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30/9/2008

Biacs 2008

Different Venues, Seville and Granada

The third edition of the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville, to be held from 2 October 2008 to 11 January 2009, will occupy the main exhibition site at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC) and branch out into public spaces in Seville and other Andalusian provinces, Córdoba y Granada In the global context of the information and communication society, the third edition of the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville (Biacs3), which will be held from 2 October 2008 to 11 January 2009, will make a new map of Global Art, World Art, addressing the specific aspect of media, environment and technology. Under the title ‘youniverse’, the Biennial of Seville will show how contemporary art worldwide has changed through the influence of media, technology, science and architecture. The artistic curatorial team appointed to plan the contents of the Biacs3 – consisting of Peter Weibel, general director of the ZKM Centre for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany, Wonil Rhee, guest curator of PS1MoMA 2009, Korean curator, and Marie-Ange Brayer, director of the Regional Centre of Contemporary Art of Orleáns, France – aims to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to the general theme of the exhibition.

‘youniverse’ refers to the interactivity of each individual with a universe – namely, his or her own personal universe. The creations of the selected artists (approximately one hundred in number) will revolve around mobility, individualisation through technologies, quantum physics, nanotechnology, hydraulic engineering, architecture and the environment. The artistic curatorial team plans to present the public with a showcase of the 21st century’s most representative technical breakthroughs at the threshold of a material revolution that will lead us from simulation to stimulation, and will invite visitors to personally interact with the contents of the exhibition. According to the artistic director, Peter Weibel, in ‘youniverse’ the visitor will be the protagonist. The foremost objective is to attempt to foment “the democratisation of art and the emancipation of the masses by means of the individual’s interaction with his environment, which has been modified substantially by information and communication technologies.” The public will discover “a new universe” of which they are a part – hence the title.

As in past editions, the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC) will be the official headquarters of the exhibition, although works will also be on display in other public spaces around the city of Seville. As a new development this year, the Biacs3 will branch out into another Andalusian province, Granada, with a view to exploring the origins of science and technology in the days when this region was the Arabic Al- Andalus, a hotbed of scientific innovation and one of the first cultures to promote the emancipation of the masses through technology and the civil confluence of cultures (instead the clash of civilizations). This will be an exhibition with close ties to the historical legacy of Seville and Andalusia – an event conceived in Seville but with the ability to awaken interest beyond the city limits.

The Biacs3 will attempt to show how the latest technologies have provided us with a gateway to an unknown world where we find that human beings are the nexus for all connections between science, art, technology and media, and that we have the power to control these ties. “The tendency at present is to democratise the use of technology; from personal computers and mobile phones to faucets and light switches, new technologies allow the user to adapt the environment to his needs, anytime, anywhere”. In this context, the co-curators of the Biacs3, Wonil Rhee and Marie-Ange Brayer, will design specific proposals for the exhibition. Rhee will focus on how art is related to sciences and technologies in modern life, while Brayer will analyse present-day ties between architecture and digital tools. The Biacs3, “the Biennial of technology,” will strive to offer a new vision of the global concept of biennials; up until now, "art was for the masses, but the Biacs3 will attempt to show that art is of the masses.” The observer will share the spotlight with the artists and interact with their pieces, designed in such a way that “each person can create his or her own work of art”.

Exhibition venues:

Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo The Andalusian Centre of Contemporary Art (CAAC) is the main exhibition venue of the Biacs3. The CAAC was founded in 1990 with the intention to enhance Andalusia with an institution to investigate, conserve, promote and diffuse international contemporary art in its diverse concepts of expression. Next to the creation of a permanent collection of contemporary art, which evolves over the time, the CAAC conducts a program of activities with a clearly educational character (temporary exhibitions, seminars, workshops, concerts, meetings, recitals, movie screenings and conferences).

The cultural offer of the CAAC is being supplemented by the visit to the monument itself, which accommodates an important artistic and archaeological heritage, a result of its own expansive history. Declared an historical and artistic monument in 1964 and a Monumental Site in 1989, the monastery’s fame is primarily attributable to its porcelain and tile factory, which was installed in 1841 by the English merchant Charles Pickman. The bottle-shaped ovens, to which the monumental complex owes its unique exterior appearance, date from this period. At present the monastery houses the headquarters the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage and the International University of Andalusia.

Other spaces in Seville
Widely visited spaces such as Seville’s San Pablo airport and the Santa Justa train station, amongst others, are likely settings for housing the Biacs3’s larger-scale installations. According to the biennial’s artistic director, Peter Weibel, the projects envisaged for these spaces will “combine large structures and new technologies. The public will play a key role as the installations will require viewer participation in order to work properly”.

Granada: Al-Andalus
A new feature of this year’s biennial is that it will extend to include Granada with the aim of exploring the origins of the science and technology of the Al-Andalus period. The project’s main objective is to analyse through artistic representation the ways in which man incorporated new technologies, focusing particularly on the precursory Al-Andalus period, which served as the precedent for the advances made in Europe from the 15th century and laid the foundations of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. The Biacs3 takes Al-Andalus as a point of reference in scientific innovation and intellectual enquiry and shows how it stands as a model of Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultural integration as well as a paradigm of the “democratisation of art”. Throughout its 800 years of history, Al-Andalus represented a stimulus for the progress of humanity. This is the leitmotif of this year’s biennial, and, by centring on man’s use of new technologies, ‘youniverse’ aims to encourage dialogue as a medium for shared cultural enrichment. The citiy of Granada, a hotpot for scientific and cultural research during this period, is to join the project of Biacs3. The central theme around which the artistic proposal on display in the city will revolve is the waterbased technology that is so characteristic of Andalusian culture.

Press Department
Fundacion Biacs. Pabellón de España, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092 Sevilla. España
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