor of the Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul, which also included a biographical room on the artist. A group of his sculptures was also included in the vector entitled The (Re)invention of Space at Santander Cultural. Amilcar de Castro was also shown in a new exhibition bringing together the artist's graphic design and illustration work in an exhibition called Amilcar de Castro Graphic Designer at the Museu Hipólito José da Costa, as part of the Directions in the New Space vector. The 5 th Mercosur Biennial education program met the needs of its various audiences, ranging from training monitors to organizing seminars, talks and parallel activities with the aim of expanding on the issues of the theoretical and practical aspects of contemporary artistic production. Permanent works for the public space were designed by Carmela Gross, José Resende, Mauro Fuke and Waltércio Caldas. Source: "A Concise History of the Mercosur Biennial"