Ricardo Basbaum

artesvisuais_políticas
exo experimental org.
Capacete Entretenimentos
Zona Franca

In an exemplary manner, Ricardo Basbaum examines the activities of artists and intellectuals from Brazil who operate in the field of political resistance, event organisation, research and archival work, and publishing. The four invited initiatives play an important role at the local level – albeit beyond the realm of the general public. Their presentation in Stuttgart aims to reflect on apparently local phenomena and problems in the context of global developments. For the self-perception of artists and intellectuals has changed fundamentally, in view of shifts in the relationship of art, culture, society and capital. In addition to the presentation of some traits of the Brazilian art context, based on networks outside the art market, which are little known in Europe, it is also planned to create concrete feedback: the projects prepared for Stuttgart return – in a shifted form – to their local contexts.

Works and projects

artesvisuais_políticas

In January 2003, an artist’s initiative was set up in Rio de Janeiro to oppose the planned construction of a Guggenheim museum. The aim was to publicly expose irregularities in the contract negotiations between the local administration and the Guggenheim Foundation. Following a series of actions – discussion events, performances, demonstrations, etc. – the group succeeded in stopping the negotiations with the aid of a local politician. The draft contract was declared null and void. This initiative gave rise to the artesvisuais_poIíticas group, that has meanwhile achieved quite some influence on cultural policy in Rio. In this exhibition they present audio-visual documents of their actions, that deal above all with Carnival as a popular platform for an artistic and political culture of dispute.

Capacete Entretenimentos, Planeta Capacete, since 2000

The free initiative Capacete Entretenimentos was founded by Helmut Batista in Rio de Janeiro in 2000. It aims to promote curatorial and artistic projects by means of exchange programmes and scholarships. It also publishes the Planeta Capacete art magazine featuring contributions on contemporary Brazilian and international art. The exhibition showcases all eleven issues of Planeta Capacete, each designed by a different artist.

exo experimental org., São Paulo S.A., 2006

exo experimental org. is an organisation that has been engaged in interdisciplinary research projects at the interface of aesthetics and politics since 2002. They initiate discussions, publications, and scholarship programmes. All projects are based on collaborative processes and thus promote the development of local and international networks. São Paulo S.A. is one of the projects initiated by exo experimental org. that discusses research strategies on social and political issues in Brazil. The focus is on an analysis of contemporary interdisciplinary art practices in São Paulo. São Paulo S.A. presents some of the current research projects in which artists and authors from different contexts participate.

Zona Franca
Roosivelt Pinheiro, Alexandre Vogler, Guga Ferraz, Adriano Melhen, Aimberê Casar, Ducha

Zona Franca (free trade zone) was a series of events that took place in the empty premises of the Fundição Progresso in Rio de Janeiro’s Lapa district every Monday from April 2001 to April 2002. The programmes took the form of anarchic, intermedia actions, in which artists from different generations showcased their works – performances, films, music and installations. The founders and organisers of Zona Franca were invited as part of On Difference #2 to focus on the question of how to present the history of the project – four years later and at a different location. The resulting video work uses both documentary and fictional material. It questions the ideologically moulded discourses on representation in the academic history of art.