Karina Nimmerfall in Bucharest Biennale
posted on: 3.28.2008
The 3rd BUCHAREST BIENNALE- International Biennale for Contemporary Art Bucharest (organized by PAVILION magazine for contemporary art and (culture) will take place from May 23 – June 21 2008, hence reaching its third edition (BB3).
In staging contemporary art, BB3 promotes the exchange of ideas and artistic manifestations, operating both locally and globally by fusing not only an international vision of art, but also a trans-cultural exchange, engaging the community and enriching the cultural resources of Bucharest. As the capital of the second largest country among the new EU nations, Bucharest enjoys an eclectic urban landscape, in which architectural strata are combined, each of these bearing physical testimonies to historical moments.
The curators of this edition, Jan-Erik Lundström and Johan Sjöström, have chosen a topic of significant relevance to the contemporary world, characterized by nomadism: “Being here. Topographies of contemporaneity”. The choice of topic was based on the spatial experience of our lives, as it is constantly being modified by new forms of perception, enriched by technological innovations and perpetual physical movement, which in turn is experimented on a daily basis.
The theme of BB3 integrates the city in its curatorial project, proposing both a spatial, temporal and itinerant trajectory to the visitor, leading to the discovery of hidden geographies. Romania is the ideal place for exploring new cartographies within the contemporary world, whose configuration has undergone a dramatic change during the last 18 years, ever since the fall of the Berlin (wall) The era of globalisation restructures old borders and creates new ones; Romania finds itself in the centre of these processes. The cultural, political and social changes, which take place before our eyes call to be explored, analysed and rendered in an artistic and discursive fashion that is able to exceed reality, by proposing a different vision of our world. Despite being in a rather introductory stage, the Bucharest Biennale has already positioned itself internationally, and the third edition is expected to express the growing potential of this type of artistic encounter. BB3 questions cartography and proposes a remapping of contemporary art, by extending the art concept towards discursive manifestos with a socio-political impact.