Here is a small sampling of the extraordinary diversity of work currently produced by former Sacatar Fellows, some of which was developed during their residencies. We regret we can’t publish everything we receive from former Fellows, but we love to know what you all are up to, so please stay in touch! (To learn more about our Fellows’ experiences in Bahia in their own untranslated words, click on their individual names below to access their ALUMNI pages.)
The Chernobyl Project © 2008-2009, Alice Miceli
ALICE MICELI (Brazil, 2011) is the winner of the PIPA 2014 Award of $100,000 Brazilian reais (around forty thousand dollars). She was also the winner of the PIPA People’s Choice Award. Here is a brief interview with Alice, with English subtitles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Aqiad7iAikk
‘Teatro Anatômico da Terra’ © 2014, Camila Sposati
CAMILA SPOSATI (Brazil, 2014) has ended the series of activities at her installation
Teatro Anatômico da Terra, a temporary theater that descended five meters into the ground within the abandoned ruins of an old house in the heart of Itaparica’s Historical Center. She initiated this project during her Sacatar residency in early 2014. The choreographer Carmen Paternostro (of the Universidade Federal da Bahia, UFBa) in partnership with dancers of the Teatro Castro Alves, and Tuzé de Abreu, a musician composer and professor at UFBa, were among the artists who presented memorable performances for the local community at the installation. Camila’s
Teatro Anatômico da Terra was one of the official activities of the 3rd Bienal da Bahia and, in accordance with its ephemeral nature, will be dismantled and buried in the first weeks of 2015.
CHERYL STRAYED (USA, 2003), who completed her first published book during her Sacatar residency, has produced the eponymous film based on her best-selling memoir,
Wild. The film had a broad release in the USA in December. Both the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors’ Guild have nominated Reese Witherspoon in the category of best actress for her portrayal of Cheryl. Congratulations, Cheryl, and good luck with Oscar nominations!
‘Bahianos’ © 2014, Cristina Megía
CRISTINA MEGÍA (Spain, 2014) opened a solo exhibition on December 12 at Galeria Punto Rojo, in Granada, Spain. The exhibition of paintings includes the series of portraits called Bahianos, which she created during her residency at Sacatar. Bahianos is Cristina’s response to the fact that the port of Salvador received more than one million African slaves during the 18th and 19th centuries. This cruel demographic phenomenon caused Cristina to reflect on its influence on the look of the people of Bahia. Cristina explains, ‘My hand wanted to meditate on this inevitable presence; I don’t know if as a tribute or an homage or as a confrontation, or simply as the result of my wish to understand.’ The exhibition will run through January 2015.
Exhibition ‘Divinités Noirs’ © 2014, Dany Leriche & Jean-Michel Fickinger
DANY LERICHE and JEAN-MICHEL FICKINGER (France, 2009 & 2014) have shown work recently at the Galerie JOSEPH at the Musée Picasso in Paris, and at L’Art Pur Gallery in Riyahd, Saudi Arabia. They also exhibited Divinités Noirs, (photo above), at the Embassy of France in Washington, DC, USA. Dany and Jean-Michel are in Mali this month where they continue their photographic work documenting spiritual practices in African cultures and in cultures of African descent.
‘Adventures in cross-casting’ © 2014, Diana Blok
DIANA BLOK (Uruguay>Netherlands, 2003) continues to return frequently to Brazil. As part of the Tempo Festival of Scenic Arts held in October, Diana exhibited photographs she made of famous Brazilian actors and actresses dressed as people of the opposite sex whom they admire. The large-format photos, installed along the seashore of Rio de Janeiro from Flamengo to Recreio, were seen by the thousands of people who stroll these famous walkways day and night.
http://tempofestival.com.br/programacao/adventures-in-cross-casting-exposicao-internacional-nl
KAROLINA KARLIC (USA, 2014) announces the publication of
Primer, a large-format monograph that runs 164 pages, including an afterword by Sally Stein. The first printing is offered in an edition of 100, plus a Collector’s Edition of 25 that includes a signed artist print of
Body Shop Boys, Metro Detroit. Karolina writes, ‘
Primer- Elementarz is an exploration of the personal stories of those who exist behind this auto industry, along with charting the evolution (or de-evolution) of that industry… From my personal perspective, this book tracks the reach of the U.S. auto industry, stretching from Detroit, to California, to Eastern Europe, where my father—an engineer—implemented new industrial plants. As a family chronicle, the book’s five chapters are punctuated by my father’s attempts to communicate with me via texts written from abroad, one sign of his lifelong effort to sustain both his family and his own identity during many shifts in residence and work. Finally, the large format photographs depict my own path, which represents the industrial showcases of the auto industry throughout the American landscape alongside my extended family’s everyday life in Poland. If there’s underlying drama in this chronicle, it’s how these two worlds connect and disconnect. Man’s quest for work, sustainability, escape, isolation, and advancement, tread the book’s pages. These desires, which are familiar to many immigrants from abroad including Eastern Europe, and to the black workers who moved their families north during the Great Migration of the interwar period, echo throughout the book, as a testament to an American dream that beckons to a huge variety of peoples even as it does not always deliver on its promises.’ During her Sacatar residency, Karolina researched rubber production in Brazil and its relationship to the U.S. auto industry in the early part of the twentieth century.
Marielson Carvalho (right) in the oppening of FLICA – Festa Literária de Cachoeira © 2014
MARIELSON CARVALHO (Brazil, 2014) opened the fourth edition of FLICA – the Literary Festival of Cachoeira — as one of the panelists in O tempo de Caymmi, a presentation about the work of the famous poet and composer of Bahia, Dorival Caymmi. Stella Caymmi, Dorival Caymmi’s granddaughter, seated by Marielson’s side, also participated in the debate about the poet, his work and time.
The projection of ‘Fire Water’ in Rio Vermelho, Salvador, Bahia © 2014, Matt Sheridan
MATT SHERIDAN (USA, 2012) returned to Salvador, Bahia, in August and September. Among other activities, he gave a talk at the Universidade Federal in Cachoeira, followed by an experimental projection at a local bar. He also worked on mixing live video animation in the Pelourinho @ Atelier Barbara Tercia and did a collaborative projection called
Fire Water in Rio Vermelho with Kithi Oliveira of MZAD Eventos, which you can view here:
http://vimeo.com/104412895
NDIKHUMBULE NGQINAMBI (South Africa, 2010) paid a visit to Sacatar in mid-November. He travelled to Sao Paulo in November to work with Andrea Pivatto, who has previously choreographed works based on Ndhikumbule’s paintings. They plan to take Andrea’s company to Cape Town to perform these works next year.
The installation and performance ‘Monumento Mínimo’ in Birmingham, UK © 2014, Néle Azevedo
NÉLE AZEVEDO (Brazil, 2013) was invited to take the installation
Monumento Mínimo to the UK to mark the centenary of the beginning of the First World War. The performance featured the participation of hundreds of people and was largely reported in the British media. The Guardian, BBC and Birmingham Mail wrote articles about the installation. From the Birmingham Mail:
“An army of 5,000 ice sculptures slowly melting in the sunshine brought home to Birmingham the sacrifices so many were forced to endure in World War I.
Thousands gathered from across the world for their chance to place a frozen figure in memory of the men and women – not just soldiers – whose lives were taken during the conflict on the steps in Chamberlain Square.
With tears in their eyes, some decorated their sculptures with flowers and ribbons in memory of relatives who died in the trenches and at home.
The sculptures may have melted, but the memories of the poignant display will stay with the descendants forever.
Dark clouds and torrential rain had threatened to dominate yesterday’s event to mark the 100 years since the start of WWI.
But as soon as the first of the detailed sculptures were set on the steps, the blue skies and sunshine returned.
One of the first to place a carving was Pam Brooking whose great grandfather John Osborne Walford fought in the war with the 8th Batallion Worcester Regiment.”
REYNOLD REYNOLDS (USA>Germany, 2006) is an exhibiting artist at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, through 11 January 2015. The exhibition,
Inside, ‘offers visitors a passage to the interior of the self, for which the exhibition space itself serves as a metaphor. This immense odyssey, both physical and psychological, invites us to walk through the two floors of the Palais de Tokyo which have been transformed by artists in such a way that, from one installation to the next, we remain constantly immersed in the works, which lead us within ourselves – from our skin to our most intimate thoughts.’
Sidiki Conde © 2014, Sidiki Conde’s personal collection
SIDIKI CONDE (Guinea>USA, 2004) and
DEBORAH ROSS (USA, 2004) are exhibiting Deborah’s watercolors at Eileen Fisher Gallery on East 9th Street in New York starting December 4. All proceeds go to Sidiki and Deborah’s campaign in Guinea. They are volunteering with UNICEF to help with the communication effort to fight Ebola. Sidiki will be doing TV and radio performances, while Deborah will run painting workshops for survivors and orphans.
