“ESCRIBAS – 1st International Exhibition of Asémic Writing”

The exhibition “ESCRIBAS – 1st International Exhibition of Asemic Writing” is part of the program of the V National Festival of Contemporary Art Beagá Psiu Poético. In a production by the Instituto Imersão Latina in partnership with The Virtual Museum of Visual Poetry, the exhibition will present 26 works by artists from 18 countries, constituting the first international group exhibition of its kind held in Brazil.

Curated by Tchello d’Barros, the exhibition opens on March 14 at 9 am and at 2 pm there will be a lecture by the curator at the exhibition venue, the UFMG Cultural Center. Visitation takes place until 21.Mar.2023, with free admission.

Participating Artistas:  

ADRIAN DORADO (ARGENTINA) | AYIS KELPEKIS (GREECE) | CHEN LI (CHINA /ITALIA) | CHERYL PENN (SOUTH AFRICA) | DAVE READ (CANADA) | DENIS SMITH (AUSTRALIA) |  DONA MAYOORA (INDIA / USA) |  ENZO PATTI (ITALIA) |  FELICIANO DE MIRA (PORTUGAL) | FERRAN DESTEMPLE (ESPAÑA) | JAIME RGUEZ (ESPAÑA) | JOHN R. MCCONNOCHIE (AUSTRALIA) | KEIGO HARA (JAPAN) | MARCO GIOVENALE (ITALIA) | MIRIAM MIDLEY (ARGENTINA) | MUHAMMAD SHEHZAD MAJEED (PAKISTAN) | NICO VASSILAKIS (USA) | PÉTER ABAJKOVICS (HUNGARY) | ROSAIRE APPEL (USA) | SAMI LIUHTO (FINLAND) | SATU KAIKKONEN (FINLAND) | SERSE LUIGETTI (ITALIA) | STEPHEN NELSON (SCOTLAND) | SVEN STAELENS (BELGIUM)  | TCHELLO D'BARROS (BRASIL) | VOLODYMYR BILYK (UKRAINE)

Curatorial Text:

CALIGRAPHIC POETICS OF ASÉMIC WRITING

                                                                 por Tchello d’Barros*

                                           “Asemic writing seems to be a gigantic, unexplored territory.”

                                                                                                                           Tim Gaze

The exhibition “ESCRIBAS – 1st International Exhibition of Asémic Writing” presents a collection of works in images with abstract spellings, in the language that is becoming known as Asémic Writing. The set, made up of creations from different parts of the planet, also reveals the plurality of techniques and resources for the realization of these works, transiting between calligraphy, abstraction, engraving and even Visual Poetry.

This show promoted by Instituto Imersão Latina in partnership with The Virtual Museum of Visual Poetry, features 26 works by artists from 18 countries in the V Beagá Psiu Poético program, setting up the first international collective exhibition of this modality held in Brazil.

Spontaneously arising in different cultures throughout history, consolidated as an artistic language at the end of the 20th century, the Asémic Writing still very rare, has been gaining visibility, whether with exhibitions, publications, epistemological studies or placement on the Internet. This hybrid art, which transits between word and image, survived the typographic tsunami of the digital age, privileging handwriting (mainly), albeit abstract, as an expressive manifestation.

The works are made up of often invented letters, words that keep calligraphic remnants, sentence fragments that form thought-provoking abstract figures, configuring every movement that has thickened its network of supporters on all continents. It is an art free of academic labels, institutional immobilization and shallow public cultural policies for the promotion, collection and dissemination of experimental languages. Drawing, painting, infogravure, collages, digital art, interventions and photographs are just some of the resources present in this type of creations, presented here from a perspective of diversity of styles.

It is said of the works of Asémic Writing, which are purposely emptied of meaning – because they are absent of enunciation or message – which does not prevent them from making sense, from the perception of those who observe, since there is a silent dialogue between such contents and the entire lexical and imagery framework of those who immerse themselves in viewing these images.

Theorists of Art in Expanded Field or Expanded Poetry, usually place Asémic Writing in the broad scope of Experimental Poetry. So, provoking reflections on the poetic phenomenon in aspects that strain the limits of language, questioning aesthetic aspects of the hybridity characteristic of contemporary art and provoke the debate about where the compass of poetic making points in our time, are some of the premises that guided the curatorial process for this show.        

*Tchello d’Barros is writer, visual artist and curador.

Master’s student and researcher about Expanded Art on University UFRJ                                        Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brasil – March 2023

Service:

Opening: 09h - 14.Mar.2023

Lecture with curator and production team: 14h

Visits: Terça à sexta-feira: 9h às 20h e

                   sáb. e dom. das 9h às 17h - Até dia 21.Mar.2023

Place: Centro Cultural da UFMG

           Av. Santos Dumont, 174. Centro, Belo Horizonte – Brazil

Coordenation: Grupo Transa Poética | Psiu Poético Beagá

Production and Setup: Instituto Imersão Latina - IMEL

Realization: The Virtual Museum of Visual Poetry

Curator: Tchello d'Barros

Free Admission

On the cover: "Listening to Red". DONA MAYOORA (INDIA - New Canaan, USA)

Source: Instituto Cultural Imersão Latina