Longitudes

Longitudes cuts across Latitudes’ projects and research with news, updates, and reportage.

Latitudes’ "out of office" 2022–23 season

Sunset on our way to Mallorca aboard the Cecilia Payne ferry, 6 June 2023.


With the summer in full flow, and thoughts turning to holidays, we once more share a series of behind-the-scenes moments and encounters: trips, dinners, kind messages, postal surprises, follow-ups of artists we have worked with, and serendipitous situations that have happened in the background of our more visible curatorial practice seen on our website or in the Longitudes section. Plus some further notes and inspiration beyond our Instagrams – here and here.  

For earlier OUT OF THE OFFICE posts, check out the posts from 
2008–92009–102010–112011–122012–132013–142014–152015–162016–172017–182018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21 and 2021–22. All photos are by Latitudes unless stated otherwise in the photo caption.

Happy summer, apply and reapply sun protection!



September 2022: Between September and November, we mentored Matheus Calderón, winner of the first [ON RESIDENCE] residency, an online curatorial mentorship programme awarded to young Peruvian curators organised by TROPICAL PAPERS, and supported by Artus.

As one of the mentors, we embarked on six bi-monthly conversations focusing on what values are at stake today in our profession. Through sincere dialogue, we discussed the multiple realities of being an independent curator both in Lima and Barcelona, and we accompanied Matheus in shaping his approach to his forthcoming group exhibition project “El rodeo (el velo, la mancha o la grieta)” [working title]. Our conversations progressively became a space to share, pause and reflect during a time of ongoing political and societal tension in Lima in autumn 2022. 

Introductory Zoom with Tropical Papers, Latitudes and Matheus on 31 August 2022.

early September 2022: We submitted the essay “Soil for Future Art Histories”, which was commissioned for the forthcoming catalogue “Futuros Abundantes”, a group exhibition organised by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21) at C3A Centro de Creación Contemporánea de Andalucía, Córdoba. Subsequent edits and translation rounds in October–November, and publication release in January 2023.

13 September 2022: Received a copy of Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven’s catalogue “By The Sea. Land Art, Performance and Minimal Art” including photos Latitudes provided of Jan Dibbets’s “6 Hours Tide Object with Correction of Perspective” (2009).


Page spread of “By The Sea. Land Art, Performance and Minimal Art” with Jan Dibbets’ 2009 project.

19 September 2022: Final episode of “Incidents (of Travel)” with Jorge Satorre. By complete chance, this episode takes place on September 19, 2022, exactly ten years later to the day of the first tour commissioned for the first phase of Incidents (of Travel), a day Latitudes spent with Minerva Cuevas around Mexico City’s city centre on the 27th anniversary of the deadly 1985 earthquake


Visiting the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco with Minerva Cuevas, the first of five “Incidents of Travel” itineraries around Mexico City, 19 September 2012. Photo: Eunice Adorno.

Episode #20 culminates Latitudes’ collaboration with KADIST, producers of 20 fantastic episodes published online between 2016 and 2022 as part of their programme of online projects.

The dispatch went live on October 26, 2022. Read here.

27 September 2022: Published “‘Minor’ Ornithologies. Laia Estruch”, a podcast hosted by Latitudes’ curator, writer (and lifelong birder) Max Andrews for TBA21 on st_ageAccompanying Laia Estruch’s performance project Ocells Perduts V67” (2022) for TBA21 on st_age, the podcast takes flight into the realm of birds, looking at politics and practices that disrupt dominant historical narratives, and exceed scientific and cultural boundaries. It features Alex Holt, a spokesperson for Bird Names for Birds, a movement to decolonise bird names, and zoömusicologist Dr Hollis Taylor, who specialises in birdsong. Through their perspectives, we glimpse new and speculative kinds of human–bird narratives – “minor” ornithologies.

→ Listen here (34' 03'')
→ Transcript here
8 October 2022: 
Within the context of PUBLICS’ annual gathering Today Is Our Tomorrow, Laia Estruch and Irina Mutt led a workshop as part of this year’s programme focusing on the presentness of the voice in its many sonic forms, vocal modes and auditory modalities. This workshop culminated a series of encounters, part of Latitudes’ ongoing Parahosting at PUBLICS, that have taken place over the summer in collaboration with PUBLICS Youth, an education initiative for Helsinki-based 18-21-year-olds.

(📷 ↑↓) PUBLICS Youth with Irina Mutt during their workshop in Lammassaari, 3 August 2022. Photos: Micol Curatolo.


18 October 2022: Organised a casual networking dinner to mingle with local art professionals with a group visiting from the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Switzerland. Organised by the Mondriaan Fund, the Orientation Trip 2022 took them this time to Portugal and Spain.

Foto: Haco de Ridder.

21 October 2022: Post looking back at the first anniversary of MACBA exhibition “Panorama 21. Apunts per a un incendi dels ulls”, highlighting works by Antoni Hervàs, El Palomar, Claudia Pagès and Rosa Tharrats, four artists that participated in Panorama and whose shows in Frankfurt, Donostia and Marseille present work produced or derived from their MACBA presentation. 

Installation view of “Akaal / Selene \ Uluru” (2021) in Bombon Projects’ stand in Art-O-Rama, Marseille, August 2022. Photos: © Aurélien Meimaris.

Antoni Hervàs, “Under the firelight, the ash shines like glitter”, 2021-2022, installation view Frankfurter Kunstverein 2022, Photo: Norbert Miguletz, ©Frankfurter Kunstverein, Courtesy: the artist.

El Palomar, Schreber is a Woman, 2020, installation view Frankfurter Kunstverein 2022, Photo: Norbert Miguletz, ©Frankfurter Kunstverein, Courtesy: the artists.

Still from the video interview with Claudia Pagès about her video work “Gerundi Circular” (2021) (in Spanish with Basque subtitles).

26 October 2022: New and concluding dispatch of Incidents (of Travel) led by Jorge Satorre in Barcelona, narrated by Latitudes, creators and editors of the project since 2012. This is the 20th episode published by Kadist as part of their online programme since 2016 and also marks the 10th anniversary of the project.

Below are some photos that, for one reason or another, didn't make it to the final selection of 31 images.



Small bus del barri [neighbourhood bus] route # 111 around Vallvidrera.

Analysing footprints.

(Above and below) From the Curator’s Commentary: “(...) We’re here to see what is, after the Collserola Stone, the only other known megalith in Barcelona: the Pedralbes Menhir. The builders of the monastery in the fourteenth century respected the powers of this standing stone to such a degree that they not only preserved it but constructed a gateway in the perimeter wall around it. The bulk of the stone lurks below the paved surface like a lithic iceberg, its obstinate presence in a doorway from the middle ages a kind of rude protuberance of prehistory and geologic time into a continuous present.”



Jorge admires the Egyptian-inspired pantheon of the cotton industrialists Batlló family.


28 October 2022: A surprise message from Tara McDowell sharing that after 2 years, Nino Kvrivishvili and her were finally able to meet in person in Tbilisi, Georgia! Together they followed their itinerary around the city’s former silk industry commissioned for the Incidents (of Travel) series (episode 12). Due to the pandemic, Tara’s plans to travel from Melbourne to Tbilisi had to be cancelled, so Nino “in an act of radical Georgian hospitality” – as Tara wrote in her curator’s commentary – shared her itinerary with Tara via a WhatsApp call. 

In a wonderful turn of events, during their IRL meeting, Nino opened a small pop-up exhibition at Aleksandre Utmazyan's textile shop, one of the locations that appeared on Nino’s itinerary, an event that counted with the surprise visit of Georgian President, Salomé Zurabishvili.

Curated by Data Chigholashvili, the pop-up exhibition responded to the history of Georgia’s textile industry by interrelating topics of fabric production, changing places, time, and memory, presenting a recent series of paintings that convey a story of fabric production, the country’s formerly active industry. As Chigholashvili explains Nino Kvrivishvili “belongs to the generation who studied textile art while this industry was disappearing and the experience of practical training was becoming impossible. Abstract shapes of the series, in a way a meditation on industrial themes, repeat in this selection presented together with plaster additions inside the shop. Here we also see partially concealed bodies that remind us of images from fashion magazines, as well as hint at stories of many women who were involved in the industry, yet often remained unknown – a topic that Nino has been researching for several years now.”
 
Tara McDowell and Nino KvrivishviliPhoto courtesy of these and three below by Tara McDowell.

View of Nino Kvrivishvili’s pop-up exhibition at the Textile shop on Queen Tamar Ave. 17, Tbilisi. 

Curator Data Chigholashvili in Nino Kvrivishvili’s exhibition at the Textile shop on Queen Tamar Ave. 17 in Tbilisi.
 
Opening of Nino Kvrivishvili’s exhibition at the Textile shop on Queen Tamar Ave. 17 in Tbilisi. Left to right: Nino Kvrivishvili (artist), Salome Zourabichvili (President of Georgia), Aleksandre Utmazyan (the shop owner) and Data Chigholashvili (curator). 


In March 2022, Nino and Data participated in Haus der Kulturen Welt’s programme “They Are There, Sometimes” where Nino presented her Incidents itinerary around Tbilisi (videofrom min. 36:09).

 Nino and Data participated in Haus der Kulturen Welt’s programme “They Are There, Sometimes” where Nino presented her Incidents itinerary around Tbilisi (video from min 36:09).

18 November 2022: Claudia Pagès is awarded Radio Nacional de España’s Premio El Ojo Crítico de Artes Visuales 2022 for “her ability to turn words and language into an artistic tool in every possible form, a vehicle for a political message that is not afraid of confrontation and places the individual and collective body at the centre of her creative practice”. 

As highlighted in this post, in 2021 Claudia presented her video installation “Gerundi Circular” at the Latitudes-curated exhibition “Panorama 21. Apunts per a un incendi dels ulls” commissioned for MACBA’s exhibition and produced with the support of ELAMOR

16–19 November 2022: Inching for a trip abroad to see some art, we visited the 16e Biennale d’art contemporain de Lyon, titled “Manifesto of Fragility”, some highlights on Mariana's Instagram via this link.

Those in the curatorial business will understand that besides enjoying the art side, our analytical eyes are peeled, taking mental and photographic notes on how things are practically put together. This goes from looking at how temporary walls are built, how AV equipment is hidden, types of vitrines, how clear signage is, and of course often taking in some curious exhibition labels and poorly displayed art. Here are some random photos that only make sense for research or reference purposes. Going very meta now, behind the behind-the-scenes...







28 November 2022: First online introduction of The Pilgrim” team, a project Latitudes curates in collaboration with Askeaton Contemporary Art in Co. Limerick, southwest Ireland, and involving Barcelona-based artist Eulàlia Rovira, and Sligo-and-Leitrim-based Ruth Clinton and Niamh Moriarty. To be continued...



29 November 2022: DART Festival awardees announced: Premio Laie DART 2022 a la Mejor Dirección (Laie DART 2022 Award to the Best Direction): “J’ai retrouvé Christian B.” (France, 2020) directed by Alain Fleischer. The documentary is an intimate portrait tracing the relationship between two contemporary creators, the artist Christian Boltanski and the filmmaker Alain Fleischer, who shared a friendship that lasted half a century. 

Premio Laie DART 2022 de la Crítica (Laie DART 2022 Critics Award): “The Melt Goes On Forever: The Art and Times of David Hammons” (EEUU, 2021). Directed by cultural journalist Judd Tully and filmmaker Harold Crooks, the documentary focuses on the elusive figure of African-American artist David Hammons, whose artistic practice spans six decades and foregrounds social criticism in the United States.

Screening at Cinemes Girona. Courtesy: DART Festival.




13 December 2022: MACBA presents their 2023 programme, announcing a list of their recent acquisitions, one being Claudia Pagès’s “Gerundi Circular” (2021), a video installation commissioned for Latitudes-curated exhibition “Panorama 21: Apunts per a un incendi dels ulls”, produced with the support of ELAMOR. The installation joins the museum collection as a long-term loan of the National Collection of Contemporary Art of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Claudia’s work was also featured in our January 2023 cover story.

17 January 2023: Second Zoom of members affiliated with Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) based in Spain. In the following weeks, we organised a gathering during ARCOMadrid to explain GCC’s objectives to potential new members and meet with GCC’s volunteer groups in Berlin and Italy to hear their experiences of building a team. 



1 February 2023: Newsletter out announcing our next research and residency project “The Pilgrim” in collaboration with Askeaton Contemporary Art in Co. Limerick, Ireland, and involving the artists Eulàlia Rovira, Ruth Clinton, and Niamh Moriarty. 

→ More details here.

Left to right: Eulàlia Rovira (photo: Aníbal Parada), Ruth Clinton (photo: Colm Keating) and Niamh Moriarty (photo: Cian Flynn).

22–24 February 2023: During ARCOmadrid we are jurors, alongside Markus Reymann (co-director TBA21), and Marta Cardoso, of the first Six Senses Sustainable Art Award given to an artist whose work honours an awareness around sustainability and environmental urgencies. We studied and discussed the work of more than 40 artists whose work is presented at the art fair and unanimously decided to award Zé Carlos Garcia (1973, Aracajú, BR) for his presentation at the stand of Buenos Aires’s gallery PASTO

The jury stated: “We were intrigued to discover the practice of Zé Carlos García and to learn how his enchanting carved and turned wooden sculptures are embedded in such an inventive and resourceful approach to art, environmental responsibility, decolonial practice, and land restoration. The wood he uses comes from a small tract of a forest he oversees in Brazil where non-native trees such as pines and eucalyptus were once planted by Swiss settler colonists to give the landscape a more European feel. Over the centuries these thirsty species have had a detrimental effect on the indigenous ecosystem and Zé has been removing the invasive species over the last decade, repurposing the resultant wood as a resource for his art practice, while bringing back native trees to the Mata Atlántica.”


Zé Carlos Garcia holding the sign announcing his award (above) and the award (below). Photos ARCOmadrid 2023.


Zé Carlos Garcia. Photo: Max Andrews.

The catalogue “Futuros Abundantes / Abundant Futures”, accompanying the homonymous exhibition in Córdoba, was also launched during ARCOmadrid. The 336-page book includes Latitudes’ newly commissioned essay “Un suelo para las historias del arte del futuro” [Soil for Future Art Histories] – read an abstract here (in Spanish). 

(Above and below) Launch of Futuros Abundantes in ArtsLibris during ARCOmadrid 2023. Photos: IFEMA / ARCOmadrid.


Futuros abundantes / Abundant Futures” catalogue, copublished by TBA21 and Turner, 2023. Photos: Enrico Fiorese.

After a few work sessions over Zoom, we attended the first IRL Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) gathering on February 22nd. This inaugurates the soft launch of the new formation of GCC Spain, a new national working group aligned with GCC’s core environmental targets and commitments

GCC is an international membership non-for-profit organisation with over 800 members from 40 countries, providing environmental sustainability guidelines for the art sector, whose primary targets are to facilitate a reduction of the visual art sector’s greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 50% by 2030 (in line with the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global warming to below 1.5°C) and promote zero-waste practices. More info. 

GCC Spain is a newly formed semi-autonomous volunteer team (joining working groups in Berlin, Italy, Los Angeles, London, and Taiwan) that works to develop a dedicated platform of environmental resources for Spanish-based art organisations and professionals.

Informative gathering about GCC Spain at ARCOmadrid on @galleryclimatecoalition. Photo: Max Andrews.

@acercacomunicacion's Instagram Story.

March 2023: As part of Latitudes’ ongoing environmental commitment, and as new members of the Gallery Climate Coalition, we publish the first edition of our Environmental Responsibility Statement on our website (extended version here) and submit individual calculations of our Carbon Footprint from 2019 (our baseline from which reductions will be made) and 2022 to the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). Below is a simple graphic showing the comparison of the two years. Latitudes’ carbon emissions were 17.4tCo2e in 2019 and 3.8tCo2e in 2022. 

Our 2023 Strategic Climate Fund is €190. This is calculated by multiplying our 2022 carbon footprint (3.8tCo2e emissionsby €50 per tonne. We set these funds aside to spend on low-carbon purchasing options that would otherwise be unaffordable.


beginning of May 2023: Checking out the Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat de Barcelona (aka Casa de l'Ardiaca), the Cathedral and its cloister, MACBA, and more with The Pilgrim” guest resident artists Niamh Moriarty and Ruth Clinton. Aptly, as their work has often been related to the Transatlantic relations between Ireland and the United States, their stay coincides with a visit of the Obamas (and Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks) to Barcelona to catch the beginning of Bruce Springsteen's tour.

Throughout the Spring, Latitudes researched documentation in the city archives with the hopes of finding evidence of Askeaton's Pilgrim, browsing certificates of docking in the Port of Barcelona, licences of the board of health, details of boat captain promotion, health patents, and plague-free certificates. With little to no factual data on Askeaton’s Pilgrim – besides his name (Don Martínez de Mendoza), his date of death (Askeaton, 1784), that he was a Barcelona merchant from the mid-18th Century who had a flagship called Isabella, and a daughter called Beatrice (¿Beatriz / Beatriu?) – we weren't able to find further evidence of his existence.





Giving Ruth and Niamh a “phantom tour” of the Panorama exhibition a year and a half after its closing. Here Eulàlia explains her work “La perla”.

6 May 2023: After a few initial days in Barcelona, The Pilgrim” guest resident artists Niamh Moriarty and Ruth Clinton present their work around relics, rubbings, and translation, alongside “The Pilgrim” co-curators Askeaton Contemporary Arts (ACA) (Michele Horrigan and Sean Lynch) at Eulàlia Rovira’s studio. What began as a vermut+talk event extended into pizzas for lunch, afternoon beers, and rolled into dinner.

→ Social Networks archived here.





10 May 2023: Max Andrews and Mariana Cánepa Luna of Latitudes qualified to be in the first cohort of Active Members of the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). To achieve this status we demonstrated that we have implemented environmental sustainability best practices in line with GCC’s guidelines.

→ More info
→ Environmental Policy Statement here.

16–18 May 2023: Work trip to València to visit Antoni Miralda’s exhibition “Miralda. Honeymoon: Unclassified” at Bombas Gens, curated by its artistic director Sandra Guimarães. The show centres on his “Honeymoon Project” (1986-1992), a series of intercontinental ceremonial actions around the romance and subsequent marriage between two historical monuments: that of Christopher Columbus, in the port of Barcelona, and the Statue of Liberty, in New York Bay. Max of Latitudes will review it for frieze’s October issue (online in June). 

(Above) The “Zapato Góndola” (1990–2023) was exhibited in Bombas Gens’ patio. It has been remade in fibreglass in València, taking advantage of its fallas craft expertise. The heel now is removable becoming a gondola, and it's lighter than the original one made of wood. 

The exhibition mostly comprised of letters and ephemera gathered throughout the 40 years of the making of the project, from its presentation in the 1990 Spanish Pavilion to the many drafted letters, invitations, posters and drawings of potential ideas for floats, parades and even a prenup.




Also took the opportunity to visit Bombas Gens’s solo show of Carlos Bunga and the collection reading by El último grito, as well as IVAM’s shows dedicated to Lebanese artist Aref El Rayess, Danish Asger Jorn, and the design collective La Nave. At Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània (CCCC) we met Diego Díaz and Clara Boj who showed us Permea teaching spaces, the first MA Programme in Experimental Mediation and
 Education through Art and guided us through CCCC’s shows. We also visit the commercial galleries House of Chappaz, Galería Set Espai d'Art, Galería Luis Adelantado, Tuesday to Friday, and Galería Jorge López. We had an overdue catch-up over noodles with old-time artist friend Fermín Jiménez Landa, and finally met the curators Julia Castelló and Ali A. Maderuelo in the flesh, who on June 8th opened “[DOSMILVINT-I-U] [DOSMILVINT-I-TRES] = 1 encuentro” at IVAM, the culmination of a two-year programme comprising workshops, conferences, performances, mediations with artists Diego Navarro and Darío Alva, Claudia Dyboski, Marina González Guerreiro, Álvaro Porras, and M Reme Silvestre. In 2021 Latitudes nominated them for the 11th Edition of the Premio Lorenzo Bonaldi per l’Arte – EnterPrize but this was the first time meet in person! 

early June 2023: Submitted a profile text on America-born Scotland-based artist, researcher, writer, and educator Crystal Bennes’ new project to be exhibited at Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, in February 2024. The text will be included in the forthcoming publication “Betwixt 2024”, the next iteration of publications of the Freelands Artist ProgrammeInvolving tapestry, sculptural installation, video, and performance, Bennes’ new project addresses the rapaciousness and sophistry of commodities trading, an arena in which financial instruments are used to bet on the future value of raw materials and natural resources including crude oil, metals, coffee, and cotton. 

Design study for a Jacquard weaving titled “pecunia non olete” (2023) featured on Latitudes’ homepage as the June 2023 cover story. Courtesy Crystal Bennes.

6–8 June 2023: Trip to Mallorca as guests of Art Palma Contemporani’s event Art Summer Palma. Honouring our environmental commitment, we travelled to the island and back by ferry as foot passengers. As the ferry dropped us in Alcúdia, we visited the nearby Pollença (galería Maior, Coster Art i Natura), and then took the bus to the Palma, paying a visit to Es Baluard before joining the official programme visiting the galleries Pep Llabrés, Xavier Fiol, Kewenig, M77, Aba Art Lab, Fran Reus, Baró, Pelaires, PGallery, L21 Home and L21 by foot.


(Above and three below) Views of Pollença from Coster Art in Natura, the artist-led initiative by pollensí Amador Magraner (third photo down) that began in 2022.


Works by Susana Solano and Eva Lootz (above and below).


Ludovica Carbotta ceramic oven in progress.

Amador showing us one of his sculptures “Germinacions” which began in the 1990s.

View of the collection reading curated by Agustín Pérez Rubio at Es Baluard.

Wonderful Maria Lai 1981 action “Legare Collegare” registered in video and photography on view at Es Baluard, Palma, and some more works in the M77 gallery, a new space in Palma of the Milan-based gallery.

Solo exhibition by Adrià Maryordomo (portrayed) at Galeria Fran Reus, Palma. 



12 June 2023: The National Council for Culture and Arts (CONCA) plenary agreed to carry out a survey of Catalunya-based Art Critics and Curators, a tool to analyse the state of our profession from the economic, cultural, professional, and social points of view. An expert committee formed by representatives of ACCA, the Catalan Art Critics Association (amongst them Mariana of Latitudes, who recently became an ACCA member), the Platform of Catalan Artists (PAAC), and the Association of Cultural Management Professionals of Catalunya (APGCC) gathered at Palau Moja to share their feedback to create the most comprehensive possible survey, the results of which are aimed to be completed at the end of 2023.

Photo: Miquel-Àngel Codes Luna / ACCA.

19 June 2023: Zoom launch of GCC Spain, the Spanish chapter of the Gallery Climate Coalition. The event was an opportunity to introduce the London-based founders to Spanish professionals and explain the current and future challenges the Spanish volunteer team is taking on. 

→ Watch the video here (40 min.)
→ Read the press release (in Spanish)



27 June 2023: Attending Joan Morey’s performance “POSTMORTEM. Pour en finir avec le jugement de dieu” (2006–2007) at Fundació Palau as part of the Poesia + festival. Performed by Sònia López, the piece was the first of a cycle of performances presented as part of Morey’s solo show curated by Latitudes at Fabra i Coats: Centre d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona in 2018

A better photo of the 2018 performance below.

Joan Morey, “POSTMORTEM. Pour en finir avec le jugement de dieu” (2006-2007). Performance reenactment as part of the exhibition “COLLAPSE. Desiring Machine, Working Machine”, Contemporary Art Centre of Barcelona - Fabra i Coats (2018). Photo: Noemi Jariod. Courtesy of the artist.

28 June 2023: Visit TERSA, the publicly-owned company that manages Barcelona's Metropolitan Area waste management, transforming residues into energy by incineration (this waste-to-energy plant generated 142.013 MWh of electricity in 2022). We go around the Integrated Waste Management Plant (PIVR) at Sant Adrià del Besòs, which includes the Waste-to-Energy Plant and the Mechanical-Biological Treatment Plant, managed by Ecoparc del Mediterrani. This location processes what citizens throw into the grey containers – the remaining waste that cannot be reused or recycled (not paper, glass, plastic, or organic matter), whose process generates twice what's needed to supply the electricity grid of the city. The visit was organised as part of the public programme of the exhibition “Ciutat de sorra” [City of sand] by David Bestué at Fabra i Coats: Centre d'Art Contemporani.







29 June 2023: Max Andrews’ review of Antoni Miralda’s exhibition at Bombas Gens (València) is published online on frieze.com (on print in the October 2023 issue).

“A giant high-heeled shoe with Venetian gondola trimmings stands in the courtyard of Bombas Gens Centre d’Art like a monument to fairy-tale slippers. Yet, this is a true-to-size stiletto, made to fit a 93-metre-tall debutante who stands in New York’s harbour: the Statue of Liberty. Created in 1990 by Antoni Miralda as a wedding gift for Liberty’s proposed symbolic marriage to another monument of similar vintage, the Columbus Monument in Barcelona, the original shoe was taken down the Grand Canal before forming the centrepiece of the artist’s Spanish Pavilion at that year’s Venice Biennale. This replica, fabricated by a Valencian fallero craftsman, is destined for the collection of the Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid.” 

→ Continue reading here.



July 2023: Further schedule and reading prep for our end-of-August research trip to Dublin, Sligo, Askeaton, and Limerick, the second part of The Pilgrim residency exchange


RELATED CONTENT:



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Cover Story, December 2022: “The Melt Goes On Forever. David Hammons and DART Festival”

December 2022 cover story on www.lttds.org

The December 2022 monthly Cover Story “The Melt Goes On Forever. David Hammons and DART Festival” is now up on our homepage: www.lttds.org

“Latitudes has been collaborating with Dart, the documentary film festival that focuses exclusively on contemporary art, since its inception in 2017. Its sixth edition has just taken place in Barcelona at Sala Phenomena, Cinemes Girona, and MACBA (24-30 November). Continue reading 

After December 2022 this story will be archived here.

Cover Stories are published on a monthly basis on Latitudes’ homepage featuring past, present or forthcoming projects, research, texts, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects or field trips related to our curatorial projects and activities.


→ RELATED CONTENTS

  • Archive of Monthly Cover Stories
  • Premios de la 6a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2022, 29 November 2022
  • Cover Story, November 2022: Jorge Satorre’s Barcelona, nov 1 2022
  • Cover Story, October 2022: Stray Ornithologies—Laia Estruch, 3 Oct 2022
  • Cover Story, September 2021: Erratic behaviour—Latitudes in conversation with Jorge Satorre, 31 August 2021
  • Premios de la 5a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2021, 30 Nov 2021
  • Nominator, XI Premio Lorenzo Bonaldi per l’Arte – EnterPrize, GAMeC - Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo, Italy, 2021
  • Premios de la 4a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2020, 3 dic 2020
  • Premios de la 3a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2019, 1 Dec 2019
  • Mariana Cánepa Luna vocal del jurado del Premi Ciutat de Barcelona 2017 en el ámbito de las Artes Visuales, 1 Febrero 2018
  • Jurado y equipo tutorial de Barcelona Producció 2017 – Anuncio de los proyectos ganadores, 25 Mayo 2017
  • Jurado y equipo tutorial de BCN Producció 2016, La Capella, Barcelona, 2 Febrero 2016
  • Latitudes-nominee artist Annette Kelm shortlisted for the Aimia | AGO Photography Prize 2015, 24 June 2015
  • Otros jurados – véase sección "About"
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Premios de la 6a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2022

Gráfica del DART 2022 por COURE.


La programación de la 6a edición del Festival de Cine Documental sobre Arte Contemporáneo 2022 (DART) se ha proyectado en la Sala Phenonena, los cinemes Girona y mañana finaliza en el auditori del MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, además de en la plataforma online Filmin donde continúa hasta el 11 de diciembre 2022. 

Dart Festival es el primer festival de cine documental dedicado al arte contemporáneo cuyo principal objetivo es entrelazar la cultura y el conocimiento a través de documentales sobre fotografía, comisariado de arte, pintura, performance, arquitectura, movimientos artísticos y, en general, sobre arte contemporáneo, prestando especial atención a los artistas, sus procesos de creación y las historias que hay detrás de sus trabajos.



Una edición más, Latitudes ha tenido el placer de formar parte del jurado del festival junto al crítico de cine Quim Casas y el periodista cultural Ianko López, quienes han decidido premiar a los siguientes documentales:

Premio Laie DART 2022 a la Mejor Dirección: “J’ai retrouvé Christian B.” (Francia, 2020, 87 min.) dirigida por Alain Fleischer. El documental recorre la relación de estos dos creadores contemporáneos, el artista Christian Boltanski y el cineasta Alain Fleischer, que compartieron amistad a lo largo de medio siglo. A través de un nutrido material documental que empieza en 1969 en blanco y negro y en 16mm, el film recorre la vida y obra de Boltanski desde su primera exposición en 1984 en el Centro Pompidou, hasta su tercera y última monográfica en el mismo museo en el 2019, dos años antes de su fallecimiento.

Poster del documental “The Melt Goes On Forever: The Art and Times of David Hammons”.


Premio Laie DART 2022 de la Crítica: “The Melt Goes On Forever: The Art and Times of David Hammons” (EEUU, 2021, 101 min.) que se proyecta mañana en el Auditori del MACBA – ver teaser. Dirigida por el periodista cultural Judd Tully y el cineasta Harold Crooks, el documental se centra en la escurridiza figura del artista afroamericano David Hammons, cuya práctica artística se extiende a lo largo de seis décadas poniendo en primer plano una crítica social en los Estados Unidos. Rodada a lo largo de 9 años, el documental registra el testimonio de los artistas Lorna Simpson y Fred Wilson, el historiador Robert Farris Thompson, los curadores Kellie Jones, Franklin Sirmans y Robert Storr y la galerista Dominique Lévy, entre otros, y se acompaña de material de archivo y animaciones realizadas por Tynehsa Foreman.


CONTENIDO RELACIONADO:

  • Premios de la 5a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2021, 30 Nov 2021
  • Nominator, XI Premio Lorenzo Bonaldi per l’Arte – EnterPrize, GAMeC - Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo, Italy, 2021
  • Premios de la 4a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2020, 3 dic 2020
  • Premios de la 3a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2019, 1 Dec 2019
  • Mariana Cánepa Luna vocal del jurado del Premi Ciutat de Barcelona 2017 en el ámbito de las Artes Visuales, 1 Febrero 2018
  • Jurado y equipo tutorial de Barcelona Producció 2017 – Anuncio de los proyectos ganadores, 25 Mayo 2017
  • Jurado y equipo tutorial de BCN Producció 2016, La Capella, Barcelona, 2 Febrero 2016
  • Latitudes-nominee artist Annette Kelm shortlisted for the Aimia | AGO Photography Prize 2015, 24 June 2015
  • Resolución Convocatoria 2012 de Artes visuales y Tutorial de la Sala d'Art Jove, 7 Diciembre 2011
  • Fallo Jurado Premios Casablancas 2008, 20 Junio, 20h 16 junio 2008
  • Otros jurados – véase sección "About"
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Premios de la 5a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2021


La programación de la 5a edición del Festival de Cine Documental sobre Arte Contemporáneo 2021 (25 de noviembre al 3 de diciembre) se muestra por segunda vez en la plataforma online Filmin (accesible para todo el territorio español entre el 25 de noviembre al 12 de diciembre), manteniendo una sesión presencial el 25 de noviembre con el estreno europeo en los cinemes Girona en Barcelona del documental Sergio Larraín, el instante eternoel primer fotógrafo latinoamericano en unirse a la agencia Magnum.


(Arriba y abajo) Dart Festival 2019 en Cinemes Girona.


Proyección en la Sala Phenomena del estreno en España del remaster en 4K de “A Bigger Splash” (1973).


Dart Festival es el primer festival de cine documental dedicado al arte contemporáneo cuyo principal objetivo es entrelazar la cultura y el conocimiento con el gran público, y lo hace a través de documentales sobre fotografía, comisariado de arte, pintura, performance, arquitectura, movimientos artísticos y, en general, sobre arte contemporáneo, prestando especial atención a los artistas, sus procesos de creación y las historias que hay detrás de sus trabajos. 

Una edición más, Latitudes ha tenido el placer de formar parte del jurado del festival junto al crítico de cine Quim Casas y el periodista cultural Ianko López.

El jurado ha decidido que los documentales premiados dentro de la sección competitiva de la 5a edición del festival sean “Esther Ferrer: Hilos de tiempo” (2020, ES, 69') del director Josu Rekalde como mejor producción nacional y “Beijing Spring” (2021, EEUU/Suiza,100') dirigida por Andy Cohen y Gaylen Ross como mejor producción internacional.

Esther Ferrer: Hilos de tiempo” (2020, ES, 69') del director Josu Rekalde.


Esther Ferrer: Hilos de tiempo de Josu Rekalde (2020, España)

Es un retrato íntimo, sin ser apologético, que hace un completo ejercicio histórico para situar a una de las figuras más relevantes del panorama artístico nacional. Es una película que destaca por su voluntad coral, en búsqueda de un diálogo constante con el espectador. El uso de material de archivo y el intento de representar la performance como parte integrante del documental permiten apreciar el recorrido histórico de Esther Ferrer y cómo éste se integra en el contexto más amplio del arte performativo y feminista internacional.

Beijing Spring” de Andy Cohen y Gaylen Ross (2021, EE.UU)

La película arroja luz sobre un período poco conocido del arte chino de los años 70, contextualizando una acción artística realmente extraordinaria. Gracias a material inédito, vemos un documental dentro un documental que da forma a la importancia de narrar las luchas por la libertad de expresión desde el contexto del arte y los movimientos de vanguardia que surgieron a raíz (o detrás) de la Revolución Cultural. Aún siendo un trabajo sobre un momento histórico específico, lanza reflexiones sobre los derechos y el poder del arte que nos llevan a la contemporaneidad.

Fotograma de “Beijing Spring” (2021, EEUU/Suiza,100') dirigida por Andy Cohen y Gaylen Ross.


→ CONTENIDO RELACIONADO:

  • Nominator, XI Premio Lorenzo Bonaldi per l’Arte – EnterPrize, GAMeC - Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo, Italy, 2021
  • Premios de la 4a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2020, 3 dic 2020
  • Premios de la 3a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2019, 1 Dec 2019
  • Mariana Cánepa Luna vocal del jurado del Premi Ciutat de Barcelona 2017 en el ámbito de las Artes Visuales, 1 Febrero 2018
  • Jurado y equipo tutorial de Barcelona Producció 2017 – Anuncio de los proyectos ganadores, 25 Mayo 2017
  • Jurado y equipo tutorial de BCN Producció 2016, La Capella, Barcelona, 2 Febrero 2016
  • Latitudes-nominee artist Annette Kelm shortlisted for the Aimia | AGO Photography Prize 2015, 24 June 2015
    Resolución Convocatoria 2012 de Artes visuales y Tutorial de la Sala d'Art Jove, 7 Diciembre 2011
  • Fallo Jurado Premios Casablancas 2008, 20 Junio, 20h 16 junio 2008
  • Otros jurados – véase sección "About"
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Jurado premios, 3a edición del Dart Festival de cine documental sobre arte contemporáneo 2019


Latitudes ha tenido el placer de ser miembro del jurado de la ‘Sección Explora by Laie Llibreria!’ de la tercera edición del Festival de Cine Documental sobre Arte Contemporáneo 2019 junto al crítico de cine Quim Casas y la artista visual Núria Güell.

Los ganadores son los documentalesElliott Erwitt - Silence Sounds Good’ de Adriana López Sanfeliu como mejor producción nacional, y ‘Barbara Rubin & The Exploding NY Underground’ de Chuck Smith, como mejor producción internacional. 


Elliott Erwitt ha pasado toda su vida adulta haciendo fotografías de presidentes, papas y estrellas de cine, así como de personas an´ y también de sus mascotas. Mientras que su trabajo es icónico en la cultura mundial,  su vida es en gran parte desconocida. Elliott Erwitt - Silence Sounds Good es un retrato amable e íntimo de un artista en su trabajo, mostrando ser alguien que valora la compañía de todo tipo por encima de la conversación ociosa. Su trabajo vital es un importante testimonio del poder de la imagen. Con su primera película, Adriana López Sanfeliu logra crear un retrato íntimo de un fotógrafo de primer nivel.



El documental “Christmas on Earth” (1963) conmocionó la escena del cine experimental de Nueva York. Su autora, la cineasta experimental Barbara Rubin, realizó la película cuando solo tenía 18 años. Durante su trayectoria, trabajó con el cineasta Jonas Mekas en la Filmmaker’s Coop, colaboró con Andy Warhol y fue fundamental en la creación de la próspera comunidad de cine underground de Nueva York. Durante años Mekas, que en la película tenía 94 años (falleció con 96), guardó todas las cartas de Barbara y atesoró su memoria. Trabajando con las imágenes de Mekas y los extraños clips de los archivos de Warhol, ‘Barbara Rubin & The Exploding NY Underground’ nos transporta dentro del mundo y la mente de Barbara Rubin, una cineasta que realmente creyó que el cine podría cambiar el mundo.


Proyección en el Cinema Girona. Cortesía: DART Festival 2019.

CONTENIDO RELACIONADO:
  • Mariana Cánepa Luna vocal del jurado del Premi Ciutat de Barcelona 2017 en el ámbito de las Artes Visuales 1 Febrero 2018
  • Antoni Hervàs's exhibition "El Misterio de Caviria" awarded the Visual Arts prize of the Premis Ciutat de Barcelona 2016 1 February 2017
  • Jurado y equipo tutorial de Barcelona Producció 2017 – Anuncio de los proyectos ganadores 25 Mayo 2017
  • Jurado y equipo tutorial de BCN Producció 2016, La Capella, Barcelona. 2 Febrero 2016
  • Latitudes-nominee artist Annette Kelm shortlisted for the Aimia | AGO Photography Prize 2015 24 June 2015
    Resolución Convocatoria 2012 de Artes visuales y Tutorial de la Sala d'Art Jove 7 Diciembre 2011
  • Fallo Jurado Premios Casablancas 2008, 20 Junio, 20h 16 junio 2008
  • Otros jurados – véase sección "About"
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Latitudes' "out of office" 2015–2016 season

"CLOSED. We open when we arrive, close when we leave, and if you come and we're not here, we just didn't coincide."

The end of the season is approaching and high summer is looming. Following Latitudes tradition we mark the summer break not by presenting a memo of activities per se, but with an "out of office" post (see the 2008-9, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15 versions) with a series of 'behind the scenes' photos revisiting moments from the year gone by. So here are some glimpses of the past season, starting September 2015 to July 2016. See you in September!

In order to be conducive to freedom of interaction, the ‘Near-Future Artworlds Curatorial Disruption Foresight Group’ meetings have been held under the Chatham House Rule: This allows participants to express personal views, to listen, reflect and gather insights with a clear distinction from the position of their employers and/or the policies of any associated organization. Participation is expected, but there will be no resolutions issued, no votes are undertaken, and no policy statements proposed. Only this photo was taken.

Latitudes 2015–16 season started with a residency at Kadist, San Francisco (26 August–9 September) during which time we had the opportunity to develop several projects. Three artist-led tours with SF-based artists Amy Balkin, Rick & Megan Prelinger and Will Brown were part of our ongoing series 'Incidents of Travel' (see 2012 in Mexico City, 2013 in Hong Kong and most recent 2016 online incarnation). We took over Kadist social media with an Instagram residency and contributed to the online programme 'One Sentence Exhibition'.

Furthermore, on August 29, we convened the second ‘Near-Future Artworlds Curatorial Disruption Foresight Group’ at Kadist, a "by-invitation meeting bringing together individuals and expertise from the Bay Area with an active interest in institutional prototyping and emergent usership" initially presented in May 2015 for the
International Curatorial Retreat in Bari, Italy.

The workshop is "a forum for informal dialogue about megatrends and the future of contemporary art institutions. In the San Francisco iteration, an emphasis was put on cross-pollination between design thinking and curatorial thinking. Participants also discussed, among other things, the notion of the post-disciplinary, and the question of appropriate speeds, scale or periodicities of institutions."

  Photo: Arash Fayez.

September 8: Our last activity in the Bay Area was a session with first-year participants of the MA Curatorial Practice at the California College of the Arts (CCA). We briefly introduced our curatorial practice and invited the new students to imagine the governance and daily operations of a range of institutions – a remote residency facility, a commissioning institution, and an annual festival.


(Above and below) BAF technical team and artist Daniel Steegmann Mangrané installing the sound piece “Surucuá, Teque-teque, Arara” (2012) at the Umbracle (shade house), Parc de la Ciutadella. One of the "Composiciones" commissions for the Barcelona Gallery Weekend.


September 25: Max Andrews of Latitudes participates in the symposium "The Shock of Victory" held at CCA Glasgow. Meanwhile, installation is well underway for the first Barcelona Gallery Weekend, for which Latitudes devised a special programme of five artists' commissions.

 (Above and below) David Bestué browsing and choosing ceramic pieces and molds in the attic at the Cosme Toda factory, for his "Composiciones" installation.

(Above and below) Jordi Mitjà discussing his work with the team at the Museu Geològic del Seminari during the installation of his "Composiciones" piece.
Rasmus Nilausen lights up Pere Llobera's drawing in dust, part of their joint "Composiciones" adventure.

(Above) Second seminar at the Biblioteca del Campo Freudiano de Barcelona, project by Dora García for "Composiciones".

  (Above) Display of the books selected by Dora García from the holdings of the Biblioteca del Campo Freudiano de Barcelona.

'Composiciones' received some great write-ups – including a long text on Frederic Montornés popular blog and by Jörg Heiser in frieze magazine. We also gathered hundreds of tweets, Instagram shots and press material on this Storify.  

 Board announcing the seminar and public talk.

Closed-door seminar at Tabakalera. Photo: Consonni. 

Public presentation of Latitudes' projects at Tabakalera. Photo: Consonni.

November 2015: Latitudes travelled to Donostia's recently opened Tabakalera. We were invited by LaPublika's programme, created by Consonni, to lead a two-day seminar and public lecture around artists working in the public sphere.


Moments before starting the ESP people assembly at Birmingham's Eastside Projects.

On November 15 Latitudes convened the third iteration of the 'Near-Future Artworlds Curatorial Disruption Foresight Group', this time in Birmingham's Eastside Projects. This "forum for informal dialogue about megatrends and the future of contemporary art institutions" collectively imagined a ‘What if?’ – a post-apocalyptic scenario in which the entire art ecology of Birmingham had to be regrown from the ground up, an exercise that would help define and identify which are the most urgent organisations, facilities, and tools.

International Summit Synapse 1 at New Rex of the National Theatre of Greece. 'Session II: Rethinking Institutions': (from left to right) Leo Panitch, Maria Hlavajova, Adam Szymczyk, Amalia Zepou (moderator), Hilary Wainwright, Emily Pethick, Latitudes (Max Andrews & Mariana Cánepa Luna) © Eva Galatsanou. 

  Second-day assembly at the Bargeion Hotel. 

Shortly after, on 18–19 November Latitudes participated in the OMONOIA summit which began the Athens Biennale 2015–2017. For a short report see the Cover Story of December 2015 and this blog entry.

December 2015: Mariana joined Hangar's renewed Board of Trustees as its Secretary, a responsibility she will fulfill for the next three years.

December 4: Participation in the BAR module: Curating the space / Space for curating open public conversation with Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Carles Guerra, Michy Marxuach and BAR module participants. 


(Above and below) Courtesy: BAR Project.  Photos: Eva Carasol. 

January 2016: After an intense jury process in January, we began the year-long mentoring process of three exhibition projects out of the nine selected projects as part of the 2016 season's BCN Producció 2016.



The first project Latitudes mentored was by Pau Magrané/PLOM who turned the Espai Cub, a 3x3x3 metre white cube, into "a sound stage/instrument, an echo chamber hosting different screenings and objects to be played by PLOM at the opening". The two other projects Latitudes is mentoring are by Antoni Hervàs (September 15) and a group exhibition "La dissidència nostàlgica" by curator Joana Hurtado Matheu (December 1). 

From January onwards: Preparations for the five projects produced in the context of the second edition of the Barcelona Gallery Weekend. Studio visits, site visits, project proposals, budget and production planning, taking measurements...

May 2016: Regina Giménez and Rafel G. Bianchi taking measures of Can Trinxet's walls, a former 19th Century textile factory in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. 
March 2016: visiting Robert Llimós's studio in Sant Pere neighbourhood.

 Lola Lasurt doing some tests positioning her paintings at the Biblioteca Pública Arús.

February 2016: Trip to Arles to attend the 'How Institutions Think' symposium at the LUMA Foundation, this time not participating but listening and reporting. Read Max Andrews' report on the frieze blog.


Besides the reportage from the Arles conference, Max also published other reviews in Frieze magazine as one of its team of contributing editors: Xavier Ribas at ProjecteSD (Barcelona); Joachim Koester at BlueProject Foundation (Barcelona); Alexandre Estrela at the Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid) and Critic's Guide: Barcelona highlighting some of the interesting shows in the city on frieze website. He has also contributed the text "Soups & Symptoms" for a forthcoming publication of Barcelona-based Danish painter Rasmus Nilausen. 


View of Francesc Ruiz, “Correos,” garcía galería, Madrid, 2016. Courtesy of garcía galería, Madrid. Photo: Roberto Ruiz.

On February 25, Mariana Cánepa Luna's review of Francesc Ruiz's exhibition at garcía | galería, Madrid, was published online on art-agenda: "Ruiz’s second solo show at Madrid’s garcía galería delves into the visual communication of one of Spain’s most iconic institutions, the Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos—the national postal service, commonly known as Correos—whose graphic identity was created in 1977 by Spanish designer and artist José María Cruz Novillo (b. 1936)." continue reading...


Mariana also contributed to the publication "Great Expectations: Prospects for the Future of Curatorial Education" edited by Leigh Markopoulos and published by the California College of the Arts and The Banff Centre – with some insightful questions by Banff Centre Walter Phillips Gallery curator Peta Rake.

Miquel from MACBA's AV team checking the connections behind the monitor that presented 'Houdini' (1991) – one of the most challenging works in the exhibition for the technical team as it meant dismantling a 40-year-old TV and submerging the front part into water.


March 2016: Installation begins! After over a year and a half of preparation, the exhibition "I Will Fear No Evil" opened at Convent dels Àngels del MACBA on March 17, 2016. Two busy weeks of installation in the Convent dels Àngels space preceded the opening. Many press tours, exhibition reviews, photo and video recordings, guided visits, film screenings, and music events followedthey're all archived here!

 Alex from MACBA's restoration department scraping the old silicone off the acrylic box containing "San Guinefort" (1991).
Tria33, a programme broadcast at Canal 33, came to film during the installation.
 Lightbox of "El Resplandor de la Santa Conjunción aleja a los demonios" in progress, a piece from 1991, exhibited for the first time in the Sala RG in Caracas, and also reconstructed for the present exhibition. 
TTI installation team placing twelve pork rind skateboards on the metal structure. "La Hermandad" (1994) was commissioned for the 1994 exhibition "Cocido y Crudo" at the Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid, and it's now part of the "la Caixa" Collection.  

 Vinyls go up – design by Mucho. More on the exhibition graphic design. 
March 17, 11:30am: Presentation to the press. Left to right: Ferran Barenblit (MACBA director), exhibition curators Mariana Cánepa Luna and Max Andrews of Latitudes, and artist José Antonio Hernández-Díez. Photo: MACBA twitter.

Visitors in front of "Sagrado Corazón Activo", a work from 1991 reconstructed for this exhibition. Photo: Miquel Coll/MACBA.
Visitors next to "Houdini", a work from 1989 reconstructed for this exhibition. Photo: Miquel Coll/MACBA.

 General view of the exhibition. Photo: Roberto Ruiz/MACBA.

April: We love snail mail and handwritten notes! We received a note from Rick & Megan Prelinger alongside a copy of their Yearbook 2015. We relished spending time at the Prelinger Library in San Francisco last August as part of our 'Incidents of Travel' series! (Our extended heartfelt thanks to the Kadist team for hosting us!).

Card and Yearbook 2015 by the Prelinger Library.
 
April 20: Wrapped-up a five-part interview with Melbourne-based artist Nicholas Mangan to be published in the catalogue of his forthcoming solo exhibition ‘Limits to Growth’, co-produced by Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA), Melbourne (opening July 20) and Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Brisbane (where it will be on view from October 29). The exhibition will travel to KW in Berlin in Summer 2017.


 Installing Pau Magrané exhibition at the Cub space in La Capella. Photos: Pau Magrané.

April 27 (until June 12): Exhibition "Demo" of Pau Magrané/PLOM at Espai Cub, La Capella. This is the first of the three projects Latitudes is mentoring throughout 2016  as part of BCN Producció'16 production grant scheme. Video of the project here (Catalan with Spanish subtitles) or here (English).


April 25–May 7: Two-week residency at CAPC Bordeaux to research for a group exhibition that will take place in 2017. One strand of our investigations departs from the CAPC building itself, known as Entrepôt Lainé – a 19th Century warehouse for colonial commodities. We learned from the museum staff that coffee beans are occasionally found atop a pile of papers on an office desk or in the middle of the exhibition galleries. This became the focus of our May Cover Story (archived here).


First and last pages of the first online dispatch by Chicago-based curator Yesomi Umolu within the distributed phase of Incidents (of Travel). http://incidents.kadist.org/
 

May: Launch of the online project Incidents (of Travel), produced by Kadist Art Foundation. The web marks a new ‘distributed’ phase of ‘Incidents (of Travel)’ as an online periodical. The ongoing series will be edited by Latitudes and produced by Kadist.

Originally conceived by Latitudes as day-long artist-led tours commissioned to artists in and around Mexico City (2012) – followed by Hong Kong (2013) and San Francisco (2015) – ‘Incidents’ expands on the format of the curator-meets-artist studio visit to explore the chartered itinerary as a format of an artistic encounter. The first dispatch came from Chicago and featured Yesomi Umolu (Exhibitions Curator at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago) and artist Harold Mendez, an offline day photographed by Nabiha Khan.

  
June: Launch of the second Incidents (of Travel) dispatch, an encounter between curator Serubiri Moses and photographer Mohsen Taha in Jinja, Uganda, narrated throughout 18 photos by Taha with an introduction, captions, sound and commentary.
 

And finally July. Some are off on holiday but many remain working full speed despite the less frantic inbox. Many surely agree that this is one of the weirdest months in the calendar, a bit like the pre-Christmas rush, but with a whole month of heated intensity

4–8 July: Second trip to Bordeaux, more archival appointments and more geology. Led by Bruno Cahuzac (Maître de Conférences, UFR Sciences de la Terre et de la Mer) from the Faculté des Sciences de Bordeaux, we visited the incredible carothèque-lithothèque at the Université de Bordeaux in Talence which houses over 30,000 core samples from the subsoil of the Aquitaine basin.

(Above) Gerard Ortín's exhibition "Vijfhoek" at Galería Estrany-de la Mota and (below) Gerard receiving the award.



July 9 and 20: As jurors of this year's award Art Nou/Primera Visió we visited the twenty participating commercial galleries, non-profits, private foundations and museums alongside BCNProducció'16 co-tutors Mireia Sallarès and David Armengol. We unanimously decided to award Gerard Ortín for his solo show at Galería Estrany-de la Mota. Ortín receives 2,000 Euros to produce a new publication. The ceremony took place on July 21 at La Capella. Last year winner Rasmus Nilausen produced the publication "Soups & Symptoms" which includes a text by Max Andrews of Latitudes.


Instagram post by Fireplace project.

July 11: Presentation of the publications of the projects by artists Ricardo Trigo and Pau Magrané resulting from the production grant BCN Producció'16.  

 February 2016 Cover Story was dedicated to Sarah Ortmeyer. 

Cover Stories on www.lttds.org: Over a year ago we began the monthly section "Cover Story" on our home page (archive of this section). October 2015 was dedicated to David Bestué's "Luces" installation commissioned for Composiciones, November 2015 marked the sixth anniversary of Globalising the Internationale, Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller’s project for Portscapes; December presented a shot taken during OMONOIA, the International Summit at the National Theatre of Greece’s New Rex which kicked off the Athens Biennale 2015–2017. 

January shifted to black-and-white with a Mediterranean shot from E.1027, the 1920s Côte d'Azur house designed by Eileen Gray and Jean Badovici near Monaco meticulously documented since 2008 by Danish artist Kasper Akhøj. February stayed in France, going up to the Tour Eiffel and looking back at a piece by Sarah Ortmeyer presented in a 2011 exhibition in Brussels. March showed a behind-the-scenes moment of the production of "Sagrado Corazón Activo" (1991) a work by José Antonio Hernández-Díez that was only ever exhibited once before, in 1991 in Caracas. The piece was reconstructed for the exhibition "I Will Fear No Evil" at MACBA presenting a selection of his early works. In April we announced the forthcoming launch of 'Incidents (of Travel)', a series of online curatorial dispatches produced by Kadist; and in May (back to France) we began our research at CAPC Bordeaux, where we'll be curating a group exhibition in June 2017. June took us back to Hernández-Díez's show which was coming to an end – some exhibition reviews here; and July took us back to the Latitudes-devised Composiciones commissions last October (the programme of artists’ interventions returns later this year).

June Cover Story – all cover stories archived here.

 Antoni Hervàs preparing his installation for BCN Producció'16.

We are now presently preparing for what will be a rather intense September: firstly, Antoni Hervàs's exhibition "El Misterio de Caviria" at Sala Gran of La Capella (third round of exhibitions of the grant scheme BCN Producció) opens on September 15. It will be shortly followed by the presentation of the five "Composiciones" commissions by Lúa Coderch, Regina Giménez, Lola Lasurt, Robert Llimós and Wilfredo Prieto for the second Barcelona Gallery Weekend, inaugurating on Thursday 29 September, and on view until Sunday 2 October. 
 
We have also been invited to contribute to Oslo Pilot, the two-year project investigating the role of art in the public realm led by Eva González-Sancho and Per Gunnar Eeg-Tverbakk. We will be writing on a selection of case studies based around their four areas of research – Reactivation, Periodicity, Public and Disappearancewhich will be published in the magazine launched during a three-day symposium in mid-November 2016. 

RELATED CONTENT:
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Premi Art Nou 2016: Gerard Ortín – Acta del jurado


Durante el mes de julio la asociación de galerías Art Barcelona organiza la quinta edición de Art Nou "con la intención de activar la escena de arte emergente local con exposiciones, talleres, charlas, visitas a estudios en espacios de arte de toda la ciudad."

Más de 30 artistas optaron al Premio Art Nou/Primera Visió, que en su edición 2016 ha sido otorgado a Gerard Ortín por su exposición "Vijfhoek" en la galería Estrany-de la Mota. El premio está dotado con 2.000 euros que otorga La Capella para la realización de una publicación. Artistas como Marla Jacarilla, Adrián Melis, Luz Broto y Rasmus Nilausen, han sido los galardonados en las pasadas ediciones.

(Arriba) Mireia Sallarès leyendo el acta del jurado y (abajo) el artista Gerard Ortín recibiendo el premio y agradeciendo la obtención del Premi Art Nou/Primera Visió 2016. Fotos: Andrea Paesante. Cortesía: Art Barcelona. 

A continuación el acta (en catalán) que leyó Mireia Sallarès en representación del jurado formado por los tutores de BCN Producció'16 (David Armengol, Mireia Sallarès y Latitudes), al anunciar el premio en la fiesta que se organizó el 21 de julio:
 
"Bona tarda i gràcies per ser aquí, ha arribat el moment més esperat de la vetllada.

Primer de tot dir que els membres del jurat d’aquest premi que som en
David Armengol, l’equip de Latitudes (Max Andrews i Mariana Cánepa Luna) i Mireia Sallarès, hem guiat les nostres deliberacions tenint ben present l’objectiu principal d’Art Nou: que és el de descobrir i difondre nous talents artístics per tal de donar un impuls a la creació emergent i a les noves generacions artístiques a la nostra ciutat.

En aquest sentit voldríem dir que la nostra decisió no ha sigut fàcil perquè hi han participat propostes de molt bon nivell; i en especial també degut a la disparitat dels projectes participants (es tracta d’espais de naturalesa molt diversa amb recursos molt diferents, d’exposicions individuals i col·lectives, amb o sense comissariat, on conviuen projectes de diferent tipus: des de galeries a espais independents fins a estructures institucionals). Dit això i tenint en compte que és un premi que es dóna a l’artista (i no tant a l’espai que l’exposa o a l’exposició de la que forma part en cas d’exposició col·lectiva), hem decidit atorgar el premi a
Gerard Ortín per l’exposició "Vijfhoek" (Pentàgon) realitzada a la galeria Estrany-de la Mota.

Els motius han sigut la gran qualitat del projecte que considerem fruit d’una investigació seriosa i poètica; on creiem que l’artista ha fet una molt bona traducció al format expositiu d’una experiència que de fet té caràcter performàtic. Es tracta d’una acció que va tenir lloc a Àmsterdam i que comptava amb la participació del públic en una passejada en grup en un indret molt especial. L‘artista s’hi refereix com a ‘walk performances’ que propicien una experiència introspectiva individual a través d’un ritual col·lectiu i que són una forma genuïna d’explorar el paisatge. Ens sembla una obra excel·lent i mostra d’una bona evolució de la seva jove trajectòria, essent aquesta la primera exposició individual de l’artista. Estem convençuts, a més a més, que en Gerard farà també molt bon treball en l’exercici de traduir en forma de publicació la seva obra —gràcies a l’ajut que en específic atorga aquest premi. Així que, Felicitats Gerard, seguirem els teus nous projectes amb interès!

I abans d’acabar, volem també fer dues mencions especials. Primer a l’exposició “Curvar a Miguel es arruinar las baldosas” de Jorge Satorre presentada a la Fundació BlueProject. Jorge és un artista d’origen mexicà molt vinculat a Barcelona que participa amb un projecte excel·lent que té el parc de Collserola com a centre i que ha sigut fruit d’una residencia a la ciutat i ha comptat també amb l’ajut d’espais imprescindibles del nostre context com són Hangar o la nau Estruch de Sabadell. I també, a l’exposició “Els músculs de Zaratrustra” una col·laboració de Marcel Rubio i Victor Balcells que ens ha sorprès molt positivament per la seva força narrativa i per la bona simbiosis de la col·laboració entre un artista visual i un escriptor. I perquè és també una mostra molt maca del bon impuls d’una de les iniciatives independents d’aquesta ciutat com és Passatge Studio al barri del Poblenou on l’artista Bernat Daviu cedeix temporalment el seu estudi com a espai expositiu.

Felicitats doncs al guanyador i gràcies a tots els participants. Confiem que la propera convocatòria anirà perfilant les seves bases; i en aquest sentit farem arribar els nostres suggeriments als organitzadors per tal de que els creadors i creadores sentin aquest premi com un veritable impuls al seu treball. Aquest treball que tan necessita la nostra ciutat." 


– Barcelona, 21 de juliol 2016.

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Latitudes-nominee artist Annette Kelm shortlisted for the Aimia | AGO Photography Prize

'Today' invitation card in the back of our entrance door.

We are delighted with the news that one of our two nominations – Annette Kelm (Stuttgart, 1975) – has been shortlisted for the Canadian Aimia | AGO Photography Prize.

As one of this year's 15 selectors, we were invited to put forward two artists names for inclusion on the long list, one artist from our country/region and one international. We selected Xavier Ribas (Barcelona, 1960) and Kelm. 

Kelm and each of the shortlisted artist – Dave Jordano, Hito Steyerl and Owen Kyddis awarded $5,000 and six-week residencies organised in partnership with cultural institutions across Canada.

Exhibitions of each of the four finalists will be presented from September 9, 2015, at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), and the public will be invited to cast a vote for their choice to win the $50,000 CAD prize. The awardee, entirely chosen by public vote, will be announced on December 1, 2015.

Annette Kelm's large colour prints express a research-based interest in cultural history and the history of photography. In Kelm’s hands, photography is not just a documentary tool, but an active, agitating, productive force, wherein objects, textiles and people assume a sculptural identity. She is represented by Johann König (Berlin), Andrew Kreps Gallery (New York), Herald St (London), Marc Foxx (Los Angeles), Galerie Meyer Kainer (Vienna), Giò Marconi (Milan).


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This is the blog of the independent curatorial office Latitudes. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
All photos:
Latitudes | www.lttds.org (except when noted otherwise in the photo caption)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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Latitudes nominators for the 2015 Aimia | AGO Photography Prize, Canada

Installation view of 'Smoke' (2013), a work by the 2014 Aimia | AGO Photography Prize winner Lisa Oppenheim. Two-channel video installation, looped. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and The Approach, London.

Latitudes has been invited to be a nominator for the 2015 Aimia | AGO Photography Prize, Canada’s most significant award for contemporary photography, recognizing photographers from around the world whose work has exhibited potential over the preceding five years. 

As one of the 15 nominators, we have been invited to submit 2 artists for inclusion on a long list of 27. On a second stage, a separate jury of three, led by Adelina Vlas the associate curator of contemporary art at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), will select a shortlist of four from the long list – to be announced 23 June. Exhibitions will be mounted at the AGO and online, and the public will be invited to cast a vote for their choice to win the $50,000 CAD prize. The awardee will be announced on December 1, 2015.

Established in 2007, Aimia | AGO Photography Prize is the first major art prize to allow the public to choose its winner. It has a total annual prize value of over $100,000, with $50,000 awarded to the winner, $5,000 awarded to each of the other shortlisted artists and $25,000 supporting a national scholarship program for students studying photography at select institutions across Canada. The remainder funds six-week residencies for the four shortlisted artists at institutions across Canada.
 
In 2014 the 
$50,000 CAD prize was awarded to New York-based artist Lisa Oppenheim. In addition to the cash prize Oppenheim received a fully funded residency in Canada in early 2015. Runners-up David Hartt (Canada); Elad Lassry (Israel/USA); and Nandipha Mntambo (South Africa) each also received a six-week residency as well as $5,000 to support their artistic practices.

More on the prize here
Follow @aimiaAGOprize

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More on Latitudes' teaching, lecturing, jury duties, residencies, awards, etc.



This is the blog of the independent curatorial office Latitudes. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
All photos:
Latitudes | www.lttds.org (except when noted otherwise in the photo caption)
Work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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Newsletter #39 – December / diciembre 2011


Newsletter en Español  |  Newsletter in English

FORTHCOMING... 
'The Dutch Assembly / Asamblea de los Países Bajos', ARCOmadrid, 15–19 February 2012, Madrid (+ info...)
Follow us on Twitter: #NLAssembly

ALSO THIS MONTH...
Three juries: for the 2012 Open Call at the Sala d'Art Jove; the GAC Awards given by the Catalan Gallery Association (Award ceremony: 31 January 2012 at MACBA); and the Curatorial Open Call 2012, which invites individuals or collectives to submit a proposal for curating an exhibition between June and July of 2012 at NoguerasBlanchard. 

UNTIL 15 JANUARY 2012...
'Amikejo: Fermín Jiménez Landa & Lee Welch', fourth and final exhibition of the cycle 'Amikejo' at the Laboratorio 987, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, León,
24 September 2011–15 January 2012.    
Follow us on Twitter: #amikejo

RECENT BLOG POSTS... 

For more info go to:

http://issuu.com/latitudes/docs 
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