Expanding Internationalism - A Conference on ... - Mary Jane Jacob

Art in Brazil changed dramatically after the beginning of the Bienal of
1\.
s·ao Paulo in 1951.
This date signals a definite starting point of
international trends for Brazilian artists. As a consequence, this event was
very much attacked during and after the First Bienal because radicals saw in
it a surrender of Brazilian roots in visual arts by young artists who started
to be increasingly interested in following international art fashions.
But
there are many Brazils, and, as Pierre Gaudibert once wrote about it,
regionalism has been a strong issue for centuries, and today more than
yesterday, it is relevant to be different.
MUlti-cultural representation of individual countries
It is almost impossible to define what is culture within
geographic-political limits of each country.
This is why we think we should
of each nation, and not be concerned only in showing one face of its culture,
in a sirrplistic manner of trying to see the "Other, " in an utopian search of
alterity.
Representation of local vs. international artists
Every day I believe less in the possibility of comnunication through
the visual arts. That is, I believe more each day that everyone sees in an
artistic object only that which his repertory allows him to see. There is
nothing new in this point, but when a curator of a certain country organizes
an international exhibition he or she must have in mind this limitation of his
-52 -