Parking Gallery

In 2013 Juan A. Gaitán was appointed curator of the 8th Berlin Biennale. Since its first edition in 1998, the Berlin Biennale has become one of the major international events for contemporary art.

In order to prepare for the Berlin Biennale, Juan A. Gaitán is travelling to South Africa. In the Parking Gallery in Johannesburg he will speak about the contextualization of the recent history of the Berlin Biennale, its international relevance and comprehensive impact on the cultural life of Berlin. Further, elaborating on its 8thedition to be held in spring 2014, Juan A. Gaitán will introduce the beginnings of his curatorial research as well as the artistic team he has invited.

In the coming edition, Gaitán seeks to treat Berlin as a subjective microcosm, tracing its globality and mercantile linkages in the late 19th to the early 20th centuries as well as its journey from empire to nation-state. The migration of historical forms and circulating figures within the formation of Modernity will be interrogated through the contributions of individuals such as Alexander von Humboldt and his scientific explorations across the Americas.
Currently based in Mexico City and Berlin, Gaitán was trained as an artist and art historian at the University of British Columbia and the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver (Canada). Between January 2009 and December 2011, he was curator at Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam (The Netherlands), and between September 2011 and June 2012 adjunct professor in the Curatorial Practice Program at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco (USA). His most recent exhibition, Material Information, spans three venues in Bergen (Norway), and looks for a renewed critical approach to the contemporary global distribution of labor from the perspective of arts and crafts.

Wednesday 12 June
18h30
Talk and discussion
Parking Gallery, Johannesburg

In collaboration with the Goethe Institut, Johannesburg.