INVITATION | Friday, November 1, 2019, 5:30 p.m.
Launch of the 2019-2020 program
Opening of La Ofrenda
by Martín Rodríguez
+ Guest artists
On the occasion of All Saints' Day and the Day of the Dead, TOPO launched its 2019-2021 program under the theme of Frontière.
In a festive atmosphere hosted by the DJ Felipe Nadeau aka El Extravagante, Diego Briceño presented his work for touch screens Dupu, A discussion with the artists featured in the program took place, as well as the opening of the window display installation. La Ofrenda by Martín Rodríguez.
The border remains tense
Rooted in human history and still highly relevant today, this theme brings together several issues addressed by the center, including political, social, technological, and physical questions. The concept of borders is rich in historical, geographical, psychological, and artistic connotations. In its contemporary dimension, it is increasingly seen as a point of contact and negotiation, rather than simply a barrier. Like the philosopher Régis Debray, we want to “think of the border not as a wall (to be torn down in order to expand, or erected for defense), but as a skin, capable of breathing and therefore of organizing exchanges with the environment.”
The program is organized around three thematic cycles consisting of exhibitions in the display window on the ground floor of the Pôle de Gaspé (a first glass boundary), workshops, performances, and artist presentations.
Cultures, languages, spiritualities: beyond borders
The first cycle brings together three artists from across the Americas who explore the rediscovery of roots and heritage through questions about memory and death.
Remixes and networks: challenging boundaries
The second cycle of Frontière presents three installations that examine technologies and their impact on our lives and societies, particularly in terms of their ability to blur the boundaries between truth and falsehood, documentary and fiction, the living and the non-living.
Geopolitics: variable spaces
The Frontière program will run from fall 2020 to spring 2021 with a rich and diverse third cycle of exhibitions, video screenings, public space interventions, and conferences. The concept of geopolitics will complement the reflection on the relationships between geography (human, material, territorial) and sociopolitics, i.e., the relationships of power in space.
La Ofrenda
Montrealer Martín Rodríguez kicks off this program with the installation La Ofrenda, on display from November 1 to December 21, 2019. The artist draws on his own experience of remission from a brain tumor. He uses sounds and images from his magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) medical examinations to create an enchanted media altar inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration. During the exhibition period, the artist will offer a workshop on experimenting with radio frequencies.
Festivities
On the occasion of the Vitrine opening on November 1, the festivities will move to TOPO's premises, space 608, where there will be a presentation of Dupu, a work for touchscreen by the artist Diego BriceñoIn this room, interactive displays open the door to Guna Yala, the land of the Panamanian Guna people, in an era of significant change. The Chilean artist Felipe Nadeau (El Extravagante) will be in charge of the musical entertainment at the opening reception.
FELIPE NADEAU AKA EL EXTRAVAGANTE
FROM COSMOVISION RECORDS MONTREAL
Musical entertainment
