Alicia Candiani, Proyecto ‘ace.
av. federico lacroze 1956, 7 piso
C1426CPR Buenos Aires Argentina
Telephone/ fax +54 (11) 4778 7427
Web: www.aliciacandiani.com.ar
Email: alican@abaconet.com.ar
Session: “Kulture Kontakt Session 3”
Session Statement: “Diverse, unequal, different…inter-connected”
Fifteen years ago it seemed that everything was finished: history had found its end and the dissolution of the Soviet Union concluded the bipolar fragmentation of the world. Humankind plunged into a new globalizing stage, in which interdependency among societies was accentuated, and new supranational interconnections were generated. Apparently, conflicts had been solved and harmony ruled on earth. A kind of fraternal euphoria came under the idea that globalization would make us come closer, motivating the naive concept of homologation between the technical chance of a universal communication and the symbolic possibility of dialogue among different cultures.However, after the 9-11 attacks, we know that a global culture does not mean the homogenization of the planet. In opposition, diverse religious, political, cultural and –of course- artistic conceptions are interacting among themselves… and this means diversity, inequality and differences. The responsibility to take into account these differences, correct the inequalities and connect social minorities has motivated a searching of new theoretical horizons by the intellectuals. The concept of “multicultural”, which implies acceptation of heterogeneity, has been replaced by the idea of “intercultural”, understanding that the “others” are what they are by negotiation, conflicts and reciprocals cultural loans. Art projects related with printmaking and new media seem to be a way capable to “relate” and “negotiate” these diversities since the inter-cultural paradigm has been developed in the realm of printmaking long time ago through the international print exhibitions and exchanges. In this context, this panel will bring together artists and professors who have been involved in intercultural print projects, addressing how they are promoting artistic KONTAKT and cultural interconnections and inquiring about if it is possible or not overcome geographical distances and cultural differences through print media.
ALICIA CANDIANI is an international Argentine artist and independent scholar graduated from the National University of Cordoba and based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is the director of “¨Proyecto’ace” an international art center focused on printmaking and its relationships with design and new media, which is located in her home city. As a nomadic international artist, she has been active in international art biennials and fairs through which she has received numerous awards: India (2004), Yugoslavia (2002), Russia (2001), Macedonia (2000), Bulgaria (1999),Japan (Sapporo and Kanagawa 1998), Puerto Rico (1995) and Spain (1993) while, in Argentina, she has been selected by the National Academy of Fine Arts as one in ten best graphic artists in her country in 1998, 2000 and 2004. Alicia Candiani’s works has been exhibited numerous times nationally and internationally since 1977 and her woprk is included in public collections in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Candiani has been artist-in-residence in art centers in the United States, Canada and Europe, a member of juries for selection and awards in Russia, Egypt, Cuba, Sofía, Puerto Rico and Prague international biennials and triennials. Candiani has also worked on numerous curatorial and artistic projects for foreign institutions. Her work is cited in the last two editions of ArtForms (a book of Art History published in the United States) which is devoted to new currents in graphic art and in Paco Barragan’s, The Art to Come which focuses on future art trends. Parallel to her artistic activity, she has published theoretical essays on printmaking; she has been guest professor and visiting artist in various American universities and is one of the invited curators for the 26th Ljubljana International Print Biennial (50th Anniversary-2005) in Slovenia.