From artist-curator to (non) curatorship: Dilemmas of the 33rd São Paulo Biennial

Abstract

The paper develops a reflection based on a problem observed in the curatorship of the 33rd São Paulo Biennial: the fact that it avoided a curatorial intervention and, thus, failed to articulate the different exhibitions in a coherent assembly, resulted in isolated shows without connection. For the author, if on the one hand this withdrawal sought to release the artworks of thematic imprisonment, on the other hand it was a way of simplifying complex issues. Considering the role of curatorship in the artworks articulation to their experimental and expository condition, and in view of the debate of the relational field between curatorship and criticism, the article raises questions regarding the alleged and deliberate neutralization of the curatorial function at this Biennial. The author points out that the curatorial gesture should not be avoided, but assumed as a necessary risk and a decisive agency in the construction of exhibitions and art history.