As the global coronavirus pandemic shuts down our public life and forces almost all cultural experiences into the virtual realm, we remember the excitement of all the in-person, up-close conversations we have recorded in creative communities around the world. Among those we cherish are the radio shows we broadcast live on location. For three days in September 2016, Fresh Art International web streamed 60-minute programs from inside the São Paulo Biennial pavilion. The context for our remote broadcasts was Incerteza Viva, Live Uncertainty. The title and theme of the 32nd Biennial exhibition revolved around the political, social, and environmental uncertainties of contemporary life. The theme resonates deeply in this moment.
Day One featured participating artists Eduardo Navarro (Argentina), Ebony G. Patterson (Jamaica), and artist collective Opavivaro! (Brazil), as well as activists from the Aparelhamento movement, artists protesting politics in Brazil.
On Day Two, our special guest was Pia Lindman, an artist from Finland who created a mud and bamboo hut inside the biennial pavilion. Argentine artist Eduardo Navarro dropped into our pop-up studio, to talk more about how to listen to a palm tree just outside the pavilion in his Sound Mirror.
On Day Three, we invited Brazilian artist Vivian Caccuri to talk about her Afro-Brazilian sound project. Yvette Mutumba and Julia Grosse, Germany-based editors of the online publication Contemporary And, shared their impressions of the exhibition and introduced their latest print publication. Our final guest was Brazilian artist scholar Jorge Menna Barreto, who told the story behind Restauro, a vegan cafe he created inside the pavilion and sourced from local agro-forestry projects.
