Opening: Saturday September 30th 11 am BIENALSUR and the Instituto Cervantes of Dakar are collaborating for the first time to develop Abandoned Museum, a group project created by Argentine artist Diego Bianchi. This initiative proposes a reflection on the circumstances that transform our appreciation of objects, including works of art, with a particular focus on the role of the public in this process of construction and appraisal.
The proposal, now in its third edition following previous editions in Valparaíso, Chile (BIENALSUR 2017), and Córdoba, Argentina (BIENALSUR 2019), consists of a collective project in the form of a workshop. Such a workshop facilitates the creation of objects, sculptures, installations, interventions, costumes, or performative situations that will be temporarily placed at the Instituto Cervantes of Dakar and in the surrounding public space.
Predominantly utilizing materials collected from the city's coastal areas, the pieces in this project will be presented to the public without maintaining any significant distance - they may be subject to vandalism, modification, supplementation, or even removal. This approach aims to transform them into genuine subjects of discussion and contemplation. In the midst of our current social and cultural landscape, the project seeks to explore both the formal and conceptual potential of objects and artworks to serve as catalysts for meaning, highlighting how their construction is heavily influenced by the observer and the context.
