Videobrasil. Needs no translation takes Videobrasil's archive to Russia

On December 12, GES-2 House of Culture, in Moscow, will open the exhibition Videobrasil. Needs No Translation: Four decades of video and performance. Bringing together video works from the Videobrasil Archive and a selection of Russian works, the project traverses the history of the Global South and blurs the boundaries between video and performance art. 

Curated by Solange Farkas, founder of Associação Cultural Videobrasil, and Alessandra Bergamaschi, the exhibition is organized into chronological sections that take you from 1980 to the present day, with works by artists from different countries - such as Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Ethiopia, Mali, Indonesia, among others. Each section is complemented by a selection of Russian works, curated by Andrei Vasilenko and Dmitry Belkin, which resonate with the context and tensions of each era. 

“The exhibition showcases 40 years of boundary-pushing art, spanning from video experiments of the 1980s to contemporary narratives amplifying voices from the Geopolitical South. Anchored by Eder Santos' work, it honors the universal and unspoken power of performance”, says Farkas. To which Bergamaschi adds: “Today video defines our digital presence across all areas of life, and the exhibition offers an opportunity to revisit earlier works that explored the dissolution of the boundary between real and virtual. In this intercultural dialogue, the performative reveals more than what is captured in the verbal register, bridging cultural divides with the eloquence of the bodies.” 

ARTISTAS
The exhibition features works by Alfredo Nagib, Ar Detroy, Armando Queiroz, Bakary Diallo, Calderón & Piñeros, Cao Guimarães and Rivane Neuenschwander, Eder Santos, Ezra Wube, Guillermo Casanova, Luiz Roque, Marcellvs L, Marina Abs, Natalia Skobeeva, Paulo Nazareth, Pedro Vieira and Walter Silveira, Sandra Kogut, Vitória Cribb and Wagner Morales. 

Commissioned especially for this project, Screen², by Brazilian Eder Santos celebrates iconic performances from the Videobrasil Archive. In an immersive architecture, with soundtrack by Paulo Santos, the installation features works by Ana Pi, Ayrson Heráclito, Dan Halter, Eder Santos, Eduardo Climachauska, Gustavo Moura and Nuno Ramos, Emo de Medeiros, Lenora de Barros and Walter Silveira, Letícia Ramos, Luciana Magno, Melati Suryodarmo, Otávio Donasci, Paula Garcia, Ayrson Heráclito and Rosana Paulino. In this suspended atrium, figures, gestures, and landscapes fade and mirror one another – as moving memories of a living archive.

The Russian line of the exhibition, curated by Andrei Vasilenko and Dmitry Belkin, is a separate branch of the general plot. Some videos from Russia rhyme with the main narrative, while others resonate with works from the Videobrasil Archive. The narrative is built around a critical reflection on the complexities of transition and disappointment in the promises made at the turn of the decades. Video art by Russian artists traces how a new identity was formed.

CURATORS
Curators
Solange Oliveira Farkas
Alessandra Bergamaschi

Russian co-curators

Dmitry Belkin

Andrei Vasilenko

SOBRE O VIDEOBRASIL
Videobrasil is an art platform and a non-profit cultural association that researches, disseminates and debates the artistic production of the regions of the geopolitical South of the world – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Oceania. Over the last 40 years, it has been building a collection of artworks, publications, documents, interviews, performance records and Videobrasil’s own productions gathered during the Videobrasil Biennials – since its first edition in 1983. The cultural association works systematically to activate this collection through a network of actions that includes exhibitions, shows, publications, documentaries, meetings and artistic residencies.

SOBRE GES-2 HOUSE OF CULTURE

GES-2 House of Culture is an urban space that provides all the conditions for the development of the professional artistic community and contemporary culture. GES-2 brings together exhibition halls, a library, a cinema and concert hall, workshops, studios, and artist residencies, shops, a restaurant and cafes, a playground, and classrooms for public and educational events. The aim of the House of Culture is to introduce contemporary culture to a wider audience and encourage visitors to take an active part in its formation. 

Videobrasil. Needs No Translation: Four Decades of Video and Performance
Dec 12, 2024 - Feb 9, 2025
GES-2 House of Culture | 15 Bolotnaya Embankment, Moscow – Russia

On the cover: Daniel Annenkov. © GES-2 House of Culture

Source: Videobrasil