In its third edition, BIENALSUR, the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of the South, will once again travel to Saudi Arabia, where it is hosted by the Saudi Ministry of Culture, to present BIENALSUR…Echoes: A World Between the Analogue and the Virtual at Qasr Khuzam, a historic palace transformed into a museum in the port city of Jeddah.
Curated by the Artistic Director of BIENALSUR, Diana Wechsler, the exhibition includes more than 20 artists from 13 countries, including Ahaad Alamoudi, Darren Almond, Dania Alsaleh, Joël Andrianomearisoa, Hugo Aveta, Cécile Bart, Daniel Canogar, Tanja Deman, Sève Favre, Lina Gazzaz, Gabriela Golder, Chris Larson, Anaïs Lelièvre, Sujin Lim, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Valérie Jouve, Angelika Markul, Marín Matilde, Filwa Nazer, Tony Oursler, and Muhannad Shono.
Echo and reverberation as acoustic phenomena were chosen as a poetic metaphor for the ways in which we move naturally around the world between analogue and virtual situations. Like an echo, we flow between two dimensions, time and space, through different kinds of experiences — sometimes in person, sometimes virtually — which leads to a displacement in which other forms of the configuration of the “real” are installed. Some experiences resonate like echoes in others, thus changing the notion of “reality.”
BIENALSUR is a multipolar contemporary art biennial working as a network of associative collaboration between museums, cultural centers, and universities around the globe, stemming from the South of the South as an exercise of indiscipline. Because it develops a horizontal network, BIENALSUR links artists, curators, and diverse social groups of different origins and trajectories on an equal footing; thus, building new circuits of exchange that only take place within the framework of this project.
BIENALSUR…Echoes: A World Between the Analogue and the Virtual opened on November 30 and is now on view at Jeddah’s Qasr Khuzam. Hours are Saturdays through Thursdays from 10am to 10pm and Fridays from 2pm to 10pm (SAST).
To learn more and register for tickets, visit engage.moc.gov.sa.
Hosting BIENALSUR in Jeddah is part of the Saudi Ministry of Culture’s objective of encouraging intercultural dialogue and exchange by bringing international artists from around the world to explore Saudi culture and engage with local artists.
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