Page 44 - "he 2020 Guggenheim issue of World of Art Contemporary Art Magazine
P. 44
“The crack begins within” are words borrowed from
poet Iman Mersal. She explores the many ghosts of
motherhood, tearing apart its contemporary morals.
She begins with the refusal to become the sacrificed,
the “egg that the newborn breaks en route to life.” She
EXP. 1: rummages in the crevices of this dissent, exploring the
11TH BERLIN BIENNALE many ways that within all the brokenness the mother
THE BONES OF THE WORLD and child carry, there is pain and beauty, mourning and
living. As the epilogue of the Biennale The Crack Begins
Installation views
Within calls out the fallacy of claiming for oneself the
destruction of the old and the birthing of the new,
The slow opening of the 11th Berlin Biennale began a
refloated so many times by the white fathers as a new
year ago, and since then it has been exploring the many
scaffolding to secure the continuity of their decaying
cracks we carry, the fissures that keep us apart and
structures. This is the violence that surrounds us, and
those that bring us together. Many of the invited artists
that we are a part of.
and participants in the Biennale have been exploring and
practicing this, each in their own artistic terms, in their
The Crack Begins Within comprises the overlapping
own contexts and temporalities. Making space to share
experiences of the artworks gathered in the
these experiences demanded that we slow down the
exhibition, breathing together, touching and moving
unsustainable pace of biennials and forgo the expectation
one another. It is a testament to the powerful
of a singular concept, a novel idea to once again fix
collective stories they tell, the work they do, and
things into place. When the coronavirus pandemic hit
the things they shatter. The epilogue is an exercise
the European fortress several months ago, it felt for a
of mutual recognition, an acknowledgement of
moment that the earth wanted to stand still. The virus
the cracks in the system, of those broken by it
exposed the cruelty of everyday life and the inequality
and their struggles. As the carceral politics of
endured by the vast majority of people imprisoned by
compartmentalization are cracked open, art will not
patriarchal capitalism. As we write, many of those whose
disappear into nothingness, but flow into everything.
works are present in the exhibition are in the South
The Crack Begins Within is a nod to the solidarity in
and continue living under lockdown, in places where
vulnerability of the healers and carers, the fighters,
professional healthcare is a luxury, safeguarding only the
their fractures, and their power.
privileged.
Walkthrough with María Berríos and Lisette Lagnado
During Berlin Art Week 2019, María Berríos and Lisette Lagnado, two of
the curators of the 11th Berlin Biennale, invite to a joint tour through the
exhibition exp.1: The Bones of the World.
Installation view exp. 1: The Bones of the World, 7.9.–9.11.2019, 11th Installation view exp. 1: The Bones of the World, 11th Berlin Biennale c/o
Berlin Biennale c/o ExRotaprint. Photo: Mathias Völzke ExRotaprint, photo: Mathias Völzke
44 WORLD of ART