“PRAXIS: Art in Times of Uncertainty”

2nd Biennale of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki​
“PRAXIS: Art in Times of Uncertainty”
24 May  – 27 September, 2009

Curators: Gabriela Salgado, Bisi Silva, Syrago Tsiara

In his seminal novel A Tale of Two Cities (1859) about life in Paris and London, the English novelist Charles Dickens wrote “It was the best season was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, was the age of foolishness … we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, “aptly capturing the spirit of the season. Almost a hundred and fifty years later, the feeling of disillusionment, the failure of politicians to solve the ‘big’ problems, the recent economic crisis, the attack on the environment and the general feeling of individual and collective alienation which the global society did not address all seem tangible. We are witnessing a global depreciation of the system of thought, an irreversible collapse of ideologies? In the field of cultural production, the dominance of the art market, the ineffectiveness of cultural theory and the over-theorization of culture seem to have dissociated from the art of real life. In the book provocatively titled After Theory, the English theorist Terry Eagleton claims rather than the death of theory, but to redefine its objectives and scope of investigations. Maybe it’s time to rethink the intrinsic value of artistic practice. The time to explore art as a privileged space for relatively free expression of ideas and alternative view of the world and the social environment. An art that goes back to life, back to the Act, the creative activity that contributes to shaping political opinion and new ways of thinking and being. According to ancient Chinese philosophy, the revolution is rearranging the order of the world. Could this be the time for a revolution? Can art provide a window of opportunity in these uncertain times?

Work: Maria Loizidou, La Dentellière, silk paper, inox, 250x120x100cm