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Image credit:
Latifa Echakhch, Les Caisses, 2005.
Wherever We Go: Art, Identity, Cultures in Transit Opens at SFAI on 10 May
The opening reception for the US debut of Wherever We Go: Art, Identity, Cultures in Transit will be held at the Walter and McBean Galleries on the SFAI campus on Thursday, 10 May 2007 from 5:30 to 7:30pm.
In Wherever We Go: Art, Identity, Cultures in Transit, the concept of identity–like the artists in the exhibition themselves–has taken leave, at least partially, of its origins. For here identity is defined in terms not so much of geographical roots as of cultural experiences and relationships. Informed by subtle reflections on this mutating concept, each of the works in the exhibition is the fruit of a reflection-action that recounts things about the place where its maker was born, but also about where he or she now lives. Thus, identities are represented and exemplified as no longer fixed once and for all, but as floating free, as resisting the urge to be oversimplified and boxed in. This process also makes a significant impact on the transformation of each locality the migrants travel to and settle in.
An open field for comparisons and a mise-en-scène of crucial contemporary questions, Wherever We Go is curated by Hou Hanru and Gabi Scardi and first premiered in October 2006 at the Spazio Oberdan in Milan. Presented in association with the Province of Milan and the Museo della Fotografia Contemporanea, the exhibition comprises fifty works by twenty-three artists.
The artists for phase 1 of the exhibition, which runs from 11 May to 7 July 2007, are Adel Abdessemed; Yael Bartana; Banu Cennetoglu; Latifa Echakhch; Ni Haifeng; Huang Yong-Ping; Mella Jaarsma; Koo Jeong-A; Tsuyoshi Ozawa; Adrian Paci; Shen Yuan; and Nari Ward.
The artists for phase 2 of the exhibition, which runs from 20 July to 15 September 2007, are Nindityo Adipurnomo; Kristine Alksne; Maria Thereza Alves; Keren Amiran; Carlos Amorales; Maja Bajevic and Danica Dakic; Magali Claude; H. H. Lim; Elena Nemkova; and Pascale Marthine Tayou.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue containing color photographs and biographies of the artists as well as critical essays by Elvan Zabunyan, Gilane Tawadros, Pier Luigi Tazzi, and the two curators.
Support for Wherever We Go has been provided by Paule Anglim and Deitch Projects, New York. SFAI’s exhibitions and public programs are supported in part by the Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund.
——San Francisco Art Institute
Founded in 1871, SFAI is one of the oldest and most prestigious schools of higher education in contemporary art in the US. Dedicated to excellence and diversity, SFAI’s academic and public programs encourage uniform concentration on both the practice and the theory of contemporary art.
SFAI’s School of Studio Practice offers a BFA, an MFA, and a Post-Baccalaureate certificate in Design + Technology, Film, New Genres, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, and Sculpture.
SFAI’s School of Interdisciplinary Studies offers degree programs in History and Theory of Contemporary Art (BA and MA), Urban Studies (BA and MA), and Exhibition and Museum Studies (MA only).
SFAI’s Summer Institute offers a low-residency MFA degree program, the City Studio Pre-College and Teacher Professional Development programs, as well as studio and interdisciplinary courses for credit and noncredit. Intensive courses range from one- to eight-week sessions and include studio disciplines, art history and theory, study/travel, and more.
For more information about this exhibition and other programs at SFAI, please go to http://www.sfai.edu .