El Agora
dal 15/5/2009 al 15/5/2009
Segnalato da
15/5/2009
El Agora
Centro Cultural Tijuana, Tijuana
A project by Gustavo Lipkau and Xavier Hierro. Envisioned as a new public space for dialogue, performance, action and reflection, is based on an extensive architectural and programmatic reconfiguration of a 9,000-square-foot area.
inSite is pleased to announce the inauguration of El Ágora, a project by Mexico City- based architects Gustavo Lipkau and Xavier Hierro, commissioned by inSite and the Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT).
El Ágora, envisioned as a new public space for dialogue, performance, action and reflection, is based on an extensive architectural and programmatic reconfiguration of a 9,000-square-foot area used for visual arts exhibitions prior to the completion of the CECUT's new museum, El Cubo, in 2008. Lipkau and Hierro's intervention includes new spaces for conferences, lectures and performance, a lounge and reading area, a café, and the first installation of the Mexico version of the recently completed inSite Archive.
El Ágora is intended to renew the spirit of a public gathering space in the main building at the CECUT. Until 2000, when it was converted into an exhibition area, this space housed the CECUT's restaurant, which, among other things, functioned as a central, convenient, and safe place to meet in Tijuana. Indeed, the space was the site of a wide range of activities, from community meetings to political gatherings to domino tournaments. El Ágora has been designed to provide the infrastructure to support a condition of public participation and discourse—a condition that seems more important than ever given the exigencies of daily life in the border region.
The installation of the inSite Archive as a component of El Ágora is the culmination of more than two years of research and institutional archaeology documenting the artistic projects and cultural programs undertaken by inSite since 1992. The archive contains both print and digital material related to each of the nearly 200 artists' projects presented during the five versions of inSite. A comprehensive media library includes copies of video and audio material documenting hundreds of hours of inSite's public programs and events. The presentation at El Ágora will provide free access to this material for interested members of the public as well as researchers and specialists in the field. An identical version of the inSite Archive, together with all original source material, will be located in the Special Collections Library at the University of California, San Diego. The University will also undertake the development of a searchable database and web site to make the archive widely available for study and research.
The opening of El Ágora and the inSite Archive will be marked by a hosted celebration, open to the public, on Saturday, May 16, from 7:30 to 10:00 p.m.
Centro Cultural Tijuana
Paseo de los Heroes 9350 - Tijuana