22nd biennial sesc_videobrasil

Associação Cultural Videobrasil and Sesc São Paulo invite artists and/or collectives who are from the Global South, from the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), or who have lived in these regions for at least five years, as well as indigenous artists of any nationalities to participate in the open call for the 22nd Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil.

The event comes to its 22nd edition in 2023, entitled ‘Memory is an Editing Station’ – a phrase taken from a poem by Waly Salomão (1943–2003). Curated by Raphael Fonseca, from Brazil, and Renée Akitelek Mboya, from Kenya, the Biennial also celebrates the fortieth anniversary of Videobrasil, initially devoted to video, and which has expanded over the decades to encompass a broad range of artistic languages. In this celebration, ‘it is, therefore, necessary not only to reflect on time and the many conceptions of memory, but also to revisit the importance of video in these four decades,’ write the curators. It is also worth remembering that in contemporaneity the possibilities for image editing were transformed, and have become more agile and within reach of our fingers in a range of technological devices we use every day.

Far beyond these particular ‘editing stations’, the 22nd Biennial seeks works that address collective memories, acts of remembrance and forgetfulness that build historical and social narratives, related to peoples, nations and geographies. What are the ethical boundaries of a cut? Who holds the power to do so? How to forge the memory of what we didn’t see or feel in our bodies? What are the limits of memory?