ART NEWS: Oct.03

Since 2014, the price of housing in Portugal has been increasing more than 6% per year. Lisbon was the municipality in the country most affected by this problem, infecting the surrounding districts and pushing inhabitants out of the centre. The exhibition “Living in Lisbon” seeks to present some of the most charismatic architectural housing strategies undertaken in the Portuguese capital over the past 50 years of democracy, to make the current situation visible and also to present plans for the future, by bringing together ideas and proposals from professionals of different areas: Sociology, Geography, Landscape and, above all, Architecture. Info: Curator: Marta Sequeira, Garagem Sul (Centro Cultural de Belém Foundation), Lisbon, Portugal, Duration: 17/10/2023-28/4/2024, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, www.ccb.pt/

“Field of Stars” is a site-specific, collaborative art project created by artists, craftsmen, and architecture students active in Japan and abroad. The project is sited on the land adjacent to the Shinmeiyama tumulus (the largest ancient burial mound on the Japan seaside), and the historic Takano Shrine founded in the second century BCE. Part of the special exhibition “ECHO”, which will be held this fall in Kyotango, “TOMORROW” presents art projects, including this one, that bring together the talents of the next generation in art, craft, and architecture with the uniqueness of the Tango region. It is our intention to imagine the ways architecture and art can consider the future of global environmental changes, and to rethink our current consumption of natural resources through more sustainable approaches. “Field of Stars” is a project that crosses the boundaries of contemporary art, traditional craft, and experimental architecture by using timeless local materials and techniques to create an immersive experience. This project is a collaboration between Artist Teresita Fernández and master carpenter Shuji Nakagawa, together with a younger generation of team members, led by project manager Shunya Hashizume of TOMORROW with college interns Kohei Wakamatsu and Cypress Fernández-Downs. Info: Takano / Itsukinomiya Shrine, 249 Miya Tangocho, Kyotango, Kyoto, Japan, Duration: 17/10-26/11/2023, Make a reservation for viewing, https://echo-tomorrowfield.com/

The exhibition “Calling” celebrates the visionary work of artist Meredith Monk, inviting visitors to explore and discover the work of one of this era’s most original artists. The exhibition translates her live performances and concerts into encounters with immersive video- and sound installations in the alcoves and open public space of a 700-year old church. Living legend Meredith Monk has dedicated her career to exploring the potential of the human voice. Her enigmatic, playful, and profound compositions and live works have pushed the boundaries of music, performance, and visual art. The presentation is a unique retrospective of her influential performance practice in which she has constantly sought harmony between the spiritual, the earth, and human existence. Monk transforms the space into a singing body and immerses the audience in an audio-visual experience. Her artistic practice and the history of the Oude Kerk share an important characteristic: improvisation as a guide for transformation. The current form of the church did not emerge from a fixed concept, but through an organic process of improvisation and adaptation to the needs of the time, just like Monk’s compositions, which arise through improvisation and are fluid, with different pieces forming the building blocks of larger compositions. Info: Curator: Beatrix Ruf, Oude Kerk, Oudekerksplein 23, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Duration: 21/20/2023-17/3/2024, Days & Hours: Mon-Sat 10:00-18:00, Sun 10:00-17:30, https://oudekerk.nl/

The 22nd edition of Sesc_Videobrasil brings together artists from the Global South and features a retrospective of the Videobrasil’s trajectory. “Memory is an editing station” is the theme guiding the Biennial with works by 60 artists and collectives from 38 countries of the Global South. 22nd Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil: Memory is an editing station occupies Sesc, raising contemporary themes in a post-pandemic world and reflecting on the history of Videobrasil itself—an event created in 1983 that is celebrating four decades of existence. The main exhibition features more than 100 works including textiles, paintings, photography and a prominent presence of large-scale installed videos. The event will also feature the concurrent exhibition “40-Year Special | The Collection in Performance”, a space at Sesc 24 de Maio that is dedicated to Videobrasil’s trajectory that proposes different immersion modes into Videobrasil Collection. The 22nd Sesc_Videobrasil Biennial promotes a series of public programs, organized by Renée Mboya, to stimulate experiences, exchange ideas and generate content, with all activities free and open to the public. The program includes round tables, performances and invitations for experiences at the biennial. Info: Artistic Director: Solange Oliveira Farkas, Curators: Raphael Fonseca and Renée Akitelek Mboya, Sesc 24 de Maio, Rua 24 de Maio, São Paulo, Brazil, Duration: 18/10/2023-25/2/2024, https://bienalsescvideobrasil.org.br/

In their paintings and watercolors that are on show in the exhibition “Black Paintings”, Mehmet & Kazim explore a world that is as urban as it is lifelike. Their figures, which are strongly reminiscent of throw-ups from the graffiti world, the lettering that has shaped the urban world for more than 50 years, hurry through the nocturnal city. Above them shines the starry sky, or a sky of airplanes, it’s just not possible to distinguish so precisely in the city. They are constantly on the move, sometimes singing, sometimes bent over, always emphatically nonchalant. They are grounded by shopping bags from the bodega, which lies on the way from one event to the next. Again and again, an anxious expression flits across their faces, or is it stress after all? In any case, the figures are alive, facing the night and its imponderables stoically and determinedly – just like life. In contrast to Goya, who in his Black Paintings tells of a deep distraught towards humanity, Mehmet & Kazim look at their fellow beings with an almost loving, turned gaze. Thus, even the fearfully running form is still capable of a declaration of love in speech bubble form at the last second. And so, in all the blackness of the night, it always finds its way back to love. Info: Contemporary Fine Arts, Totengässlein 5, Basel, Switzerland, Duration: 21/10-2/12/2023, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 10:30-13:00 & 13:30-18:00, Sat 11:00-14:00, https://cfa-berlin.de/

The Platforms Project 2023 will be presented at Technopolis (the former gasworks plant of Athens) with a rich and multifaceted program of speeches, videos and performances by 56 artistic platforms from 24 countries and 900 artists. For the first time this year, Platforms Project will host groups from the fields of theater, music, architecture, and design, expanding the international network that has already been established over the past decade and from which not only international collaborations but also friendships have emerged. The aim of the Platforms Project is to showcase the collective initiatives of Greek and foreign artists, consistently contributing to the search for solutions to contemporary artistic and theoretical issues that are raised internationally. The practice of interdisciplinary collaboration among different art forms (visual arts, music, theater, etc.) is and remains a matter of international artistic cooperative action, which Platforms Project embraces starting from this year. For four days, the Technopolis of the Municipality of Athens will serve as a meeting and networking hub for artistic groups from all over the world, providing the opportunity for the wider art-loving audience to explore contemporary artistic creation from within, discover new trends, understand the value of collaboration in artistic practice, and, of course, witness the artists themselves in action. Alongside the Platforms Project 2023 exhibition, there will be lectures, conferences, performances, workshops, and, of course, the Kids Lab, an educational program for children aged 4-16 years. Info: Curator: Artemis Potamianou, Platforms Projet 2023, Technopolis, 100 Piraeus, Athens, Greece, Duration: 26-29/10/2026, Days & Hours: Thu (26/10)18:00-22:30, Fri-Sun (27-29/10) 12:00-21:00, https://platformsproject.com/