Projects

Sur Sur

Sur Sur was a project involving artists from Chile and New Zealand who used dance to explore their cultural differences and develop performances to respond to contemporary crises.

Chile & Aotearoa New Zealand

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Sur Sur website

SurSur. Image: Carol Brown dances website

Sur Sur took place in Santiago, Chile, in 2017. The project involved nine artists from Chile and New Zealand working together over seven days to generate a dance exhibition. They performed their creations alongside a symposium about decolonisation, hosted by Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Santiago and Universidad de Chile. The Chilean artists were Elisa Loncón Antielo, Macarena Campbell-Parra, Máximo Corvalán-Pincheira, Dominique Goujon, Bernardo Oyarzún and Marisol Vargas. The New Zealand artists were alys longey, Carol Brown and Mark Harvey.

Sur Sur means “south south”. In a time of instability and change, the project focused on artists in the Global South, identifying cultural differences and synergies among themselves and their art forms, and using artistic performances to respond to contemporary crises.

Sur Sur came about through a collaboration between University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau, Universidad de Chile and Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Santiago. It was initiated by Marisol following her residency in New Zealand where she worked with Carol through the Dance and Visual Art project (Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau dance studio).

Working together on Sur Sur led the artists to collaborate on other performances in 2017. Carol presented Releasing the Archive at Dancing Sculpture (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne) and Tempo Dance Festival (Auckland). She also worked with other curators on a series of visual-performance installations and events. These events included the choreographic installation Cielo Tierra Pajaros, curated by Marisol; the video series Colonising Labours, curated by Mark; and new interdisciplinary work by Bernardo, Máximo and Dominique. Also in 2017, alys presented Mistranslation Laboratory, which premiered at the Performance Arcade, Wellington.

In July 2018 the Chilean artists joined artist-academics for performances and exhibitions at the Gus Fisher Gallery at University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau.

Collaborting artists Máximo Corvalán-Pincheira and Bernardo Oyarzún, both exhibited in Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2016).

Published 02 November 2023