7th Mercosur Biennial 2009 Screaming and Hearing

The 7th Mercosul Biennial runs from October 16 to November 29 2009 in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul/Brazil. The exhibitions will be open to the public for 45 days in three exhibition spaces – The Quayside Warehouses, Santander Cultural and MARGS – The Rio Grande do Sul Museum of Art – together with other public spaces in the state capital. Approximately 70% of the works will be produced by the artists especially for this Biennial. The full list of artists taking part in this edition will be released in early July.

This edition proposes a series of methodologies and actions which demonstrate contemporary art’s diversity of approaches and functions. The curatorial concept is therefore organised into seven exhibitions, an education programme, a publishing and communication programme, a radio system (Radiovisual) and several cultural programmes running throughout the Biennial inside and outside the exhibition spaces.

Mauro Knijnik, president of the 7the Mercosul Biennial, believes that organisation of the event puts Porto Alegre and the state of Rio Grande do Sul in a privileged position, occupying a key place in the international art scene: “The Mercosul Biennial’s characteristics of quality and relevance have made it a reference point for excellence of concept and organisation. Part of this development is certainly the result of hard work and care for all the inherent detail of the arts, especially in terms of its curatorial concept.”

The 7th Mercosul Biennial’s curatorial concept affirms the meaning and importance of artists as social players and constant producers of necessary critical meaning. Entitled Screaming and Hearing (Grito e Escuta), the 7th Mercosul Biennial aims to explore multidirectional communication – between a world in conflict and an artist who listens and responds; between an artist who produces meaning with the aim of a world that listens – through multiple languages. The project addresses sound, movement of the body, social interaction and educational interaction as integral parts of experiencing art today.

In this way the artists in the 7th Mercosul Biennial occupy the role of curators, developing the exhibition programme and education programme, devising and coordinating the editorial programme and its publications, the image and communication of the Biennial as a whole.

Under chief curatorship of Victoria Noorthoorn, from Argentina, and Camilo Yañez, from Chile, the curatorial team for the 7the Biennial includes the following artists:

· Education curator: Marina De Caro (Argentina) · Adjunct curators: Roberto Jacoby (Argentina), Artur Lescher (Brazil), Mario Navarro (Chile) and Laura Lima (Brazil) · Editorial curators: Erick Beltrán (Mexico) and Bernardo Ortiz (Colombia) · Co-curator of the Radiovisual programme: Lenora de Barros (Brazil)

The Mercosul Visual Arts Biennial Foundation Created in 1996, the Mercosul Visual Arts Biennial Foundation is based in Porto Alegre/RS and is a private non-profit organisation devoted to preparing and organising the exhibitions and events comprising the Mercosul Biennials.

The Mercosul Visual Arts Biennial is a major and extensive contemporary art exhibition project, taking place in odd-numbered years in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. The Mercosul Biennial is recognised as the biggest collection of events devoted to contemporary Latin American art in the world, providing thousands of people with access to culture and art.

Throughout the course of its development the Mercosul Biennial has always emphasised educational action as one of its principles. Its education programme has thus become recognised as a contribution to the discussion about art education in the country and should become a global reference point at events with the same format.

In twelve years of existence, the Mercosul Biennial Foundation has organised six editions of visual arts exhibitions, totalling 399 days of exhibitions open to the public, 50 different exhibitions, 3,616,556 visits with completely free admission, 919,723 school bookings, 165,229 m² of prepared exhibition spaces, rediscovered and revitalised urban spaces and buildings, 3,131 exhibited works, temporary urban interventions and 16 monumental works donated to the city, 128 sponsors and supporters throughout its history, the participation of 923 artists, generation of more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs per edition, together with seminars, lectures, workshops, teachers’ courses, and training and mediator work for 1,048 young people. The Mercosul Biennial Foundation Board and Administrative and Financial Advisors work voluntarily.

7th Mercosur Biennial / 7a bienal do mercosul, Porto Alegre
"Grito e Escuta / Screaming and Hearing"
Chefkuratoren: Victoria Noorthoorn, Camilo Yanez
Kuratoren: Marina De Caro, Roberto Jacoby, Artur Lescher, Mario Navarro, Laura Lima, Erick Beltran, Bernardo Ortiz, Lenora de Barros

Künstler: Daniel Acosta, Francisco de Almeida, Jonathas de Andrade, Janine Antoni, Marcela Armas, Niles Atallah, Nina Lola Bachhuber, Eduardo Basualdo, Samuel Beckett, Jerome Bel, Debora Bolsoni, Paulo Bruscky, Francois Bucher, Daniele Buetti, Cabelo , John Cage, Johanna Calle, Jorge Caraballo, Flavio de Carvalho, Maria Lucia Cattani, Joaquin Cocina, Jordi Colomer, Walmor Correa, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Juan Downey, Fermin Eguia, James Ensor , Iran do Espirito Santo, Diego Fernandez, Leon Ferrari, Nicolas Floc´h, Ana Gallardo, Ryan Gander, Raquel Garbellotti, Maria Francisca Garcia, Fabrice Gygi, Arturo Herrera, Magdalena Jitrik, Adria Julia, Fabio Kacero, Ricardo Lanzarini, Patricio Larrambebere, Cristobal Lehyt, Cristiano Lenhardt, Cristobal Leon, Milton Machado, Anna Maria Maiolino, Marcellvs L., Jose Carlos Martinat, Cildo Meireles, Henri Michaux, Marta Minujin, Delcy Morelos, Eduardo Navarro, Paulo Nenflidio, Henrique Oliveira, Liliana Porter, Paul Ramirez-Jonas, Rosangela Renno, Mauro Restiffe, Jose Alejandro Restrepo, Pedro Reyes, Mariela Scafati, Alejandra Seeber, Gabriel Sierra, Courtney Smith, Camila Sposati, Javier Téllez, Ricardo Ventura, Edgardo Antonio Vigo, Ingrid Wildi, Yun-Fei Ji ...