Brazilian art festival seeks to do away with LatAm stereotypes

Sao Paulo —  With over 2,000 artists and 164 exhibitors, the 15th edition of the Sao Paulo International Art Festival got under way on Thursday with a “unique look” at the art, history, roots and open wounds of Latin America with the aim of knocking down stereotypes.

The SP-Arte festival - the main gathering for museums, critics, curators and art galleries in the Southern Hemisphere - pays tribute to the artists of the region with an eye toward breaking down the cliches and misconceptions that people have adhered to for centuries.

The contradictions of the contemporary world, the consequences of colonization and the resulting still-open wounds are immortalized in the portraits of Guatemalan photographer Luis Gonzalez de Palma, whose images are included in the “Solo” section of the festival.

“Gonzalez de Palma works with indigenous people and captures compelling issues in Guatemala, a country where 65 percent of the population is indigenous and which experienced genocide for 36 years,” curator Alexia Tala, who selected the artists for this edition dedicated to Latin America, told EFE.

Tala said that she wanted to present a variety of Latin American artists who move away from the long-standing cliches “to clarify or satirize ... (the) image created in the West” of what Latin America is and “what it means to be Latino.”

The projects combined into the Solo section dismantle the “Eurocentric vision of the world” and explore the consequences of the exploitation of natural resources and territories, as well as the systematic killing of indigenous people.

Another artist at the festival will be Chilean-born Sandra Vasquez de la Horra who specializes in drawings capturing the diversity of cultures, myths and beliefs of the people in the region.

The Spanish Espaivisor gallery, from Valencia, includes various works of art by the Peruvian Fernando Bryce and presents “an entire section of historical issues” through literary objects such as magazines, books and newspapers, the curator said.

The festival will include a section for social criticism, with the participation of Ayrson Heraclito and Randolpho Lamonier from Brazil.

While Heraclito focuses on the “sacred” aspect of the Afro-Brazilian culture from a “decolonization” perspective, Lamonier criticizes the “perpetual and urgent political issues of everyday life.”

Apart from rescuing “the origins and the common culture of Latin America,” SP-Arte offers a space to reflect and break physical boundaries, festival founder Fernanda Feitosa told EFE.

On display for the “OpenSpace” session will be 17 sculptures in Sao Paulo’s iconic Ibirapuera park.

The idea, Feitosa said, is for spectators to reflect on the concept behind the works and the autonomy of the pieces.

With the emblematic “Penetrable Macaleia” from 1978, OpenSpace makes available one of the most famous pieces by Brazil’s Helio Oiticica (1937-1980), an innovative and key figure in contemporary art.

“SP-Arte is a festival that transcends the limits of the city and embraces everyone who participates, works, loves or lives off of culture,” Feitosa said.

The festival includes a series of outdoor shows, ranging from contemporary dances to hard-hitting and edgy performances designed to invite reflection on political and social events around the world.

By Nayara Batschke.