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April 24, 2015 | LATIN AMERICA | MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA | ON THE
MAP | SOUTH/SOUTH EAST ASIA
On the MAP: Jonathas de Andrade’s Political
Practice, MAP Artists at the Biennale, and
Sara Raza’s Curatorial Approach
BY CAITLIN DOVER
THE LAW OF THE STREETS
In his multimedia practice, MAP artist Jonathas de Andrade often confronts
sociopolitical issues, including those he encounters in his home city of Recife.
Discussing his performance The Uprising (2012–13) in the video above, the artist
describes the complex process of bringing the work into being. The Uprising consisted
of a race held between local carters who drove their horses and vehicles through the
streets of Recife at de Andrade’s invitation. The artist notes that the city government
has imposed restrictions on the movements of carters as part of an ongoing wave of
gentrification, and only gave him a permit for the race because he framed the event as
a film shoot. Says de Andrade, “For me, the mechanism of negotiating with the
administration of the city . . . was interesting because it had to do so much [with] how
bureaucracy and the manipulation of the law decides who is in charge of what—what is
the limit or what is the borderline of being an outcast in society.”
Visit our Currents section to learn more about politics in the work of MAP artists.
Shilpa Gupta, 1:14.9, 2011–12. Polyester thread, wood, glass, and brass, 64 3/16 × 22 × 20 inches (163 × 55.9 ×
50.8 cm), A.P. 1/2, edition of 3. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Guggenheim UBS MAP Purchase
Fund, 2012.148. © Shilpa Gupta. Photo: Kristopher McKay
MEET MAP AT THE BIENNALE
The 2015 Venice Biennale begins May 9, and work by MAP artists can be seen
throughout. Curated by Okwui Enwezor, the 56th International Art Exhibition, titled All
the World’s Futures, will feature works by Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla,
Tania Bruguera, and the Propeller Group (Phunam Thuc Ha, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, and
Matt Lucero). Raimond Chaves and Gilda Mantilla will be representing their country
in the Peruvian pavilion, while Shilpa Gupta will present work alongside Rashid Rana in
the first combined national pavilion of India and Pakistan. Gupta is also part of a group
exhibition in Iran’s pavilion, along with Bani Abidi and Amar Kanwar; and the Belgian
pavilion’s exhibition, which focuses on the work of artist Vincent Meessen, also includes
a number of other artists, among them MAP’s Tamar Guimarães.
ANCIENT IDEAS, MODERN THINKING
Sara Raza, MAP’s curator for the Middle East and North Africa, describes the enduring
relevance of philosophical and scientific concepts that emerged during the Golden Age
of Islam. “I’m very much interested in those ideas,” she notes in the video above,
“ideas that somehow lost their way in contemporary thinking, in contemporary
culture.” For previous projects, she has worked with artists who explore principles of
mathematics and geometry, such as for her exhibition, Rhizoma at the 2013 Venice
Biennale and the new commissions that she oversaw for the Maraya Art Park in
Sharjah. Of her involvement with the MAP initiative, Raza notes, “I want to be able to
bring as many artistic voices to this project as possible to show the . . . depth and
breadth of artistic practices currently occurring in the region.”
ON OUR RADAR
Closing May 1 at Sweden’s Malmö Konsthall, Carla Zaccagnini and Runo Lagomarsino
is the first Scandinavian survey of work by these two MAP artists; the work on view
taps into the artists’ transnational backgrounds.
Taking place at the Singapore Art Museum through May 3, the fifth edition of the
Southeast Asian Film Festival offers screenings of new work from around the region,
as well as discussions with the directors.
Secret Archipelago, an exhibition of contemporary art from Southeast Asia, is on
view at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris through May 17. The exhibition includes work by
MAP artists Reza Afisina, Kamin Lertchaiprasert, and Tran Luong.
MAP artist Gabriel Sierra’s first solo exhibition in the United States is on view May
3–June 28 at the Renaissance Society in Chicago.
MAP artist Carlos Motta’s newly launched web­based project “Gender
Talents” presents a series of thoughtful, affecting video portraits of activists in
Colombia, Guatemala, India, and the United States who work in support of
transgender and intersex issues.
Sara Raza video
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