Välparaíso in(TER)venciones is an artistic project developed in March and April 2010 in this Chilean city. The project was scheduled to take place within the context of the Spanish Language Convention, but had to be cancelled because of the dramatic earthquake that shook Chile. The continuation of the project was proposed as a contribution to restoring normality to the country through a charitable artistic action. The artists had travelled the previous year to Valparaíso to take part in a working meeting and become acquainted with the efforts of local artists and the urban, architectural, social, political and cultural context, in order to create their own artistic interventions connected with words and language.
Now, one year later, Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) and Casa de América present in Spain a publication on the project, along with a selection of works by the artists exploring the concept of city, language and public space in the Chilean city of Valparaíso.
The cycle of works, curated by Jorge Díez, will take place in sequence throughout the second half of 2011 and up until February 2012, at the Casa de América in Madrid.
Programme:
• 29 June: General presentation and roundtable debate with the curators Jorge Díez (Spain) and Paulina Varas (Chile), the Chilean artists Guisela Munita and Pedro Sepúlveda, who also designed the catalogue, and Raúl Belinchón, La Más Bella and Democracia from Spain.
• 29 June: Estado vegetal (Vegetable State), by Guisela Munita and Perifoneo (Mobile PA), by Cristián Silva – Chile.
• 1 September: Tierras de silencio (Land of Silence), by Raúl Belinchón – Spain
• 10 October: Orgullo local (Local Pride), by Fernando Llanos – Mexico.
• 14 November: Porteños (People of Valparaíso), Carme Nogueira – Spain.
• 15 December: La Más Bella Por Los Pelos (The Most Beautiful By a Hair's Breadth), by the group La Más Bella – Spain.
• 16 January 2012: No hay espectadores (There are no spectators) by the group Democracia – Spain, and Campeonato de fútbol en pendiente (Sloping football championship) by Pedro Sepúlveda – Chile.
The artist and their projects
Guisela Munita. Estado Vegetal (Vegetable State).
The artist's project is located in and reflects on the Subercaseaux building on Calle Serrano in downtown Valparaíso, and the way in which it has, in its decline, reflected the passage of time. Nonetheless, despite its vegetable state, the vegetation typical of city squares has sprung up inside over the years. The project involved a timed illumination of the inside of the building, which reflected its memory and living history in its vegetable state.
Raúl Belinchón. Tierras de silencio (Land of Silence).
Long before the arrival of European colonists, the strip of land which is today Chile was home to a range of cultures, with their own customs and languages. Most of the indigenous languages died out, so this photographic project represents a journey of some two months in search of those lost languages. Landscape, socialization and habitat connect with other works by the artist dealing with empty spaces and locations, questioning the identity and culture of certain human groups.
Fernando Llanos. Orgullo Local (Local Pride).
This project was all about stimulating local pride. This involved staging a competition to create 42 coats of arms corresponding to each of the city's districts. The aim was to seek out origins and revitalize our histories. The competition was organized by the LAAPOLI (Intensive Local Pride Promotion Association of the Americas) with the aim of showcasing the identity of post-colonial areas, raising their self-esteem and helping them restore their local collective consciousness.
Carme Nogueira. People of Valparaíso.
Following on from the visit to Valparaíso and the conversations and documents she gathered, the artist took the port as the starting point for the creation of the city's landscape. On this occasion what matters is not so much a reconstruction of history as the way in which history is told, the words, the gestures, the recurrent expressions.
La Más Bella. La Más Bella Por Los Pelos (The Most Beautiful By a Hair's Breadth).
This is a special limited edition of the experimental journal. La Más Bella suggests that life takes place in Chile at the very last moment, "por los pelos", "by a hair's breadth", "on a hair trigger", with the "hairiest" of tensions between what happens and what doesn't
Democracy. No hay espectadores (There are no spectators).
Democracia appropriated the icons, lettering and colours of Valparaíso's Santiago Wanderers football club to present a series of political messages within a sporting context, with the cooperation of Los Panzers, the team's band of hardcore supporters. The band represents the people. Between September and November 1973 the Santiago Wanderers Stadium, where the action takes place, was taken over by the Navy and used as a detention and torture centre.
Pedro Sepúlveda. Campeonato de Fútbol en pendiente (Sloping Football Championship).
This project took place in two phases. The first involved staging a football championship disputed by eight children's teams who, because of the topographical conditions of the city, played on the sloping urban streets. In the second, the audiovisual and photographic record of the Championship was presented.
