Installation View

Venice Biennale: Chile and Peru

Peruvian artist Christian Bendayan explores how indigenous and trans people have been othered in Peru, while the solo exhibition of Chilean artist Voluspa Jarpa is a fictional museum that challenges Euro-centric narratives.

Voluspa Jarpa, The Subaltern Portrait Gallery, Venice Biennale.

by Will Furtado
Mon 20 May, 2019

The 58th Venice Biennale focuses on artists who challenge existing habits of thought and open up our readings of objects and images. Curated by Ralf Rugoff, the biennale features 79 artists in the international exhibition and 89 national pavilions. Here are our first impressions of the Peru and Chile pavilions at Arsenale, both open until until November 24, 2019.

Featuring paintings, installation, collage, and archival pieces, the solo exhibition of Peruvian artist Christian Bendayan, Trans Tropicalia (Fragments), explores how indigenous and trans people have been othered in Peru.

Altered Views, the solo exhibition of Chilean artist Voluspa Jarpa, is a fictional museum that challenges Euro-centric narratives while reflecting on racism, patriarchy, heteronormativity, and the link between economics and colonialism. Curated by Augustín Pérez Rubio, the show is divided into the Hegemony Museum, the Subaltern Portrait Gallery and the Emancipation Opera.

Christian Bendayan, Iron House, Venice Biennale, 2019. Photo: Will Furtado.

Christian Bendayan, Anthropophagous Indians, Venice Biennal 2019. Photo: Will Furtado.

Christian Bendayan, Animal Power, Venice Biennale 2019. Photo: Will Furtado.

Christian Bendayan, 'Indian Line' (Souvenir from Iquitos), Venice Biennale 2019. Photo: Will Furtado.

Christian Bendayan, Butterflies of the Amazon, Venice Biennale 2019. Photo: Will Furtado.

Voluspa Jarpa, Altered Views, The Hegemony Museum, Venice Biennale 2019. Photo: Will Furtado.

Voluspa Jarpa, Altered Views, The Hegemony Museum, Venice Biennale 2019. Photo: Will Furtado.

Voluspa Jarpa, Altered Views, The Hegemony Museum, Venice Biennale 2019. Photo: Will Furtado.

Voluspa Jarpa, Altered Views, The Hegemony Museum, Venice Biennale 2019. Photo: Will Furtado.

Voluspa Jarpa, Altered Views, The Hegemony Museum, Venice Biennale 2019. Photo: Will Furtado.

Text and photos by Will Furtado, deputy editor of Contemporary And based in Berlin.​

Most read
A Latin American Universe
What Is "Latinx"?
“Latinx” is an update of traditional labels usually applied to describe Latin American migrant communities in the US.
In Conversation With Lía Colombino
The Museo del Barro and Multicultural Art in Paraguay
The Museum is dedicated to all types of visual arts that highlight the cultural and ethnic diversity of Paraguay.
Modes of Belonging
When Water Becomes a Screen
The photographer Amine Oulmakki invites us on an existential search articulated around themes of image, story, and memory.
Biennales
global art mapping
Chile
Installation View
A first look into exhibitions
related content
Installation View #museumshutdown
Not Fully Human, Not Human at All
This group exhibition at Kunstverein Hamburg looks into the processes of dehumanization that have been taking place in Europe.
The São Paulo Biennials
“More Desire to Measure up to the North Than to Redefine It”
Luciara Ribeiro talks about the importance of analyzing archives and their gaps to think about revisions that question colonization.
Frestas 2020
Pluralism in Curatorial Framing
Diane Lima, Beatriz Lemos, and Thiago de Paula Souza talk about the Frestas exhibition program, held in Sorocaba, Brazil.
Installation View
Berlin Biennale: daadgalerie and ExRotaprint
Images of this year's Berlin Biennale in the daadgalerie and ExRotaprint.
Installation View
11th Berlin Biennale: Gropius Bau
Images of this year's Berlin Biennale in the Martin-Gropius-Bau.
Installation View
11th Berlin Biennale: KW Institute for Contemporary Art
Images of this year's Berlin Biennale in the KW in Berlin-Mitte.
In Conversation with Édgar Calel
“To Me, Art Is a Place of Transit”
Visual artist Édgar Calel dedicates his work to his ancestral culture and reflects on movement and transformation.
In Conversation with Maximiliano Mamani
“Creating Art from a Precarious Position Is a Challenge and an Opportunity”
The Argentinean artist gives life to the drag queen Bartolina Xixa and examines LGBT constructs, colonialism and gender concepts.
Berlin Biennale
The 11th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art publishes participants
Artists from all over the world will exhibit their works in Berlin beginning in September 2020.
Most read
A Latin American Universe
What Is "Latinx"?
“Latinx” is an update of traditional labels usually applied to describe Latin American migrant communities in the US.
In Conversation With Lía Colombino
The Museo del Barro and Multicultural Art in Paraguay
The Museum is dedicated to all types of visual arts that highlight the cultural and ethnic diversity of Paraguay.
Modes of Belonging
When Water Becomes a Screen
The photographer Amine Oulmakki invites us on an existential search articulated around themes of image, story, and memory.
In Conversation with
Researcher and artist Rosana Paulino
“I would like to touch on subjects that have been swept under the rug in Brazilian society”, says the Brazilian artist.
Slavery Images
The Image As Testimony Of The Unspeakable
An archive of historical images allows us a look into the terrible world of slavery in the Americas.
Exhibition at Pinacoteca de São Paulo
Rosana Paulino: The Suturing of History
“Rosana Paulino: The Sewing of Memory” exhibition brings together 140 works by the Brazilian artist from 1993 to 2018.
José Antonio Gómez Rosas, a Mexican Master
A Gifted Ghost Known as “El Hotentote”
An air of mystery surrounds the life of this artist, contemporary of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. It's time to rediscover his work.
White Label
How Warhol Erased the Identity of His Black Trans Sitters
Art historian Gürsoy Doğtaş analyses the power imbalances between Warhol and his BIPoC queer and trans sitters of lower Manhattan.
In Conversation with Antwaun Sargent
Tearing Down Borders Between Magazines and Museums
We spoke to the New York curator Antwaun Sargent about his international selection for the exhibition Just Pictures at projects+gallery in St. Louis, Missouri.
View all