>>> Assunto: Please help us to save the Johannesburg Biennial!!!!!!!
>>>
>>> Dear Colleagues!
>>>
>>> When Ivo Mesquita was recently fired from the Sao Paulo Bienal
>>> for no apparent reason it was the efforts of the global art
>>> community that made the bureaucrats realise the consequences
>>> and reconsider their decision.
>>> There is sadly a precedent that few are aware of and even
>>> fewer speak of. In 1997 following the international acclaim
>>> and success of the 2nd Johannesburg Biennial, artistic director
>>> Okwui Enwezor and key members of his team were fired
>>> without reason, in addition to which the Johannesburg City
>>> council decided to close the exhibition a month earlier than
>>> had been scheduled. As a result of the efforts of a few
>>> individuals the exhibition managed to stay open as scheduled
>>> but the biennial has not survived.
>>>
>>> More than 3 years has since passed and every effort to begin the
>>> process that would culminate in the third Johannesburg Biennial
>>> has failed. As it stands there will never be another Johannesburg
>>> Biennial ever again.
>>> Neither the Johannesburg City Council nor the National
>>> Government's Department of Arts and Culture have given any
>>> reasons for this cancellation. Key amongst the reasons inferred
>>> is that the Biennial is not perceived as being important to
>>> either South Africa or to the international art community.
>>>
>>> You can make a difference! If the South African government is
>>> made aware of the important role this exhibition plays in life
>>> of every Africa artist as well as the significance it has for
>>> the international art community it will have no option but
>>> to change its policy. If the Johannesburg City Council is made
>>> to realise how this single exhibition has changed the lives and
>>> careers of so many key South African artists, both black and white,
>>> then perhaps they would change the minds as to its vital importance.
>>> As it stands the politicians are listening to the voices of a
>>> few individuals in whose interests its lies that the exhibition
>>> remain canceled forever. Such an important exhibition should not
>>> get caught up in personal politics and hidden agendas.
>>>
>>> Please add your name to the list below and email it to Brigitte
>>> Mabandla, the deputy minister of arts and culture
>>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> and <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>> asking that the Johannesburg Biennial be reinstated. If the
>>> South African government is made aware of the importance this
>>> exhibition they will have no option but to begin the process
>>> once again. Please now do for Johannesburg, for South Africa
>>> and for the entire African continent what you have done for
>>> Sao Paulo:
>>>
>>> PLEASE HELP THE JOHANNESBURG BIENNIAL TO SURVIVE BY
>>> ADDING YOUR NAME AND TITLE TO THIS LIST AND
>>> PASS IT ALONG TO YOUR COLLEAGUES.
>>> ONCE IT REACHES 50 NAMES PLEASE SEND IT ON TO:
>>>
>>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> and <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>> or fax it to
>>> +27-21- 455 6241:2:3:4:5:
>>>
>>> 1. Valeria Piccoli, Assistant Curator, XXV Bienal de Sao Paulo
>>> 2. Veronica Cordeiro, Curatorial Assistant, XXV Bienal de Sao
>>> Paulo
>>> 3. Ana Paula Cohen, Curatorial Assistant, XXV Bienal de Sao
>>> Paulo
>>> 4. Carla Zaccagnini, Artist, Curatorial Assistant, XXV Bienal
>>> de Sao Paulo
>>> 5. Adriano Pedrosa, Associate Curator, XXV Bienal de Sao Paulo
>>> 6. Ivo Mesquita, Chief Curator, XXV Bienal de Sao Paulo
>>> 7. Martin Grossmann, Vice Director Museu de Arte
>>> Contemporanea-USP
>>> 8. In�s Raphaelian, S�o Paulo, Artist, Independent Curator
>>> 9. Regina Silveira, S�o Paulo, Artist
>>> 10-Nazareth Pacheco , S�o Paulo, Artist
>>> 11. Izabel Murat Burbridge, S�o Paulo, Translator
>>> 12. Monique STUPAR, directeur artistique Poiiters France
>>> 13. Paulo Herkenhoff, Adjunct Curator, The Museum of Modern Art,
>>> New York
>>> 13. Gerardo Mosquera, Adjunct Curator, New Museum of Contemporary
>>> Art, New York
>>> 14. Horacio Safons, Secretario Regional AICA para Am�rica Latina
>>> y el Caribe
>>> 15. Marimar Benitez, Chancellor Escuela de Artes Plasticas, San
>>> Juan, PR
>>> 16. Haydee Venegas, Vice President AICA. San Juan, Puerto Rico
>>> 17.Ana Rosa Rivera Marrero, Visual Artist. San Juan, PR
>>> 18. Stefano Pasquini, Artist, Critic, Curator, New York, NY
>>> 19. Simon Will, Artist, Berlin Germany
>> 20. Phil Collins artist, Belfast, Northern Ireland
> 21. Tamas St.Auby, superintendent of IPUT, Geneva, CH - Budapest, H
22. P.K. Harris, Visual Artist, Pacific Grove, California
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