Carte Blanche to BIENALSUR
On a proposal by Diana Wechsler, artistic director of BIENALSUR, in connection with the theme Regained Illusions.
5 rue Curial
75019 Paris
Continuous screenings from 2 PM to 7 PM
Reflecting on our present and on the future as something we must invent, this selection — born from an exchange with José-Manuel Gonçalves — proposes another way of approaching our hopes by exploring the idea of utopia and what it can still mean today. In the spirit of thinkers such as Walter Benjamin and Theodor W. Adorno, and through the perspectives of Fredric Jameson and Slavoj Žižek, it seeks to question the “unfulfilled promises of modernity” in this era often described as “late modernity.”
From a present frequently tinged with dystopian visions, art allows us to revisit the past and reactivate some of its possibilities, projecting them into the future. The question then arises: what visions of the world are we offering — or rather, what visions are artists (filmmakers, writers, visual artists, etc.) and thinkers offering us? For the past is never fixed: it is rewritten in the present. Recognizing the utopias that have shaped it and bringing them back to life today may be crucial in imagining new futures.
As John Berger once wrote, we must “look and look again.” In this renewed gaze, we may discover forgotten paths, neglected yet perhaps worth exploring.
This is the journey proposed by this BIENALSUR focus. It features, among others, works by Gabriela Golder and Ali Kazma, which reflect on practices of reading and contemplation, traversing time and reactivating modern dreams and utopias — illusions still to be pursued, inscribed in a continuous present but potentially opening ways toward possible futures. In parallel, the creations of Kapwani Kiwanga remind us of the persistence of gestures of care and of the vital bond that connects us to nature.
Kapwani Kiwanga (CAN)
Vumbi, 2012
Trained as an anthropologist, Kapwani Kiwanga assumes this role in her artistic practice, using historical information to construct narratives about groups of people. She does not limit herself to studying the past; she also explores the future, telling Afro-futurist stories and creating speculative dossiers on future civilizations in order to reflect on the impact of historical events.
In doing so, Kiwanga has developed an aesthetic vocabulary she describes as “exit strategies” — works that invite us to see things from multiple perspectives, to reconsider existing structures, and to envision alternative ways of navigating the future.
Gabriela Golder (ARG)
Conversation Piece
Two young girls read The Communist Manifesto with their grandmother. They want to understand, but stumble over complex ideas. “What is class struggle?” they ask. In this way, the artist turns the reading of this emblematic text into a metaphor for life itself.
The scene carries a melancholic undertone — a reflection of a time when political thought was slowly and carefully constructed, rooted in embodied and historical traditions of thinking, yet still open to a possible future.
Ali Kazma (TUR)
Home, 2014
The childhood home of Füsun Onur is located in Kuzguncuk, Istanbul, right on the Bosphorus. Until recently, she lived there with her sister, İlhan Onur, who passed away in 2022. İlhan had closely followed her sister’s work from the very beginning, documenting it and serving as a key intellectual interlocutor.
In 2014, artist Ali Kazma created a video portrait of Füsun Onur’s home/studio as part of his Resistance series, in which he explores how human beings shape their environment, how they are in turn shaped by it, and the traces they leave behind.