[nettime-lat] lisbon-quadrum-manhattan--art against terrorism

["Antonio C Pinto" <antonio.c.pinto@risco.pt>]

MANHATTAN

art against terrorism

In light of the terrible events that have struck the United States, and New
York in particular, the Quadrum Art Gallery has decided to suspend its
current temporary exhibition programming.

Under the direction of António Cerveira Pinto, artist and cultural critic,
the Quadrum Art Gallery is going to kick off a cultural project embracing
both art and solidarity with New York. It is slated to start November 10 and
will continue until at least July 2002.

The major aim of our project is to set up a sort of "crisis center" in
Lisbon, geared to promote the reflection, production, and exhibition of
works of art related to the horrendous terrorist attack that destroyed the
World Trade Center. An attack that cut painfully into our deepest
convictions in believing that possibly people could change for the better
and bring stability to this world.

Since the mid-50s, US art has represented, and still represents, for us in
Europe, the welcome that New York invariably gives artists from all over the
globe who, for one reason or another, have had to flee wars, dictatorships,
and revolutions. At such a time as this, we cannot forget that kind of
generosity on any pretext whatever. Artists, namely European ones, owe an
intellectual and human debt to their American colleagues, and one that this
moment impels us to acknowledge, demanding of us a serious exercise in
grateful recognition and solidarity.

The Quadrum Art Gallery will therefore, in partnership with Aula do Risco,
place space, equipment, and available human resources at the service of this
project. We hope that institutions and companies will come together in
solidarity with this initiative, by offering it the support it warrants.The
Manhattan project - Art against Terrorism is underpinned by four very simple
concepts:

a) The Quadrum Art Gallery will function symbolically as a "crisis center "
and in active solidarity with avant-garde US artists.

b) Artists who work with the Quadrum Art Gallery, and other artists to be
eventually invited, will produce works of art reflecting the terrorist
attack on America and its respective consequences.
Those works will be exhibited at the Quadrum Art Gallery, as well as at
other private and institutional galleries subscribing to this initiative,
and in the magazine, Sofia. At the same time, the Quadrum site
(www.galeriaquadrum.com) will try to bring forward the launch of its
streamming channel, especially dedicated to disseminating "net-art"
projects.
In spite of the terrible landscape we can see looming on the horizon, the
Manhattan project - Art against Terrorism will seek to question ­ by means
of seminars and works of art ­ "art¹s place" in the current state of
affairs.

c) The Manhattan project - Art against Terrorism will invite various New
York artists to come over here, with the manifold intention of expressing
our cultural and psychological solidarity, maintaining an intelligent
dialogue on the crisis, and welcoming their creative input into the
project¹s core per se.

d) 20% of all eventual revenue from this project (grants/subsidies,
sponsorships, works of art, multiples, publications, shows, etc.) will go to
maintaining a small bridge of solidarity strung between New York and Lisbon.

The Quadrum Art Gallery was one of the few Portuguese art galleries that
kept its doors open throughout the turbulent period of the so-called
Portuguese Revolution (1974-75). We did so out of democratic conviction,
coherence, and because the art market was never our priority. Since the
market is still not our principal goal, it appears obvious to us that we
have a duty to be mindful of US art. Aside from which, our convictions on
the value of democracy, liberty, and creativity are stronger than ever.

Transparency triumphs over speculation, black money laundry and terrorism.

António Cerveira Pinto

http://www.galeriaquadrum.com/
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