Installation View

Mercosul Biennial

The Mercosul Visual Arts Biennial, in Porto Alegre, takes as its theme “The Atlantic Triangle” and reflects on relations between the Americas, Africa and Europe.

General view of the exhibition at Santander Cultural, featuring the installation Non-Orientable, Political Animals, by Ibrahim Mahama.

by Camila Gonzatto
Mon 7 May, 2018

At its 11th edition, the Mercosul Biennial Porto Alegre brings together the works of about 70 artists and collectives, seeking to look at the economic and cultural interconnections between Africa, America and Europe through the lens of contemporary artistic production. Among the participants are Africans, such as El Anatsui, Ibrahim Mahama and Mary Evans, and Brazilians Arjan Martins and Dalton Paula. With curatorship by Alfons Hug and assistant curatorship by Paula Borghi, the exhibit’s main focus is on African and Afro-Brazilian art, while also presenting indigenous cultures.

In addition to being housed in historic buildings in the city center, there are exhibitions at the Nossa Senhora das Dores Church, in Alfândega Square and in two quilombos, the Areal da Baronesa, in Porto Alegre, and at Casa 6, in Pelotas, who will host artists Camila Soato and Jaime Lauriano for artist residencies. The Biennial can be visited free of charge until 3 June 2018.

Please do not bend, 2018, by Mary Evans.

Ebb & Flow, 2018, by El Anatsui. Jack Shainman Gallery Collection, Nova York.

Works by Dalton Paula: Cabeça de cabra e maia, 2017. Luciana Cardoso Collection. Caprino Calçado, 2017. Mauro Finatti Collection. Cabra e Cadeira, 2017. Susana and Ricardo Steinbrunch Collection.

Geometry of the passing, 2018, by Youssef Limoud.

General view of the exhibition at the Museum of Art of Rio Grande do Sul, featuring the work O Triângulo Atlântico em tempos distópicos, 2018, by Arjan Martins.

Detail of the work O Triângulo Atlântico em tempos distópicos, 2018, by Arjan Martins.

Code Noir, no date, by Leonce Rafael Agbodjelou. Courtesy of the Jack Bell Gallery, London.

General view of the exhibition at the Rio Grande do Sul Memorial, featuring the work Mal de Mar hacia un triste trópico: in the distance of the eighth island, 2018, by Marco Montiel-Soto.

Invasão, 2017, by Jaime Lauriano. Courtesy of the Leme Gallery, São Paulo.

Maria dos Anjos, 2017-2018, by Sonia Gomes. Artist Collection and Gallery Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brussels, Nova York.

Sound installation with indigenous voices from Latin America and Nigeria, at the Nossa Senhora das Dores Church.

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