The Ministry of Culture and Education, through the Department of Internationalization of Culture and the National Institute of Visual Arts of the National Directorate of Culture, participates together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its General Directorate for Cultural Affairs of the Embassy of Uruguay in Italy; the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism of Udelar and the Faculty of Architecture of ORT University and the support of the Agency Uruguay XXI, in the 18th edition of the International Architecture Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia.
From May 20th to November 26th, 2023, the Biennale's public will have the opportunity to see the work of Uruguayan architects and artists who will present the work titled In Opera: Future Scenarios of a Young Forest Law, in the Uruguay pavilion that has been maintained at the exhibition for more than 60 years.
The proposal, selected through a public call, is based on the understanding of the Forestry Law as an under construction eco-systemic assemblage, which dialogues with diverse spatiality and territorialities and is capable of outlining possible scenarios towards a Uruguay as a laboratory of wooden futures. The proposal as a whole seeks to establish alliances between disciplines and practices such as music, visual culture and architecture.
It is a multi-author and multimedia opera that will transform the Uruguayan pavilion in Venice into a theatrical venue, where the avatar of a law that looks herself in the mirror eager to get attention, a visual pieces based on the spatiality of wood in Uruguay, musical irruptions of young Afro- Uruguayan artists, and interviews with actors who are involved in the content and a catalogue/blog to deepen the theme will be all in dialogue.
In the search for a narrative that escapes the traditional ways of communicating architecture, the opera will be complemented with other devices and formats. When passing through a curtain, different multi-sensory proposals will be presented in the room, ranging from the olfactory to the visual through sound. Through a non-linear experience, visitors are invited to explore and reflect on the potential of our country as a laboratory for wood future.
Meanwhile in Uruguay and as a permanent link with what will be happening in Venice during those months, workshops and talks will be organized to rethink the issue from different levels and, among other things, to rethink the way of living in Uruguay and broaden the scope of the debate and the views towards the future.
The curatorial team of titled In Opera: Future Scenarios of a Young Forest Law is composed of MAPA+INST (Mauricio López, Matías Carballal, Andrés Gobba, Luciano Andrades, Silvio Lagranha and Sebastián Lambert) and Carlos Casacuberta, with the artistic participation of Exceso Colectivo (Rafaella Varela, Fol Cvetreznik and Guzmán Bergereau), Nomusa (Camila Cardozo), Sofía Colares, Viki Style, Olhosdddagua (Gabrielle Santos), Facundo Balta, Romina Sánchez.
The Biennale di Venezia was founded in 1895. It is one of the most famous and prestigious cultural institutions in the world, which holds every two years the international exhibition of architecture. The event takes place mainly at I Giardini in Venice where, in addition to the Central Pavilion where the main exhibition is presented, 29 pavilions from different countries are installed. Uruguay is one of the three Latin American countries with this privilege.
To be participating yet one more year in an event of such magnitude highlights the quality of the works produced in Uruguay and, at the same time, gives us the opportunity to rethink and explore, through architecture and art, the world in which we live.
About the curators MAPA+INST and Carlos Casacuberta
MAPA
MAPA is a creative studio whose field of action is architecture. It is a practice focused on creating new material, digital, natural and cultural realities in a sensitive and disruptive way.
The studio carries out works and projects of diverse scales and complexities in various parts of the world. It develops explorations linked to prefabrication, construction in new wood technologies and landscape, through projects, works, prototypes, workshops, theoretical inquiries and exhibitions.
MAPA has active offices in Montevideo, Porto Alegre, Garzón, São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Berlin.
Their works have been recognized in several awards such as the Buenos Aires Biennial of Architecture, the Premio da Associação Paulista dos Críticos de Artes, Interior Design Magazine Best of the Year Award, Dezeen Award, the IX and
X editions of the Iberoamerican Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism, and the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize of the IIT College of Architecture, in addition to having been winners of several architectural competitions.
MAPA has participated in conferences at universities and cultural institutions in Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and Finland and has been published in TIME Magazine, Financial Times, Wallpaper*, Dwell, Interior Design, Azure, Wired, Elle, Arquitectura Viva, Casa Vogue, and by the publishing houses Taschen, Thames & Hudson, Gestalten and Arquine, among others.
INST
INST is a dissemination of the cultural dimension of architecture initiative. It is a space for trans disciplinary reflection and experimentation with new media and forms of communication.
INST carries out research, exhibitions and publications, among other activities, in collaboration with various architectural and cultural references.
INST is a project of the creative studio MAPA.
Carlos Casacuberta (Montevideo, 1964) is a musician, performer, composer and producer.
He is a member of the Uruguayan hip-hop and alternative rock band called Peyote Asesino, with whom he has released the albums El Peyote Asesino (1995), Terraja (1998) and Serial (2021). The latter won the Graffiti 2022 award for best hip-hop album, as well as band of the year. As a solo artist he has released the albums :carlos (2006) and Naturaleza (2013).
He has worked as artistic producer on the albums Frontera (1999), Sea (2001) and Eco (2003) by Jorge Drexler, as well as Soy sola (2006) by Ana Prada and Todos estos cables rojos (2007) by La hermana menor. He has also scored music for visual arts installations and documentary films.
He holds a degree in economics. As a university researcher he has published papers in peer-reviewed journals on the economics of art and culture, made presentations at conferences and taught undergraduate and graduate courses on the subject. More information about the work: enopera.uy
Creative Credits
- Written by
- Lara Facco
- Image courtesy
- MAPA+INST and Carlos Casacuberta. Matilde Campodónico
- Image courtesy
- MAPA+INST and Carlos Casacuberta
