The Biennial will bring together artists from different countries whose works will be exhibited throughout the city of Cartagena and will include painting, sculpture, photography, electronic and audio- visual media, installation and performance. In conjunction with the Biennial there will be a rigorous academic program of forums, discussions and visits to local artists' studios, among others. First edition.
The Biennial is created with the idea to further enhance Cartagena as a center for the arts, by in-
cluding the visual arts along with the presence of music, literature, and film, other cultural manifesta-
tions already present in the city, for the cultural enrichment of the community.
The Biennial will bring together artists from different countries whose works will be exhibited through-
out the city of Cartagena and will include painting, sculpture, photography, electronic and audio-
visual media, installation and performance. In conjunction with the biennial there will be a rigorous
academic program of forums, discussions and visits to local artists’ studios, among others.
Berta Sichel has been chosen as the Artistic Director of the First International Art Biennial in Cartage-
na de Indias. Sichel is an independent curator working internationally. Her experience with Biennials
started in Brazil, at the São Paulo International Biennial, and later as one of the curators of Aperto-93
at the Venice Biennial. Ms. Sichel will be consulting with an international group of curators to select
the participating artists and projects.
From 2000 to 2011, she was the Director of the Department of Film and Video at the Reina Sofía
Museum in Madrid, where she presented the work of a wide range of international and local artists
and produced more than 20 performances and concerts.
Between 2005-2006 Sichel selected the works for the historical video collection of the Museum Reina
Sofia, and in 2006 she curated for the Museum First Generation: Art and Moving Image : l963-86,
exhibiting the new collection comprised of about 80 works. The exhibition was named by Spanish
art critics as one of the three best exhibitions of the year in Spain. Outside of the Reina Sofía she has
curated a large number of exhibitions, including solo shows by Valie Export and Lotty Rosenfeld, and
group exhibitions in institutions such as the former Whitney Museum (Connecticut), CIFO (Miami),
ArtPace (San Antonio), Museo Vostell (Carceres), Argos (Brussels), Centro Atlántico de Arte Mod-
erno (Canary Islands), Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo (Seville), Itau Cultural (São Paulo),
and New York University 80WES, among many others.
Born in Brazil, Sichel moved to New York in 1979 and graduated from New York University with a
Masters Degree in Media Ecology, where she completed her doctoral studies in Communications.
During her time in New York, Sichel worked as an independent curator, an art correspondent for
European publications, and taught at the Media Studies Program at the New School for Social Re-
search. Her articles and scholarly texts both in books and art catalogues have been published in
many countries.
Among other prizes and awards, she was a recipient of the 1998 Guggenheim Fellowship in Humani-
ties/Fine Art Research, and in December 2010 she was recognized by Spain’s Association of Women
in the Arts as the best female curator, with a special mention for her support of women artists.
Natalia Bonilla, Director
Natalia Bonilla has a degree in Fine Arts from the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, a Masters in
Cultural Project Management from the Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III, and a specialization in Fundrais-
ing from the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University. She has extensive experience in planning, organizing,
coordinating and managing cultural events. She worked at the National Museum of Colombia for
several years coordinating events and exhibitions that included Picasso in Bogota, Masterpieces of
European Painting: Rau Collection, Rembrandt in Colombia among others.
Deborah Harris, International Advisor
A graduate of Stanford University, Harris has worked for more than twenty years in art magazine
publishing at Art News, Art + Auction and Art in America. Harris was the Publisher of Modern Painters
where she helped launch the magazine worldwide. She was responsible for advertising sales teams
at Art + Auction, Gallery Guide and artinfo.com. From 2007-2009, at W Magazine, she managed
and oversaw all sales and marketing efforts for Gallery Showcase, featured in the annual W Magazine Art Issue.
Since 2008 she has been part of the leadership team at The Armory Show where she launched, and
now directs, The Armory Show - Modern. She was part of the team that launched Art Platform—Los
Angeles in September 2011. Harris is an active member of several arts and advertising organizations
including ArtTable, the Contemporary Council of the New Museum, Museum of Art & Design, and
the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Participation in the Biennial for international artists will be by invitation. The selection of the artworks
to participate in the Biennial will be made by five national and international curators with extensive
experience in the arts.
Participation for Colombian artists: open call for Colombian artists living in Colombia and abroad,
and foreign artists who have legal residence in Colombia for at least five (5) years. All applicants
must be between the ages of 25 and 35 years old. Application instructions will appear on the website on May 15th, 2013: www.biaci.org.
An educational component will be an important and essential part of the programme. The International Biennial of Contemporary Art Foundation of Cartagena de Indias has designed an educational project through workshops, videos and other cultural and educational activities.
Press Office:
Natalia Bonilla: Tel: 1-646-659-7113 01157-313 3331218 : prensa@biaci.org
Opening 7 february
Cartagena de indias, Colombia