Open call for artists (July 6 – August 10, 2018) 21st Contemporary Art Biennial SESC_Videobrasil | Imagined Communities

Selected artists are invited to take part in the exhibition at SESC 24 de Maio and in parallel activities at Galpão VB (São Paulo, Brazil) from October 2019 through February 2020, as well as to compete for the following awards offered by the 21st Biennial:

• State of the Art Award – Cash prize in the amount of R$100,000 for best participating artist or group

• SESC Contemporary Art Award – Two prizes for works by Brazilian artists in the amount of up to R$50,000 each. Works will form part of the SESC Brazilian Art Collection

• Residency Awards – Offered to three young artists to support the production of a unique work in partnership with Videobrasil’s residency network

• O.F.F. Award – Cash prize in the amount of R$25,000 offered by the Ostrovsky Family Fund to an artist with original research on the moving image

21st Contemporary Art Biennial SESC_Videobrasil | Imagined Communities

From different shades of the political spectrum, nationalism has reemerged as a critical theme to understand the disputes that shape our time, raising questions about the duration and scope of this new, yet regressive, cycle. Within this context, the 21st Contemporary Art Biennial SESC_Videobrasil | Imagined Communities takes its title from Benedict Anderson’s classic study of the rise of nationalism to explore how poetics stemming from the South have been addressing the phenomenon. Without losing its geopolitical focus, the curatorial team of the 21st Biennial, composed of Gabriel Bogossian, Luisa Duarte, Miguel López and Solange Farkas, intends to expand the repertoire of questions and broaden the diversity of the voices we encounter. Thus, they seek to include artistic expression from stateless communities, Indigenous peoples, religious or mystical communities, communities uprooted from their original lands, fictional, utopian, and clandestine communities.

Conceptual changes

To more explicitly position itself in the global art scene while keeping the focus on current changes in its local context, the festival has adopted the name Contemporary Art Biennial SESC_Videobrasil. With dynamism and originality, the Biennial is entering a new stage, aligned with the purpose and international calendar of Biennial around the world. Such changes do not alter the Festival’s encouragement of art production outside the market, the creation of reflective content through seminars, debates and publications, the initiatives to educate audiences, and the incentive for concrete exchange among artists. Opening in October 2019, the 21st edition will present three curatorial platforms that include an exhibition + film program, a publication and several public programs, each under the direction of a guest curator.

Who may apply?

Applications are accepted from artists working in any media – who were born or have lived for over five years in countries from the Global South or from Portuguese-speaking countries, as well as members of Indigenous communities of all nations. The works not have been previously presented in the city of São Paulo until the opening of the Biennial.

Full details of the selection process may be found in the open call link: bienalsescvideobrasil.org.br/opencall.