BIENALSUR 2019, the second edition of the cultural event of contemporary art from Argentina to the world, opens its week of maximum intensity from June 22nd to 29th in the city of Buenos Aires, with the arrival of renowned national and international artists and a high concentration of exhibitions, proposals and venues, including museums, cultural centres and iconic urban areas, which will bring together a varied programme, open to the general public with free admission.

Organized by the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (UNTREF), the second edition of the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of South America takes place from May to November 2019 with the participation of over 400 artists, who present their works in simultaneous exhibitions in 43 cities of a score of countries, at more than one hundred venues that operate with the collaboration of BIENALSUR.

With the arrival of exceptional artists such as Michelangelo Pistoletto (ITA), Martha Rosler (USA), Makoto Azuma (JPN), Reza Aramesh (IRN/GBR), Betsabée Romero (MEX), Rosângela Rennó (BRA), Laurent Grasso (FRA), Mohamed Arjedal (MAR), Claudia Casarino (PRY), Voluspa Jarpa (CHL) Pablo Reinoso (ARG/FRA) and Rita Fisher (URU), and the participation of local artists such as Guillermo Kuitca, Eduardo Basualdo, Nicolas Robbio, Gabriel Valansi, Grupo Etcétera and many others, all the expressions of contemporary art will be showcased in the city of Buenos Aires, a unique and privileged setting for this cultural event.

The offer will include thirty simultaneous exhibitions, with works by over one hundred artists from Argentina, Italy, Japan, Uruguay, Austria, Mexico, France, Colombia, Israel, Germany, China, the United States, Iran, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, Morocco, Brazil, Paraguay, Cuba, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, among other countries, many of whom will arrive in Buenos Aires to produce their works at each exhibition venue, since most of them were especially created for BIENALSUR 2019.

BUENOS AIRES IS BIENALSUR
The kick-off, which will be open to the public on June 22nd at 6:00pm at the MUNTREF Centre for Art and Nature – Eco Park venue (Sarmiento 2725), will feature the presentation of “Salt Flower”, an exhibition by Japanese artist Makoto Azuma, the first artist ever to send a bonsai into space. Curated by Marcello Dantas, this show gathers works that look into the lifecycle of flowers when taken away from their environment.

Organized in collaboration with the Italian Embassy in Buenos Aires and within the framework of the cycle “Italian Ingenuity”, the Pistoletto Circuit lays down an artistic itinerary of spaces intervened by the renowned figure of Arte Povera, which will start on June 23rd at the Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo, continue at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and the Old Immigrants’ Hotel venue of the Muntref and conclude in La Boca district. On June 24th at 11:00am, right opposite the Museo Benito Quinquela Martín (Avenida Pedro de Mendoza 1835), artist Michelangelo Pistoletto will arrive at the Riachuelo with “Terzo Paradiso”, an action that aims to install the utopia of art as a tool to modify society.

Mexican artist Betsabée Romero will present the installation “With No Pedestal and No Medals” on June 23rd at 2:00pm at the Plaza Dante (Libertador Avenue and Pueyrredón), at the foot of the monument to Carlos María de Alvear. It consists in an army of 60 horse heads made of mud –reminiscent of toy horses- supported by sticks, an anti-monument that aims to revisit the image of the “hero”, with the BIENALSUR curatorial work of Diana Wechsler.

With works from the Cartier Foundation, the Plaza Rubén Darío will host “Draw me a flag” as of June 23rd at 3:00 pm. This project conceived for the public space by French Christian Boltanski brings together 80 flags designed by artists from different latitudes such as Guillermo Kuitca, David Lynch, Beatriz Milhazes and Agnès Varda.

Also on June 23rd at 5:00pm, the next stop of the circuit will be at the Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo (Avenida del Libertador 1902) with “Ways of Seeing”, a selection of works by artists of the French scene who participated in the Prix Duchamp-Adiaf between 2000 and 2018. Featuring pieces by Laurent Grasso (FRA), Anri Sala (LBN), Thu Van Tran (VNM), Zineb Zedira (DZA), Clement Cogitore (FRA), Dominique Gonzalez Foerster (FRA), Pierre Ardouvin (FRA) and Camille Henrot (FRA), with the BIENALSUR curatorial work of Diana Wechsler, the exhibition is supported by the French Embassy, the Institut Français, the Alliance Française and the Franco-Argentine Dialogue.

At the same museum, Iranian artist Reza Aramesh, whose work recurrently looks into the condition of the migrant, will address the problem of migration in the installation “Action 213: A taste of austere luminance”: a series of kneeling silhouettes cut out by the artist reflecting landscapes taken directly from conflict zones such as Vietnam, Africa or the Middle East.

As of June 25th, the MUNTREF Contemporary Art Centre located at the Old Immigrants’ Hotel will host numerous proposals including “Maybe this time is different”, by the acclaimed US artist, activist and feminist Martha Rosler, who seeks to create a library on art and feminism in Spanish, with the collaboration of the Gender Institute of the UNTREF. Through the donation, purchase and loan of books, the project involves gathering and cataloguing around two thousand titles that account for, accompany and intervene the heated discussion on feminism that has been taking place in recent years in Buenos Aires.

In the province of Buenos Aires, on June 28th at 11:00am, the MUNTREF Museo de Artes Visuales – Caseros I venue, will showcase the exhibition “A Certain Scenario, Current Author Photography in Spain”, curated by Jesús Micó, with works by Teo Barba (ESP), Bego Antón (ESP), Elisa González Miralles (ESP), Jon Cazenave (ESP), Jesús Monterde (ESP) and Bernardita Morello (ARG). It is a heterogeneous and plural proposal that enables to browse through the rich variety of conceptions that contribute to defining current author photography in Spain, with the support of the Community of Madrid, the Spanish Embassy in Buenos Aires, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and the Cultural Centre of Spain in Buenos Aires.

As of June 28th, the Fine Arts Pavillion of the UCA – Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina -, will host the exhibition “Recovering stories, Recovering Hopes” by Saudi Arabian artists Faisal Samra (SAU), Ayman Zedani (SAU), Fatima Al-Banawi & The Other Story project (SAU), and Argentine artist Gabriela Golder. With the BIENALSUR curatorial work of Diana Wechsler, the show – sponsored by the Culture Ministry of Saudi Arabia- focuses on “story telling” modalities through a collection of everyday tales that help build an intimate narrative and reflect on the daily experience of contemporaneity.

At the Museo Pueyrredón of the San Isidro Town Hall, Brazilian artist Marcelo Masagao uses subtle albeit effective interventions of a series of watercolours painted by Jean Baptiste Debret in 1830 to highlight class constructions in colonial Brazil, removing from the scenes all the representations of white men and replacing them with silhouettes. Entitled “Homens Brancos”, the show opens on June 29th at 12:30pm with the BIENALSUR curatorial work of Marina Aguerre and Florencia Battiti.

BIENALSUR 2019 also has the endorsement of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, its Culture Ministry, and the Patronage Programme of the City of Buenos Aires.