Image courtesy of CChV (Corporación Chilena de Video)
IBA Stage
Umbral – Threshold 15th Bienal de Artes Mediales (Biennial of Media Arts – Santiago)
March 29, 2022 (Tuesday)
7:00pm (Sharjah) / 12:00pm (Santiago)
IBA Stage is an occasion for biennials to present their most recent project for those audiences who did not have the occasion to visit in person. It also gives the registered audience the opportunity to discuss together with the makers elements of the projects of particular relevance. For our inaugural event of 2022 we are excited to present Umbral, 15th Biennial of Media Arts (Santiago de Chile).
The Bienal de Artes Mediales is a combination of exhibition and research space dedicated to the intersection between arts, sciences, technologies, and society held in the city of Santiago de Chile since 1993. It was created by the Chilean Video and Electronic Arts Union (CChV), under the direction of the artist, theoretician and teacher Néstor Olhagaray. It has since become a benchmark for understanding the development of media arts in Chile and the world. Every two years it offers a space for reflection, meeting and exhibition of artistic practices that experiment with analog and digital media, languages and tools.
Umbral (Threshold) took place in a crucial moment for recent Chilean history. In the midst of a constitutional reform which seeks to finally turn the page from its authoritarian past, the country is coming together in an attempt to mend social scars which still remain from colonial times. The biennial, curated by a council composed of academics, activists, artists and curators carrying over the spirit of the current constitutional assembly, explores the idea of threshold as a permanent and essential condition of passage. In the spirit of the history of the biennial, this reflects also in a continuous exploration of the relationships between art, science and wider society. Umbral brings together various forms of transit, transition, crossing and shift by putting a spotlight on life in its most essential understanding, recognizing at once its strength, fragility and inherent tragedy.
Unfolding over venues in Santiago including the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo and in the virtual space , Umbral brought together a group of over 130 individuals (including artists, curators, researchers, directors, production team) to investigate critical discourses embodying the idea of limit throughout all levels of cultural production including those separating human from non-human, life from death, religious from secular elements.
We hope to see you numerous at the event and please make sure to register through the link below if you want to take part in the live event and Q&A.
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