Caffarena 86 welcomes you! Caffarena 86 is a creativity-house that promotes change through art in Buenos Aires' Art District of La Boca. Transforming a former marginal area into an artistic neighbourhood means creating new opportunities for its inhabitants, as well as improving their quality of life.
Art is power, let us use it for a good purpose!
The beginnings Our house is a XIXth century building that has been completely restored and, afterwards, intervened by some of the most renowned street-artists of Latin America. Indeed, it has hosted the live performance and installation event POP UP Galleries II “The Unknown�, created by curator Lucas Zambrano and Christian Riffel, the street artist known as Poeta. The double nature of the place itself makes of Caffarena an ideal spot for art: it represents the preservation of the cultural heritage of the city and architectural patrimony and it also traces an innovative path for culture conceptualization and usability.
Caffarena 86, Before
Caffarena 86, After
The area La Boca has always been a working-class, mixed, intercultural neighbourhood. Once the point d’arrivée of thousands of immigrants from Italy, Spain and other European countries, it hosts, since 2012, The Art District of Buenos Aires (Law 4.353). Having the Usina del Arte (“The Art Factory”) as its core and irradiation point of new cultural itineraries, the area is showing a remarkable growth rate –especially due to significant investments in both real estate development and cultural and artistic projects.
“[...] an Arts District, aiming to promote art investment and to strengthen Buenos Aires’ positioning as a cultural city is currently envisaged. The project targets companies and individuals in the visual arts, music, books and performing arts and provides a number of tax incentives.” 2013 Creative Economy Report, UNESCO/UNDP
Who are we? Our mission We are a group of passionate art professionals and art lovers, who dream about creating an alternative center for emerging artists, a place where artistic synergies can sprout and propagate through the neighbourhood in the form of a transforming wave.
Cayetano Vicentini, Art Producer. Margarita Romero, Painter, Engraver, Teacher. Gabriela Gaudio, Cultural Manager, Curator. Carolina Argenta, Linguist, Translator.
Our project: the basis The core of our project is the belief that art is a powerful transforming weapon. Moreover, we assert that it can bootstrap a virtuous “value chain” (Buitrago Restrepo & Duque Márquez, 2013, The Orange Economy: An Infinite Opportunity, IDB Report) in both social and economical terms. In fact, as one of the main disciplines that take part in the Creative Economy,, the creative industry of art is a great candidate for wealth and job creation.
“In today’s interconnected world, culture's power to transform societies is clear. [...] Heritage constitutes a source of identity and cohesion for communities disrupted by bewildering change and economic instability. Creativity contributes to building open, inclusive and pluralistic societies. Both heritage and creativity lay the foundations for vibrant, innovative and prosperous knowledge societies.� UNESCO, Protecting Our Heritage and Fostering Creativity.
“The creative economy has become a powerful transformative force in the world today. Its potential for development is vast and waiting to be unlocked. It is one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the world economy, not just in terms of income generation but also for job creation and export earnings.� 2013 Creative Economy Report, UNESCO/UNDP
A cluster is a local concentration of firms producing a particular product or service. The proximity of these firms results in vigorous competition, spurs innovation, increases opportunities to share information, augments aggregate demand for particular inputs, and reduces transaction costs.
Identifying a creative cluster Thanks to its versatility and dynamic growth, La Boca’s Art District is turning into a perfect creative cluster–an attraction point for creative people, local and foreigner, and an emergent focus of cultural investments. To the pioneer work of Fundación Proa, and today consolidated reference point for Contemporary Art in Buenos Aires, we may add MACBA and MAMBA (Museums of Contemporary and Modern Art of Buenos Aires, respectively), other relevant Institutions present in the District. The Usina del Arte and Teatro de la Ribera, the headquarters of Buenos Aires Tango Festival and Tango World Championship. Three other theaters (Teatro Verdi, Teatro Catalinas and Teatro Dante) and numerous Ateliers and Studios (Espacio Utaki, El conventillo verde, etc.)
Swiss Cultural House is already open and functioning as an Artistic Residence. The District is also starting to concentrate unconventional Art Galleries: Popa Gallery, Barro Contemporary Art Gallery and Sputkik are already intervening in the area and Prisma Kunsthalle’s big opening is programmed on March 2015. Substantial investments in real estate projects currently taking shape are: > Puerto Pampa, a 120.000 m² residential building designed by Studio Aisenson, will also host an exhibition and conference center and ateliers (already under construction).
> The Paseo de las Artes (Arts Promenade) is a private investment that will have high impact in the area: it aims to renovate the adjacent space to the port by creating commercial spots on Pedro de Mendoza Avenue (interventions have started on October and half of the project is already completed). Projects on program: > Demarchi Center for Audiovisual Arts, designed by MRA+ Alvarez, Bernabo, Sabatini Studio. Announced by the President at the end of August 2014, Demarchi Island is projected to be a productive center for audiovisual arts and to count with the highest tower in Latin America.
But culture costs money Of course it does, but, in the other hand, it also generates wealth. Argentina is one of the seven biggest markets in the “Creative Economy” of Latin America and the Caribbean–this translating into an estimated $17.08 billion dollars value and 550 thousands jobs connected to cultural industries (Buitrago Restrepo & Duque Márquez, 2013).
“According to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses of Argentina, the average growth rate of the cultural sector was 7.8 per cent over the period 2003-2011, and its share of GDP rose from 2.47 per cent in 2004 to 3.83 percent in 2011, having grown for the seventh consecutive year.� 2013 Creative Economy Report, UNESCO/UNDP
What do we want to do? We want to create a scholarship program of artistic residences for emerging artists. Our artist-in-residence/artist-in-action program will give five young street-artists the possibility of living and working for a month in Buenos Aires’ Art District. The duration of each residence will be a month, totalizing four in the year.. We will start with graffiti and muralism and, in a following stage, we expect to embrace all the other disciplines, from the most innovative ones, such as video-art, to more traditional ones, such as dance, sculpture, engraving and dramatic arts. We believe that this could be the first step towards an international identification of La Boca as a center of innovation and creativity, as well as a new attraction to tourists from all around the world.
A creative community of equals During the residence, artists will have the chance to meet and interchange ideas with some of the street-artists currently working in the city. Moreover, the main goal of our project is to encourage synergies and to facilitate artistic dialogue and cultural cohesion. This is the reason why, during the creative process, discussion between artists will be stimulated through workshops and our doors will be open to the general public. Renowned artists, such as Christian Riffel (a. k.a. Poeta), Sebastián Rodríguez (a.k.a. Malegría), Santiago Spirito (a.k.a. Cabaio) and Mart Aire have already confirmed their participation at the workshops.
ItinerArt This will be an itinerant Art Program especially designed for our residents. A skilled Art Professor will take them to partner ateliers and studios, and they will benefit from an interdisciplinary training. ItinerArt aims to create a cooperation network between cultural organisations operating in the area. We already have partnership agreements with Carlo Pelella Sculpture Atelier and El Conventillo Verde, painting, dancing and photography school.
Ideas in action The core of our project is transformation of public space through artistic interventions. The program expects the artists-residents to perform an intervention in a relegated area of the neighbourhood. Improving space through artistic interventions not only means changing the aspect of an area itself, but also it means changing how the inhabitants relate to their own place of residence. This is the reason why each artist will decide, in agreement with the neighbours, where to intervene and what to do. The work should reflect both the inhabitants’ idiosyncrasy and the artist’s personal style.
In this way we perform a double transformation: we give value to a relegated area, we TRANSFER cultural capital from the residence to the neighbourhood, and we activate new cultural itineraries, turning a simple residential zone into an open-air museum. The last link in the chain is the creation of new job opportunities for the residents, especially by raising cultural awareness among youngsters. They could become guides and organise street-art and architecture tours in La Boca.
Last but not least We conceive Caffarena Art-house as a creative hub that will enhance connectivity between artists-galleries-art traders. Expanding their networks through public diffusion, we will activate the “value chain�. We will give visibility to emerging artists taking part of our program, by organizing exhibitions at the end of each residence and by reuniting their works for the Annual Closure Art Exhibition and Auction. We will ask each artist to produce a small piece of art (an object or a painting) that will be sell at the Final Auction to ensure the Residence Program continuity.
What do we need? First of all, we need your help to improve Caffarena’s accessibility. It is our priority to ensure unrestricted access to anyone who wants to be part of our project. We dream, therefore, with being the first wheelchair friendly Art-House of the District, and to propagate the seed of inclusion and respect. We also need funding for supplies, such as paint and scaffoldings, and pieces of equipment (projector, camera, lights, etc.).
Are you willing to become our sponsor? Please contact us.
Caffarena 86, 1st floor plan
Caffarena 86, 2nd floor plan
Possible revenues From symbolic, social revenues to material, economical ones: we expect this project to show high impact on providers of goods and services already working in the area, and to create the possibility of new commercial openings. Moreover, by intervening public space we will recover and enhance the architectural value of the neighbourhood, with the consequent improvement of the inhabitants’ quality of life.
Corporational image Revenues in image and prestige for our sponsors are also expectable: the District is a main center of cultural investments, and all the activities taking place there are attentively being followed by the local press. If you represent a firm planning to establish in Argentina, sponsorship in the Art District could embody a strategic opportunity for increasing your brand-awareness.
Also, as established by Buenos Aires’ 4.353 Law, funders and sponsors operating in the District will benefit of tax deduction equal to 15%.
Former activities Some of our artistic activities have been: > FIRELUX MAGENTA- Art and Culture in action, an interdisciplinary Festival that congregated artists for peace and solidarity. Some of the disciplines present at the festival were: poetry, video-projection, painting, music, dance, performing art, yoga, itinerant Bus-Art-Gallery, dj-set, etc.). Participants were asked to make a diapers donation for Argerich Public Hospital. > SCRATCH, first one-man paintings exhibition and mural of Colombian artist MalegrĂa.
> ENERO, first one-woman sculpture exhibition of Argentinean artist and designer Yesica Bonomi. > Deads’ Day, re-signification of the traditional Mexican celebration of the 2nd November (live performances, music, installations, video-projection). > Filming and recording of “Acústicos con Mojo”, a TV program of acoustic concerts. > POP UP Galleries II-The Unknown (graffiti, mural painting, installation, video-projection, live music and dj-set).
Ongoing and future projects Our cultural agenda includes cooperation with R.A.R.O. Itinerant Artistic Residences: Caffarena is one of the eligible Residences that will be hosting the candidates taking part in the program. Firelux Magenta will organise a second Interdisciplinary Festival for Peace where donations for Argerich Public Hospital will be collected and distributed.
Synergies: our partners Galp贸n Cultural Piedrabuena is a cultural center that has been working for the last five years in Lugano, a disadvantaged area of Buenos Aires. The Swiss Residence in Buenos Aires is the official Art-House that hosts Residents taking part in Swiss Government Cultural Programs. We are currently discussing the basis of a triangular cooperation project between Galp贸n Piedrabuena, The Swiss Residence and Caffarena 86.
Moreover, for our Program we will count with support from other cultural spaces working in the area: El Conventillo Verde, painting, dancing and photography school, and Carlo Pelella Sculpture Atelier.
Step-by-step plan The stages of the project will be articulated as follows: I. II. III. IV. V.
Developing a network of artistic organisations operating in the District. Establishing cooperation and partnership agreements with them. Guaranteeing accessibility: re-designing of the sanitaries and the entrance (2015). February 2016: first Open Call for Applications March 2016: First Residence
VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV.
April 2016: First Exhibition and Second Open Call May 2016: Second Residence June 2016: Second Exhibition and Third Open Call July 2016: Third Residence August 2016: Third Exhibition September 2016: Fourth and Last Open Call of the year October 2016: Fourth Residence. November 2016: Fourth Exhibition December 2016: Closure Exhibition and Auction. Evaluation of the year.
Collaborators Christian Riffel (Poeta) Internationally renowned street-artist. He has participated in numerous International Festivals, like Stroke Urban Art Fair (Berlin), Le Temps d’une couleur (Gap, France), City Leaks Urban Art Festival in Cologne, etc. He has also exhibited his work in Washington D.C., London, São Paolo, Paris and Buenos Aires.
Nicolรกs Frank Curator, Art Professor, Art Critic. He wrote in many artistic publications, such as Serpiente amarilla, Sauna and Ver mรกs ediciones. He currently dictates seminars in Contemporary Art in Universidad Nacional del Arte.
José Andrukowicz Production Assistant, Art Director, Scenography Assistant and Director. He has wide experience in theatre scenography, as well as cinema production. He has been part of technical support team at Buenos Aires Festival of Independent Cinema (BAFICI) and Buenos Aires International Festival of Tango. He has also worked in the production of Buenos Aires Jazz Festival, La noche de los museos (Museums at Night) and private events, such as Beyoncé’s I am Tour.
Mart Aire Internationally renowned street-artist. Mart’s naïf style and subtle technique have made him one of the leading graffiti artist of Argentina. He has exhibited his works in Berlin, London, Paris, Mexico DF, Washington DC, Miami, NYC and Bs. As. In 2014, he was a resident in DAJAUS Art Residence. He supports Graffiti Mundo project, an organisation that promotes street-art in Bs. As.
Santiago Spirito (Cabaio) Internationally renowned street-artist. He began painting in the streets following the Argentine Economic Crisis of 2001 as part of the stencil collective Vomito Attack. His individual work, an eclectic combination of stencil and colourful patterns and figures, has been shown in Rosario, Salvador de Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, NYC and Buenos Aires.
Sebastián Rodríguez (Malegría) Colombian, Buenos Aires-based, streetartist. He is the colourful artist of San Telmo. His work is spread all along Latin America, from Colombia, Ecuador to Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Sao Paulo), Chile and Uruguay. He has traversed Argentina painting from Purmamarca to Ushuaia. In 2014 his first one-man exhibition was hosted by Caffarena 86. He recently participated in Vatelón Residence (Uruguay)
Caffarena 86 artecaffarena@gmail.com