The Spiral and the Square
- Excercises on translatability
What is a translation? Do we only translate words, or perhaps also art? Is it possible to translate one culture into another? These highly topical and burning questions are at the centre of a unique research project.
Brazil is the focus of a major drive at Bonniers Konsthall in autumn 2011. However, it is not just about showing a representative selection of the young Brazilian art scene, something “typically Brazilian”. In a globalised world, cultural institutions are obliged to find ways of presenting art from areas with a different history and social structure than our own, without increasing prejudice or creating clichés. Instead we ask whether it is possible to “translate” an artwork created in a Brazilian context so that the Swedish audience will grasp its complexity.
In order to create a deeper understanding and to find new ways of working with these burning issues in exhibitions and publications, Bonniers Konsthall in collaboration with Albert Bonniers Förlag and the Aesthetics programme of Södertörn University are pursing a unique research project entitled Translatability, since summer 2010. The project comprises the exhibition The Spiral and the Square at Bonniers Konsthall, a number of seminars and symposia in 2010-2011, in addition to a publication. The research collaboration has received funding from the Knowledge Foundation and is the first of its kind.
The autumn 2011 exhibition at Bonniers Konsthall will be realised by two invited guest curators: Jochen Volz and Daniela Castro. Both residents of Brazil, their practices extend all over the international art world. The participating artists will be presented in spring 2011.