Why is it so hot?
An apparently simple question curator Daniel H. Rey kept asking himself both in Paraguay and in the UAE turned out to be the starting point of the new exhibition he conceived on Art Curator Grid. Having realized both places have geographic parallels, H. Rey worked on a new project: indeed, they are located in the Latitudes 25° North and 25° South. The experiences he had with people from both places were more and more happening online, and among those people, two artists who had parallels with each other. His questioning about the weather unfolded to be a more complex examination: what are the images produced across these imaginary lines – the 25 North and 25 South Latitudes?
The online exhibition No sé si por cultura o seguridad. I portray softness mainly was launched on May 24th with an opening event on Wonder. The first of our new series of meet-ups on the online platform that emulates real-world interconnections. Conceived by Daniel H. Rey and developed by Emilia Vieira Branco, the show traces parallels and distinctions between the works of Abu Dhabi-based artist Aliyah Alawadi and Paraguayan artist Camila Cadogan, who turned curators of their own group show. Both emerging painters were portraying confinement way before the world shut down and work mainly around the subjects of safety, softness, intimacy, experiences of womanhood and notions of domestic concealment.
Thirty people of both countries, as well as other locations around the globe, joined the online event that happened simultaneously in Spanish and English, for an exciting and spontaneous gathering in which at times an artist or curator would be on stage talking about the exhibition process for all of the presents, and other times we would walk around the room as if it were an on-site opening. One could step in a circle to talk to one of the artists or meet someone on a one-to-one conversation.
Daniel and Emilia explained: “We created a process in which we allowed the artists to curate each other’s work. And that was made through interactions between them, video calls that were translated by us. They shared their portfolios with each other, asked each other questions about their work, and also exchanged pictures from their homes and intimacies.” Barriers of spoken language were overtaken by the language they all had in common – art, which created bridges between cultures and communities. The physical and conceptual distance between both artists was also soon surpassed by confidentiality, bond, and intimacy. “At the end of the day, what makes it so important to work in the crossing of geolocations is the accessibility and the exchange of communities”, added Daniel and Emilia, highlighting the fact that Media in both countries communicated about the exhibition, expanding the artists’ audiences. They conclude:
"It’s not the latitude itself but how we connect them. It’s not the latitude itself, but how the circumstances place us inside those latitudes. It’s not the latitude itself, but how we connect them and how we can diversify their narratives."
No sé si por cultura o seguridad. I portray softness mainly.
Curated by artists Aliyah Alawadhi and Camila Cadogan
Conceived by Daniel H. Rey
Developed by Emilia Vieira Branco
From May 25th to June 1st — Exclusively on Art Curator Grid
Would you also like to curate digital shows with our Exhibition Tool? Send an email to hello@artcuratorgrid.com and we will show you how!