Projects

Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America

Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America was the first major exhibition in Australasia to show contemporary South American art in such depth.

Argentina & Brazil & Chile & Colombia & Paraguay & Uruguay & Aotearoa New Zealand

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Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America website

Ernesto Neto. Just like drops in time, nothing 2002. Auckland Art Gallery (installation view).

Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America included 100 diverse and innovative pieces of major work and new commissions by 41 artists and collectives from 6 South American countries. The work included paintings, sculpture, photography, installations, films and performances created between the 1960s and the present day. Many of the artists who exhibited work are internationally recognised, such as Alfredo Jaar, Bernardo Oyarzún, Ernesto Neto, Hélio Oiticica, Juan Fernando Herrán, Lotty Rosenfeld, Lygia Clark, Marcos Lopez, Martín Sastre and Máximo Corvalán-Pincheira.

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki curated Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America to respond to Aucklanders’ curiosity about South America. Despite the Pacific Ocean uniting New Zealand with South America, and us sharing many historical influences and natural characteristics, South American art had previously had little visibility in New Zealand. Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America aimed to raise visitors’ awareness of the diverse histories, traditions, customs and languages of South American countries. The exhibits weaved together cultures, indigenous and national histories, and contemporary worldviews.

The exhibition conveyed South America as a place of vitality, opportunity and constant change. It showed how art has given South Americans the space to dream, reflect and act throughout the continent’s turbulent history. The exhibits reveal how artists have personally responded to long dictatorships and the difficulties faced by indigenous people.

Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America was co-curated by Dr Zara Stanhope (New Zealand) and Beatriz Bustos Oyanedel (Chile). This arrangement combined Zara’s knowledge of what New Zealanders understand about South American art, how they would interact with the exhibition and what they would expect to gain from it, with Beatriz’s knowledge of the exhibits and context in which they were created. Co-curating involved identifying similarities between South America and New Zealand in areas such as art, politics and the co-existence of colonial and indigenous peoples. This co-curating arrangement has led them to continue their dialogue and exchange, and created a platform for future collaboration. Beatriz has since curated Te Au: Liquid Constituencies at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in 2022.

Alongside the exhibition, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki ran an events programme that included lectures and discussions with artists, exhibition tours, film showings and musical performances. It also arranged for artists to have residencies with Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, University of Canterbury Ilam School of Fine Arts and Whitecliffe College of Art and Design. These gave artists the opportunity to develop their thinking in a different context to their places of origin.

Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America was supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and a range of commercial and other sponsors. Developing the exhibition took around three years and involved shortlisting exhibits by a large group of artists and working with South American communities in Auckland.

The exhibition’s curators expected that the exhibition would open up new opportunities, such as academic exchanges and residencies, through the relationships that artists and institutions developed during the event. For example, New Zealand artist Charlotte Graham has had a residency in Chile, and artists Máximo Corvalán-Pincheira (Chile) and alys longley (New Zealand) have worked on several projects together.

Published 02 November 2023