Call for artists for 22nd edition of Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil
*Application period:* August 1 – September 2, 2022
*Sesc 24 de Maio*
Rua 24 de Maio
São Paulo
Brazil
https://site.videobrasil.org.br
From August 1 through September 2, 2022, the 22nd Biennial
Sesc_Videobrasil holds an open call for artists. This edition will be
held in October 2023, in São Paulo, after being postponed for two years
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Biennial will receive submissions of
works in any format and language, from artists and/or collectives born
and/or based in countries of the Global South, from the Community of
Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), or residing in them for at least
five years, as well as Indigenous artists of any nationality.
*About the 22nd Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil*
With its characteristic dynamism, the event reaches its 22nd edition in
2023 with the title “Memory is an editing station”—a sentence taken from
the poem “Open Letter to John Ashbery,” by Waly Salomão (1943–2003).
Curated by the Raphael Fonseca, from Brazil, and Renée Akitelek Mboya,
from Kenya, the Biennial also marks the 40th anniversary of Videobrasil,
initially an event dedicated to video, but which over the decades
expanded to the most varied artistic media. In this celebration, “it is
therefore necessary not only to reflect on time and the many conceptions
of memory, but also to revisit the importance of video in these four
decades,” write the curators. It is also worth noting that in
contemporaneity, the possibilities of editing have been transformed, and
become more agile and within reach of our fingertips in many
technological devices of everyday use.
Far beyond these particular “editing stations,” the 22nd Biennial seeks
to select works that address collective memories, the dynamic of
remembrance and forgetfulness that build historical and social
narratives, related to peoples, nations and geographic regions. “What
are the ethical boundaries of a cut?” Who holds the power to do so? How
to forge the memory of what we didn’t see or feel in our bodies? What
are the limits of memory?”, question the curators.
Founder and artistic director of Videobrasil, who held her first
Festival in 1983, Solange Farkas calls attention to the context in which
the open call for artists is being held, after more than two years of a
pandemic that has left millions dead around the globe. The idea of
survival, therefore, emerges as an essential desire, as well as the need
to look at such a recent and already traumatic past. “Surviving in the
face of adversity is necessary, and the Biennial cherishes the
expression of different voices, ways of negotiating the historical past
and forms of reflecting on image creation today.”
*Awards*
Those selected will take part in the exhibition at Sesc 24 de Maio (São
Paulo, Brazil) and compete for the following prizes, to be awarded by
the 22nd Biennial:
*State of the Art Award*: given to the work considered by the jury to be
the most thought-provoking, powerful and significant in the Biennial.
*Sesc Contemporary Art Award*: given to outstanding works in the 22nd
Biennial, *produced by Brazilian artists and/or collectives* that will
be included in the Sesc Brazilian Art Collection.
*O.F.F. Award*: offered by the Ostrovsky Family Fund, it is given to a
participating artist, of *any nationality*, who presents an original
investigation of the moving image.
*Artistic residency* prizes will also be given, which will provide
residency periods at partner institutions. Prizes include airfare,
accommodation and per diem during residencies, which have an eight-week
duration.
*About the organizers
Associação Cultural Videobrasil*
Founded by Solange Farkas in 1991, Associação Cultural Videobrasil is
the result of the desire to institutionally host the growing collection
of works and publications gathered since the first Festival Videobrasil,
held in 1983. Since then, the association has been working
systematically to activate its collection, which brings together pieces
from the Global South, classics of video art and in-house works and a
vast collection of publications on art. In addition to the
Sesc_Videobrasil Biennial, the Association also carries out important
activities of research, diffusion and mapping concerning its collection:
national and international exhibitions; touring shows; publications; TV
programs; documentaries; seminars; workshops and meetings with artists
and researchers; and artistic residency programs, in connection with a
worldwide collaborative network.
*Sesc—Social Service of Commerce*
Sesc—Social Service of Commerce is a private, non-profit institution
created in 1946 by entrepreneurs in the fields of commerce and services
throughout Brazil. In the state of São Paulo, Sesc has over 40 centers
focused in the areas of culture, education, sports, leisure and health.
Sesc São Paulo receives roughly 20 million visits annually. The work of
Sesc São Paulo is guided by its educational role and by the pursuit of
social well-being based on a broad notion of culture. In this sense, the
unlimited access to the spaces and contents offered by the institution
targets at the democratization of cultural assets as a form of autonomy
of the individual. In the field of visual arts, the institution’s main
role is to foster and disseminate the contemporary artistic production
and the study of the production of previous historical periods, as well
as the intersections with other artistic languages, having as its
central guideline the organization of exhibitions for all audiences.
Read here the *curatorial approach* of the *22nd Biennial
Sesc_Videobrasil*:
https://site.videobrasil.org.br/en/inscricao/partido-curatorial
Access the *open call*:
https://site.videobrasil.org.br/en/inscricao/regulamento
If you have any questions, email us: 22bie...@videobrasil.org.br
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