When the House Burns Down

Opening: Friday August 25th 6pm

This exhibition takes its title from a recent essay by Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben. This statement emphasizes not only the question of which house is on fire but, more importantly, what actions we take while it burns. The collection of pieces presents a preliminary exploration of these two questions, primarily focusing on a specific aspect of the house: the ecosystems of rivers, wetlands, and mountains. This geographical context serves as a shared and responsive material, often leading to collective and collaborative practices that generate images of rivers, their banks, and the surrounding flora and fauna. The artists’ inquiries encompass topics such as the burning of grasslands and forests, water pollution, and the societal connections we establish with these ecosystems, using a variety of languages.

From the city of Bahia Blanca in the south of the Province of Buenos Aires, to the State of Pernambuco on the northeast coast of Brazil, spanning across the vast Paraná River and even more distant regions like Galicia in Spain, the artworks portray various landscapes where the conflicts contemporary societies face with what we still broadly refer to as “nature” become apparent.


These perspectives transform artistic production into a form of political activism, and the image becomes a fire that seeks to illuminate when it burns. With a journey through various regions and rivers, from the city of Bahía Blanca in the south of the Province of Buenos Aires to the state of Pernambuco in Brazil, passing through the mighty Paraná River, the Amazon, and other more distant shores, the artworks depict different landscapes but share a common interest in the possibility of reinventing our connection with a context we generically call natural. This exhibition also engages in dialogue with the various actions, projects, and exhibitions that the Parque de España Cultural Center in Rosario is conducting as an essential part of its mission as a cultural, artistic, and social space closely connected to its context and community. In this sense, one of the goals of the exhibition is to serve as another tributary in the flow of initiatives that explore the potential of this serene, muddy, and undulating river.


Clarisa Appendino


Image: Ruth Montiel Arias, 800 grados, Galicia, 2021

Km: 278.9

Venue: Centro Cultural Parque de España

Address : Sarmiento y el Río Paraná

City : Rosario

Argentina

Artist(s):

Laura Glusman (ARG)

Stéphanie Pommeret (FRA)

Lia Chaia (BRA)

Jonathas de Andrade (BRA)

Bárbara Fluxá (ESP)

Cintia Clara Romero (ARG)

Silvina Babich (ARG)

Damián Monti Falicoff (ARG)

Proyecto Isla Invisible (ARG)

David Santarelli (ARG)

Francisco Vázquez Murillo (ARG)

Ruth Montiel Arias (ESP)

Bárbara Sánchez Barroso (ESP)

Curatorship:

Clarisa Appendino (ARG),

Type(s):

Exhibition

From 2023/08/25

To 2023/10/07