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criszapata68: the first thing that comes to mind is the exhibition Fuck or die by Wilson Paccha that we presented in the CCE, Nucleus of the Azuey (Cuenca). I knew that that work had the potential to provoke due to its "sexually explicit" content, and it shook the good consciences a little, but overall, it obliged debate over the other possible uses of painting. And, while I was in charge of that area, the scene exploded, above all, it created a very vital platform of exchange.
rodolfito104: well, I have to go now, hugs to all and weíll do this again, only next time in person...bye.
mfcartagena: bye rody
Miguel_alvear: bye and thanks!
mdc1carrion: bye rody
Miguel_alvear: Letís talk a little now about the "divas of the technocumbia" project. Maria del Carmen, how was it set up inside the museum and what was the outcome? I notice that within the institution roles were not respected, the curator is just another employee, susceptible to being run over by the taste of the administration or the tastes of their political cronies who opine on and interfere with curatorial projects...
mdc1carrion: In general, I believe that that disrespect corresponds to ignorance regarding the structure and functioning of a museum, in addition, it says a lot about what is a curator in Ecuador, where all of the spheres are permeable: politics mixes with the personal, the economic and the cultural, etc. The project Divas of the TechnoCumbia was a commission given to 4 artists who would produce new works around a phenomenon of popular music known as Technocumbia. In addition to fomenting a greater participation of contemporary art in the museumís projects, it sought to present a project that would be of interest to the public of the Historic Center (the museum is situated in the center of Quito, in a business area where many low income families also live). Part of the intention of the project was to generate an exhibition whose thematic was familiar to the public living near the museum, as well as to reflect upon the tension between contemporary art and popular culture.
mfcartagena: Divas...generated controversy, revisions; it questioned and dismantled, and it is exactly that potential that the museum didnít want to confront. The Director didnít know how to channel nor how to handle the topic, she wasnít prepared and opted for the worst possible exit, censorship.
mdc1carrion: After a year of working on a project and all the symbolic and economic investment to produce that project within the museum, the censoring of the show wasnít directed solely at the artist but toward the cultural policies that the museum itself presented, toward the discourse that the City Museum itself carried on for more than a year.
criszapata68: Joining institutions that exhibit negligence, shiftlessness and a colossal ignorance of the issues that they handle, is a difficult, tricky situation. The experiences of Maria Fernanda and Maria del Carmen are illustrative. We have to work with alternative spaces that are on the margin of the artistic system (e.g., universities), and better still, invent others. But what we must not stop doing is working towards places of knowledge and discussion. The intellectual level of the Ecuadorian scene is very low. We have to make them think about the imminently artistic issues, as there is the risk of drowning ourselves in institutional debate, while 98% of our artists donít have a clear idea of the essential pretexts that orient artistic work. The 2004 Salon Mariano Aguilera, dedicated to the ready-made, is a clear-cut example.
Miguel_alvear: As curators, are you presently developing projects/strategies "from the outside"?
mfcartagena: For several years I have been working "from the inside", stimulating contemporary art from an independent or institutional standpoint, and while there really doesnít exist a solid platform or scene that guarantees the sustained development of curatorial practice, criticism and/or exhibitions, many very solid proposals, from different fronts, have begun to crystallize. Apart from the internal work, thatís usually exhausting, you have to begin again from scratch, in other words, itís double work, and the context generally gets boycotted before it gets off the ground. Generating proposals or coordinating exhibitions in Ecuador is not the same as doing the same things in Mexico City, Sao Paolo, Bogotá or Buenos Aires, where somehow you are guaranteed assistance, support and international exposure. To go on the Internet and get yourself on the map from Ecuador is a titanic undertaking. Very little of what happens in Ecuador makes it to the Biennials, theoretical encounters, retrospectives or to an international curatorial viewership, even though these encounters or events are held in neighboring countries, under theoretical frameworks that promulgate the inclusion the peripheral, minorities, etc. This doesnít mean that a large part of that responsibility doesnít fall on us who work on the inside, but in this way we do a lot, the axis of power, decisions, contacts, etc., are on the other side. A lot of work that has been promoted, coordinated, produced or curated leaves the country in the possession of foreign curators, of whom I maintain a healthy envy for there ability to cross borders. For this reason I believe, with respect to art production in Ecuador, that I can do more from the outside than from the inside, and that is part of the strategy that I have initiated from Buenos Aires, where I am now.
mdc1carrion: As an example of working from the outside of the institution and generating new spaces. At the moment I am co-curating a project called Feel at Home, together with one of my housemates. The exhibition will be held right in our house, opening this space for artists and the public. Additionally, I am preparing a sample dealing with artists that work on Hollywood films with the idea of showing it in a cinema in San Francisco.
Miguel_alvear: OK DARLINGS, thanks. Here ends this experiment, kisses to all.
mfcartagena: ok, ciao
criszapata68: kisses
Messenger: criszapata68, and everybody else, has left the conference.
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