SACO9 Now or never

MICRO-CURATING PART 2: INVALUABLE PRESENCE | Carlos Rendón In order to carry out the second part of Micro-Curating, some changes had to be made. With the borders closed and the cities returning to quarantine due to the beginning of the second wave of COVID, the program had to focus on those who were able to be present in Antofagasta in January, 2021, considerably reducing the number of participants, but at the same time, strengthening the bonds of togetherness and the force of the pedagogical experiences that the workshops generated.

Day 1: Domestic Curating Coco González, who taught Part 2, doesn’t define himself as a curator, but rather self-identifying as more of a painter. For that very reason, his vision of curating comes from practice, rather than theory or academic texts. “I don’t have a way with words, and so I decided to paint,” he said during one of his first interventions.

The main contribution Coco made in his workshop Domestic Curating was to help its ten participants put their feet on the ground. “There is no reason that my experience in Santiago has to be any better than yours,” he said, as explaining to them how he executed several of his projects, focusing especially on those he staged in Concepción. The second part of his presentation was dedicated to how to apply for state funding. While talking about his experience, he tossed out one of the day’s most memorable phrases: “With Fondart, it’s more important to be creative filling out the application form than with the project itself,” which drew a laugh from those present. He also pointed out the many new possibilities that exist in today’s digitalized society, DIY strategies that rely on patronage from friends or crowdfunding.

The only transmission of knowledge from Part 2 that was not face to face happened that afternoon: a mini-round of talks given by Guillermo Anselmo Vezzosi and Sandra Ruiz Díaz, two personalities linked to the Argentinean art scene.

Guillermo talked about his understanding of materiality and staging, as well as the use of common objects in the exhibition of a work. He talked about his experience going from an artist whose work was shown in museums and galleries to one who was more comfortable working in public space or doing urban art interventions.

His current philosophy, particularly relevant to the central concept in MicroCurating, is “to make high definition art with low cost materials.”

Sandra had been just another participant in the first part of the program. Speaking very informally to those with whom she had been classmates only a few weeks prior, in her talk she elaborated on her experience curating from the margins in biennials throughout the Americas: Biennial of the South, the Havana Biennial, the 152