From Ana Laura Aláez to Prototipoak

In 2021 the exhibition programme transits through the review of Mabi Revuelta’s career (Bilbao, 1967) via Acromática. Una Partida Inmoratal (Achromatic. An Immortal Game), to the first monographic exhibition of another Bilbao artist, Ana Laura Aláez (Bilbao, 1964). It will be presented in her home town under the title Todos los conciertos, todas las noches, todo vacío (All the concerts, every night, everything empty). Curated by Bea Espejo in a co-production with Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, CA2M, the exhibition is billed as a return to the artist’s origins, to the starting point, working between the fissures of the themes that have accompanied her work over the last twenty years: the body as a base, the base as a sculpture, sculpture as song, night as material, identity as conflict, imposture as possibility. The title of the exhibition is taken from one of her installations and evokes the vestiges of an event, with its apparent downtime, illusions and expectations as opposed to realizations and disappointments.

In keeping with this line of converging languages, on 21 January the company Mal Pelo, under the artistic direction of María Muñoz and Pep Ramis, presents On Goldberg Variations / Variations as part of EszenAZ, the Centre’s performing art season. The show is based on the musical proposal, Goldberg Variations / Variations by the French-American pianist and composer Dan Tepfer, where he interprets the Goldberg Variations of J.S. Bach combined with his own improvised variations on the harmonies.

Dance, John Berger’s voice, some of his own texts, the manipulated and multi-focal sound of the soundtrack, the live voice and the video projections all come together in Mal Pelos’ approach to J.S. Bach’s universe. The choreographic proposal highlights the particular musicality of each performer and the rhythmic and dynamic dialogue between the group and the space. Choreography is transformed into a museum installation by Amalia Fernández, whose piece titled Expografía retrospectiva (Retrospective Expography), from 1-6 February, displays a series of situationobjects, activated by performers, whose content is a retrospective review of the artist’s stage pieces. In this seven-hour non-consecutive performance, six performers will use different spaces at Azkuna Zentroa to activate a number of pieces in installation format, which the audience will be able to wander through (enter and exit) as though it were a huge museum. Prototipoak, the International Meeting of New Artistic Forms, will be one of the highlights of EszenAZ, Azkuna Zentroa’s performing arts season, bringing new artistic formats to the public through projects that address everyday aspects of the city. BIdeOtik, attending to other audio-visual narratives, the audio-visual creation programme, begins on 26 January, offering alternative audio-visual narratives with a dozen works selected by open call that will be projected over eight weekly sessions. This programme strives to accommodate creations that are unique in terms of way they record and represent the audio-visual lexicon. In selecting the pieces, special emphasis was placed on real life cinema, created from an aesthetic viewpoint using contemporary audio-visual practices, and dealing with issues related to personal experiences and life stories, among other subjects. In tandem with this programming, the new edition of Gutun Zuria. Bilbao International Literature Festival, will be held from 30 March to 3 April 2021. It will focus on the word beyond the literary system, crossing the border of pages in books to establish a dialogue with disciplines such as music, art, voice, publishing or illustration. This edition shall include the publication El ensayo empieza aquí (The Essay Starts Here), which comprises different essays by the guests of the 2020 Edition, which could not be held in person.

THE 2021 PROGRAMME WILL ENTER INTO DIALOGUE WITH THE AZ ETXEAN PROGRAMME, AZKUNA ZENTROA´S WEB PLATFORM WHERE DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES WILL BE SCHEDULED THROUGH THE ONLINE CHANNELS.