SACO9 Now or never

MICRO-CURATING MODULE 1: CURATING FROM THE MARGINS | Carlos Rendón On Monday, December 14, the world stopped for 45 minutes. All of Google’s servers went down as Chile was beginning its work day. A few hours later, an earthquake 6.0 strong on the Richter scale struck the Region of Antofagasta, while a total solar eclipse was happening at the other end of the country. On that same day began: Micro-Curating: Curating From the Margins.

The program was fully developed on the campus of the AIEP Professional Institute in Antofagasta, created in response to the lack of opportunities for informal training in curatorship. The program sought to bring what had previously been restricted knowledge, overly-complex and elitist as the curatorial field is, to parts of the country where it isn’t even possible to study art in an academic and professional manner. After years analyzing the territory, the SACO Corporation confirmed that the North of Chile was more like Bolivia, Peru, or northwest Argentina that it was to Santiago in this regard. They are marginal areas, far removed from large cultural centers. For that very reason, they are rich with unlimited potential.

Day 1: Where Is the Periphery?

The first day was dedicated to master talks developed by different Latin American professional artists. Led by Enrique Rivera and Javier de la Fuente, an analysis was made of large-scale cyclical events and the curator’s role in dealing with them; while Lia Colombino and Yana Tamayo shared their impressions and observations about the act of curating in marginalized urban centers. The day ended with a panel with all four guests participating –Yana there in person, while the other three appeared virtually– moderated by SACO director and curator Dagmara Wyskiel.

One of the central topics was the need to get out of the habit of using a white box for displaying works of art. Enrique spoke about his experience literally working on the top of a hill in order to produce artistic experiences, while Javier talked about the potential for site-specific works and the obsolescence of traditional galleries.

They both concluded by remarking on the need to challenge the viewing public.

Another theme was the concept of the periphery, and to what extent this might be a negative idea to work with. This was exemplified by Lia, who spoke about her experience moving an exhibition from Asunción to Salta, instead of Buenos Aires.

It turned out that the show garnered some attention after being presented in Salta, and she was able to take it on the road to other places in Argentina (Corrientes, Rosario, Resistencia); something that would not have happened had the show taken place in the capital, where there is an overabundance of work on exhibition, each work fighting for just a little bit of attention.

In closing, a final series of questions were posed to those in attendance: Where exactly is the periphery? Is Antofagasta the periphery of Chile? And what about 144