There is a creative alternative to the biennial format as we know it, and it is to be found in Antofagasta, Chile. Polish artist Dagmara Wyskiel, together with her team are responsible for it.
The Directory of the Biennial Foundation lists over 270 active biennials globally. They are tasked with creating a market, developing and maintaining international art world networks, cultural dialogue and exchange. They are also responsible for climate contamination, increased costs of logistics and insurance.
SACO Biennial was established in 2004 in Antofagasta, Chile. Its natural setting is the Atacama desert and region shaped by the mining industry. It started as a Contemporary Art Festival, and in 2021 evolved into the Contemporary Art Biennial — SACO Bienal de Arte Contemporáneo de Chile.
This year its 11th edition will take place. This time it is devoted to the topic of golpe, coup, in remembrance of the military takeover of the socialist democratically elected president and its government in 1973.
Its aim was to introduce art to that naturally hostile and demanding region, where cultural institutions were scarce and no art education was available. SACO organizes exhibitions, residencies, and non-formal art education. Each edition has its theme and curatorial text, constituting the backbone of two years of work and ending with an editorial project. Among the around 15 exhibitions and performative interventions in each edition, one is the result of the main international call, where 7 artists selected by a jury come to intervene in the historic dock of Antofagasta. At the same time, the rest cover curatorial, research and results of other specific calls. At least one of the exhibitions is by local creator(s). All the exhibitions have self-taught mediators trained and hired by the biennial, through which we contribute to the cultural labor field.
Over the years, thanks to the persistence and strong commitment of the SACO team, it is now a locally, nationally and internationally recognized institution, so interwoven with the social system, that you would think that it has always existed. Their philosophy and modus operandi helps them face massive economic and institutional constraints and creatively respond to challenges that we all face in the world, such as a climate crisis or the post-pandemic recession.
I met with Dagmara Wyskiel, Polish artist and SACO director, in January 2023, to discuss the phenomenon of this biennial. Our conversation focused on its unique mission and vision for contemporary art initiatives in societies where art is not a priority and where there is little tradition of art institutions.
Alicja Głuszek: Dagmara, one cannot help but paraphrase the Bible when describing the humble beginnings of SACO — at the beginning there was nothing. SACO was created in the natural desert — of Atacama and in the cultural desert — of the Antofagasta region, determined by mines, where due to politics and economics art had been overlooked for decades. Can you please explain how it was to kick off a contemporary art festival with nothing? What were these deficits that shaped your work as a founder and director of SACO?
Dagmara Wyskiel: In fact, in the beginning, we were dealing with the ‘Big Nothing.’ the feeling of an all-encompassing lack of everything surrounding us from all sides. We encountered it on many levels, just as you mentioned nature, place, institution and the local community. We turned these clear limitations into opportunities to fill them with contemporary art on the terms that suited us.
To make our starting point clearer to others, I shall return to the specific circumstances in which SACO was established.
Atacama is the driest desert in the world, there is nothing there — and emptiness dominates. The average European cannot imagine this experience of the absolute vastness of nothingness. This emptiness can be simply a void, but it can also be an amazing opportunity to get to know yourself and create. We are dealing with a white cube without a cube. We have agreed in the art world that the white cube is such a perfect place to display your works. The desert perfectly meets these conditions, there are no walls, but there is freedom, overwhelming literal and visual silence. This contextual minimalism allows even the subtlest work to resonate distinctly. It does not remain indifferent and draws attention to herself. The desert is a great place for artists to find themselves, to organize their thoughts and emotions, and it is also a wonderful space for inspiration. A very suitable place to ask yourself existential questions, who am I, what is the meaning of my existence here and now, alone and among people. The Atacama has the clearest, undisturbed view of the sky. It is the distance from human settlements and civilization that allows us to admire the vault without pollution. This absence gives us a chance to have a deeper perception of ourselves and signals from the environment in a profound way. You can see and perceive more, both literally and figuratively.
Another acute deficit that we encountered at the beginning is also a kind of cultural and educational desert. Antofagasta is the capital of copper and lithium. This region has had a mining and commercial character for centuries. Hence, education and public institutions were focused on supporting the main workplaces in the area. Higher education institutions, motivated by economic calculation, did not and do not maintain majors that do not result in the practical education needed to work in industry, administration, and the related service sector. The consequence of this is the lack of higher education in the field of fine arts and history of art. We are thousands of kilometers away from academic centers where high-level education in the humanities and arts is available. The closest universities that prepare artists are located in the center of Chile in Valparaiso and south of us in Arequipa, already in Peru.
AG: How does it affect you that SACO works in the field of contemporary art, which, due to its often ambiguous and multifaceted nature, is not easy to understand?
DW: The community for and with whom we work, our recipients, had no experience of seeing contemporary art exhibitions, nor do they have any familiarity with the art world, nor even a basic education in the history of art or knowledge of visual culture. They generally know very little about this subject and show little interest in art. Their day-to-day attitude is very consumerist and neoliberal, painfully logical and practical. Chile is one of the most neoliberal countries in the world in terms of economy and state-business relations. Contemporary art, therefore, has a big challenge at the start of how to fit into such a social landscape. It was and still is a challenge to function in such a clash with a complete lack of interest in terms of art. Therefore, we had to create a formula that would overcome this barrier. We tried not to produce an elitist entity that, instead of reducing these barriers to access and working with the community, would consolidate and maintain them. We did not want the biennial to function as a community reunion of a small group of friends, artists, curators, and merchants as it usually does.
We wanted the biennial to simply be an event with a pedagogical background.
The moment I stopped being annoyed at the local community, at their ignorance about art and their lack of any interest in it, I became aware of my mistake. I saw that they are not the problem. They are not to blame for this situation. Rather, they are victims of Chile’s neoliberal territorial division, according to which those who live in the north of the country should go into mining, because it is lucrative for the general public, especially for those who live in the capital and take all the credit while doing international business.
That’s when we started the activity of providing informal art education. The priority for me then was to make the involvement in art, in creating and organizing exhibitions, appealing to participants from the Antofagasta community.
Anyway, I think that any art that has to be forced is a misconception.
After several years of teaching in the fields of architecture and design, but also in high schools, I became adept in disenchanting art or creating a more inclusive atmosphere. Art began to seem more accessible and attractive to people.
AG: Was this also a moment when SACO exhibitions started to be more present in the public, easily accessible places, but not cultural sites?
DW: That’s exactly right. At that time, our projects began to enter more and more into urban tissue. This was, of course, related to our philosophy of art as an educational activity, but also simply to the lack of places, galleries, art museums, and cultural centres for art exhibitions. Therefore, we appeared in every institution that was open to working with us. Nature also helped us a lot here — another lack turned out to be a great opportunity for us. The lack of rain in this region means that mounting works in any location will not expose them to damage. The climate undoubtedly helps us a lot. We can be in quite unusual places, on the beach, on a square in the city center, on the roof, in the park, wherever we can think of.
In addition to our presence outdoors, we also cooperate with various institutions. Then we temporarily share the space with other people and subjects. We are not interested in having our own space. We also believe that it makes much more sense to use what is already there in the urban infrastructure. We see a huge opportunity in such collaborations that confront the audience in familiar territory. University corridors, a patio in the high school, a space in the shopping center, or a room in the library or the historical museum, already have their users. Over the years, we have managed to build up an extensive network of friendly institutions where we can present contemporary art.
AG: The biennial is then truly ephemeral. It has no home of its own. So what happens when it ends? It materializes only for a moment and then evaporates when its time is up?
DW: When the biennial ends, we leave our locations. They fully return to life and form before the event. That is why we want to host artists who are ready for such a challenge. This is very deeply related to our approach to art. We believe that the only mandatory condition for the existence of art is the artist. There is a work of art that exists because of the artist’s relationship with a specific space and recipient. When he/she is gone and the audience disappears, the objects are disassembled. For the biennial, the mere possibility of getting the works to the location is not the most important thing. The fundamental element of art’s existence is the artist with the context, nature and local community. When the artist is gone, everything returns to its normal functioning and usual state. The transport of works together with all the costs associated with it (duties, insurance, carriers, crates) is unnecessary, practically useless. All we need is an artist who, upon arrival, using local resources and in collaboration with local people, can create artworks. We have to remember the paradox that it costs 6-7 times more to transport a human-sized sculpture than it does to transport an actual human being to a location. This allows us to be more effective. It also makes it easier for us to build an interesting and diverse program, as we can invite more artists to come in and create something new in interaction with our world. It seems to me that this is the future of the art world. This is certainly our modus operandi.
AG: So it means that no art piece is later on kept in your archives? How do you keep track of the past editions?
DW: We do not create a collection, what is created at the biennial is reused and up-cycled. It is given away, returned, or reused as part of other works and exhibitions. Of course, we document everything. We show all the documentation on a continuous basis on our social media: youtube, on our website and on issuu. This is where a virtual domain works great. It is crucial for us to leave a trace, to write our own history, especially because we live in a country that has systemic issues with its memory. The Chilean past is an exercise in identity and remembrance. Often things happened that, years later, one is not sure whether they really occurred or they were made up. Making a constant effort to map, catalog and register any situation or work that emerged at the biennial is extremely important. We want to protect the past so nothing is forgotten and gone with the wind.
AG: Your approach is creative and radical at the same time, it reduces significantly the costs of biennial production and is climate neutral. How do artists respond to these terms?
DW: In the majority of cases, they respond positively. Even though our modus operandi is extremely non-commercial and this makes it also very unusual in the biennial industry, we always find artists who accept and sympathize with our style. We take the art piece from the pedestal and of the art market. We avoid fetishization of the work. Some artists find this approach interesting and embrace it. Of course, we communicate at every stage as to how we will proceed. So there are no surprises and the potential crisis or issues are eliminated. So far there have been no cases of disappointment or dissatisfaction.
Artists who want to take part in SACO have something in common. They definitely like a challenge. They also understand life through art as a choice that enables them to comprehend and express more. For them, art is a lifelong journey rather than a profession.
Nevertheless, I am very happy when the artist comes back to his or her country and is able to sell a work that was born and fully designed at SACO. My intention is not to promote the ideal of the poor artist. Simply we want to focus on what is the most important in art, what is exceptional and unique in art. And what should be protected because of the times we live in. These times are particularly tough for us and for the artists. They are especially vulnerable in this situation as they require time and experiences that enable them to create. So our mission is to create this time, to give them this luxury moment in the Atacama desert to be free and experiment. We experienced how much it was needed, especially during the pandemic, when we couldn’t complain about the lack of visitors. People from all over the world, heedless of any travel restrictions and additional costs due to quarantine regimes, came to Chile to take advantage of the desert during this special time.
AG: Dagmara, and this year how the preparations are going? You have just selected the lucky seven artists who will realize their individual projects at the biennial. The topic is the coup, how do you understand it and what we can expect from this edition?
DW: Save the date, we are opening on June 20 and closing on Sept 14. This year the theme is golpe. Obviously, it refers to the 50th commemoration of the military coup in Chile. We interpret this subject in a broad way, we treat it as an example of human violence, state or interpersonal, systemic or individual. There is no nation without a story of power, military, racial or religious terrorism. It doesn’t matter how far away we are from those who resist today; the universal experience of being a victim of a coup and oppression allows us to be emphatic. This time we want art to refer directly and indirectly to the suffering and resistance in all situations of oppression.
As usual part of the program involves 7 artists selected in the open call, who will come to Antofagasta and create their artistic interventions here with the help of the SACO team as well as of the local community. The jury chose in January: Catalina Huala (Chile), Daniela Avelar (Brasil), Iván Cáceres (Bolivia), María Celeste Gómiz (Argentina), Milagros Bedoya (Peru), Omar Castillo (Mexico), Sandy Gutkowski (Argentina). Their projects will create installations in public spaces at the Melbourne Clark Historic Pier.
We are in the process of programming now. As usual, there will be more exhibitions, workshops, lectures and conferences.
AG: To conclude, but also to open another conversation, let’s talk about the hopes and dreams that you currently have.
DW: Of course, I always have the economic security of the biennale in mind. Ideally, I would like to gain the permanent trust and financial support of national institutions, such as the Ministry of Culture or the municipal administration, which would secure our existence and mission. I wish I could stop worrying about the finances for next year, it is a dream that I hope to finally come true. Although we are currently reassured by authorities at all levels that our project is exceptional and unique, so it should last and have their support, this fear never goes away. The government authorities realize that SACO perfectly fits the democratic idea of art and culture, so they officially champion our cause. For us these declarations are important and we are happy to be recognized, but we would like to see these words materialize into meaningful support to guarantee our further existence. More concrete gestures that go beyond political announcements are necessary.
Funding is still the weakest part of our endeavor, we still depend on a mosaic of Chilean and international grants. This means that year after year we have to look for money. Whether we can organize the biennial next year is something of a lottery. It relies hugely on our ability to fill out grant forms and whether the members of the decision-making committees are still interested in contemporary art. Despite our commitment and professionalism, we are like a house of cards. So this is definitely my biggest dream. I would love to see that one day the authorities will start create a solid foundation with rock-hard walls. As a result, the building will be resistant to all changes in the political and economic winds.
Interviewed by Alicja Głuszek
