$%&'()(F+2,+5H%+ %10',&%&+S2%-& KAK KA# !"#$%&'($)*(+" influence of relational static and institutional critic, many as a fable narrative or data recitation. This tendency is m)6%o)6&+ artists conceive their work as a group of activities that can natural, since a groups activation by conversation is an include collaborative works, actions on the public sphere, extremely difficult task that requires practice and skill; $%&'()(F+2,+5H%+ investigations, didactical narratives or even the appropria- however, ignoring the need for dialogue equals denying tion of the museum’s institutional language. Within the 8th the potential for reflection and individual knowledge. In Mercosul Biennial’s group of artists one might find several the mediation program emphasis was placed on these :10',&%&+m2%-& sorts of strategies more or less linked with those processes inductive and dialogical strategies, including using Paulo of pedagogy’s communication and interpretation and/or Freire’s critical pedagogy’s views and Augusto Boal’s social practice. The work of Argentinean artist Alicia Herrero group dynamics with the purpose of tracing a direct line $';-)+<%-(7%6' is based on dialogue as a work; the Spanish artist Paco Cao between Brazil’s rich pedagogical tradition. Thus, in this makes use of the didactic rhetoric of the documentary and volume are included some texts used as resources for the the exhibition to manufacture complex sets about cultural mediation course’s participants. identity; the Slavs and Tartars Collective utilizes public pub- The present publication has the objective of offering a sought to render visible the learning process as a creative One of the most important dialogical strategies, and prob- lications and programs as a way to disseminate its ideas; compilation of the different focus areas of the Educational act, establishing the parallel between making art and cre- ably this year’s Biennial most ambitious project, was the the Center for Land Use Interpretation acts as an essentially Program, including texts, testimonials and documents ating knowledge. The 7th Mercosul Biennial, directed by creation of Casa M, conceived as a center dedicated to the educational institution that releases and problematizes related to the different activities that comprise it. It is con- Victoria Noorthorn and Camilo Yáñez, brought to the peda- local artistic community where local voices could be heard information over the geoeconomic and geopolitical char- ducted as much with the goal to serve as a memorial of gogical curatorship the Argentinean artist Marina de Caro. as well as the visitors’. Through a dialog, conferences, work- acteristics of the north American landscape, etc. this edition of the Biennial as to function as a reference Caro gave special emphasis to the implementation of shops, performances and other social activities program, anthology about the relation between pedagogy and projects of a participative nature in several localities on Besides the possibility of inviting artists whose works actively Casa M functioned as a local counterpoint, intermediating contemporary art. the Rio Grande do Sul state. incorporates the elements of pedagogy, the 8th Biennial’s regional and international, or as an interlocutor space theme, “Essays on Geopoetics”, in my opinion, also offers between this Biennial’s themes. We’ve been very lucky, or Everyone who is familiar with the world of biennials knows The curatorial model conceived by José Roca for the 8th an invitation to literalize the notion of expanding peda- maybe we’ve received as a twist of fate the fact that the that their pedagogical aspect is usually limited, or practiced edition of this Biennial, proposed for the first time the par- gogy’s field of action. In a way that, quoting the famous house that was ultimately chosen for this project was the with reluctance. As essentially international events, the bien- ticipation of the pedagogical curator as a member of the expression by Rosalind Krauss “Sculpture in the Expanded one where once lived the artist Cristina Balbão, a teacher at nials that follow the Venice example tent to favor the tran- curatorial staff, enabling the pedagogical component not Field”, and reflecting upon the term “reterritorialization” the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. siting audience (Venice usually lacks a local audience) and to be confined exclusively to the work’s interpretation or by Deleuze and Guattari, I’ve proposed the idea of con- specially the international artistic community, for many of for it to exist as a parallel program of activities, but inte- That which I sometimes called transpedagogy, or art as ceiving pedagogy as a territory with different regions. which the mediation process means a little less than a nui- grating it completely to the conceptualization process education, manifested itself possibly in a more direct One of them, the most known, is situated in the field of sance to experience the work in a direct manner. and the selection of artists and works. manner with the Finnish collective Ykon’s project, pre- interpretation or education as an instrument of under- sented on the Geopoetics exhibition. Ykon utilizes the In contrast, the Mercosul Biennial is an exceptional case, Those suitable conditions, combined with the enormous standing art; the second is the amalgamation of art and pedagogical resources of the game to invite the audience as much with its commitment to pedagogy as with its availability of the Mercosul Biennial’s pedagogical and education (like the art practice of the aforementioned art- intimate relation with the local audience. Since its begin- to solve the world’s problems in a participative process production staff, presented a unique opportunity to ists), and the third is the arts as an educational instrument, nings, this biennial’s mediator training program had the that answers the dialog processes between the world’s accomplish a series of expansion experiences with the which – in lack of a better term – I denominated art as double function as a school, enabling an unique dispo- summits. This type of work uses art to invite the partici- pedagogical model. knowledge of the world. sition to the mediator’s field in the city of Porto Alegre. pant to enter a playful world where it’s possible to free The pedagogical model was expanded in the 6th Mercosul When José Roca invited me to be part of the curato- Art interpretation or mediation is an essentially dialogical yourself from reality in a temporal manner, this time using Biennial, when its artistic director Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro rial staff of this Biennial, I was going through a period of field that, however, in the traditional practice tends to be dynamics with a pedagogical accuracy that allows the invited the artist Luis Camnitzer to take over the newly reflection upon how pedagogy could work as a tool to the carried out as a soliloquy; this means that even though experience to be more than a merely dispersed experi- created position of pedagogical curator. In this edition, implementation and understanding of the series of works investigations upon learning indicates in a relevant way ence , but that – most likely without drawing attention Camnitzer, who during the course of his career has deeply that nowadays is denominated “social practice”, or art of that one learns better by discussing and exchanging per- from the participants – becomes a constructive, produc- reflected on the parallel between art and education, social practice. In recent years, possibly as a result of the sonal reflections, the tendency is to treat a guided visit tive and satisfactory experience for the group’s members. KA3 KA" a%+(c%+/ In a similar fashion, several projects of this Biennial’s Travel Notebooks component have engaged collaborations from local communities that on a few moments acquired a fusion on the scope of education and arts. Regarding the third emphasis area – art as knowledge of the world – the idea of expanding the usual Biennial audi- ence was sought. In the school context, for example, I’ve realized that since the beginning of this project’s inves- tigation that teachers of several disciplines outside art ?6',@0%&'()(F saw the Biennial with interest, but with little knowledge regarding how to integrate its content with their school program. With that goal, a series of teacher’s guides was produced spanning several disciplines directly connected to the Biennial’s themes (geography, history, literature, etc) that presented the artwork not only as a study object to be valued as such, but also as a window to be able to acquire an understanding of relevant themes for those or other spheres. A similar approach happened on the different workshops held on the several venues of the Biennial’s exhibition. Finally, a fundamental component – and in my opinion, urgent – that was sought to emphasize on the Biennial’s pedagogical project was the evaluation theme. Projects of cyclic characteristics, such as the biennials usually have the flaw of lacking sufficient reflection upon the past; as a result, each new edition reinvents the unnecessary and tends to fall on the same challenges once lived by previous editions. In a way that, with the objective of assisting on the process of reflection for the future, I’ve invited two prominent educators in Brazil, Luiz Guilerme Vergara and Jessica Gogan, who have exercised the func- tion of observers of this Biennial’s own pedagogical pro- cess, producing a documentation and evaluation project for it, which can be consulted in a partial manner on this volume. My hope is that the assemblage of these experiences, reflections and testimonials may serve as a guideline not only to future Biennial’s editions, but also as groundwork to appreciate the enormous potential that the pedagogy discipline has on the field of art practice. Brooklyn, October 12th 2011. KA= KA> !"#$%&'($)*(+" are plenty of places where old-fashioned forms of edu- connoisseurship (for art historians and curators), and inter- ?6',@0%&'()(F cation still operate, where art history is recitation, where pretation (for the general public).