Buzzwords at the Sao Paulo Biennial

News media organizations, bloggers, religious institutions and governmental entities have aired their views on some of the artworks at the latest edition of the Sao Paulo Biennial.

Argentinean Roberto Jacoby has grabbed most of the attention with his The Soul Never Thinks Without Images, censored by a judicial decision due to its explicit reference to the Brazilian presidential campaign that will come to a close on Oct. 3. Organized by the Brigada Argentina por Dilma, this installation includes propaganda for the Workers’ Party and its candidate Dilma Rousseff. Some agencies say the Sao Paulo Biennial Foundation itself went to the judicial headquarters to denounce the work under the assertion that the organizers didn’t know the theme and scope of that piece, a somewhat contradictory statement because the censored image appears both in the official catalog and on the website. The reason behind this lies in the fact that the huge billboards with the faces of the two candidates were wrapped in gift paper and the flyers with references to the campaign were removed. However, members of the Brigada have announced the rest of the planned activities will be held, including a conference entitled What does an electoral campaign have to do with a biennial of contemporary art?

Another scandal was triggered by Brazil’s Gil Vicente, though this time around backed up by the Sao Paulo Archdiocese and the Order of Brazilian Lawyers. The work shows the artist in the Enemies series killing such leaders as Brazilian president Lula da Silva, Israel’s former prime minister Ariel Sharon, former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Pope Benedict XVI, among others. The Archdiocese requested the presence of the Brazilian Public Ministry and wrote in a press release that “in a society marked by conflicts and pains as result of so much violence, it is so dubious that in the name of art such scenes of bloodshed and hatred against those who are perceived as enemies are exposed”.

Similar attention was riveted on White Flag by Brazil’s Nuno Ramos. A number of animal rights activists aired their concerns on a piece made up of three huge concrete blocks hemmed in by enormous nets. The artwork takes center stage on the bottom floor and is surrounded by the other floors of the immense building designed by Oscar Niemeyer. Animal rights advocates are protesting against the use of living buzzards in the piece –in a small space where they can flutter around surrounded by safety nets- and that was authorized by the Brazilian Institute of Environmental Protection.

These controversies have made more headlines in the press than the artworks and the event in general. It’s mandatory now to make assessment of the exhibit and the curatorship in order to give the extra-artistic character their right and fair dimension. We’ll keep you posted.