SEBASTIÁN VIDAL MACKINSON: “CURATORSHIP IS A PROCESS OF SENSITIVITY AND COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE”

RADAR seeks to make visible a generation of artists who explore the photographic language in a processual and cultural way. How did you select the artists who are part of this section? What criteria or aesthetic and conceptual concerns were key to inaugurate this section in the fair?

Within the framework of Pinta BAphoto's 20th anniversary, the proposal began with the idea of paying tribute to the uninterrupted continuity of a contemporary photography fair. At the same time, to spotlight the poetics, in most cases, of mid-generation Argentinean artists linked by galleries. A triple tribute by agents and institutions that have been betting on contemporary photography for years: artists, galleries and the fair. Within this framework, I was interested in seeking and proposing proximities between artistic poetics. These proximities can be formal, operational, conceptual and linguistic extenuation.

The result are visual objects that harbor situated artistic visions that deal with diverse cultural problems such as the relationship with nature, the human body, the occupation of time, the status of the artist in our society, contemplation, access to information, and the link with the urban environment and the cosmos.

What changes have you observed in the evolution of photography as a medium within Argentine contemporary art, especially in the last decades? How do you think projects like RADAR can influence this evolution?

I'm not sure if I would speak of evolution but more of linguistic extenuation. There is a clear view that photographic practice has been an unavoidable part of contemporary art for several decades. The circulation of photography within contemporary art, particularly in our current situation where images circulate frenetically through different media, has expanded to erase disciplinary limits and, at the same time, has focused on thinking of itself as an artistic language with its own specificities.

RADAR is an excellent platform to showcase the practices of contemporary artists who work with these premises within their poetic horizon.

In the case of photography, how do you see that Argentine artists are dialoguing with global trends without losing their local singularity?

Argentine art is very sophisticated. It is wide in diversity of media, topics, artistic problems with which it works. There are many communities of artistic, curatorial, historiographic, critical, public and private management agents that make up a robust cultural scene always in movement. A scene with the characteristics of the impetus and frenetic pace that we have and care for, necessarily dialogues with views from other latitudes without losing its uniqueness. Our artistic memory, at the same time, is rich and, to a large extent, is due to the professional developments that have taken place in recent years. I find that the intergenerational, federal, regional, transnational and global dialogue is fruitful and in mutual correspondence.

You have curated exhibitions with a wide variety of themes, from ecology to the body and identity. What are the issues that most interest you as a curator today and how do they influence your selection of artists and works?

There are cultural problems that interest me very much and I find their artistic ramifications complex and very stimulating. In general terms, the question of the incidence of the modern project, with its utopian and segregationist character at the same time in our society and in the region, assumes an important place in my curatorial work.

How do you see the role of collaboration in contemporary curatorship? What do you consider the dialogue between different actors of the artistic ecosystem contributes?

Curating is a process of collective sensitivity and intelligence. Without a doubt, knowing how to work collectively is essential: the contributions of each person (whether artist, manager, curator, restorer, illuminator, designer, etc.) are fundamental. Beyond the roles that are occupied in each project, in this type of work each person has the opportunity to offer his or her viewpoint based on knowledge and skills acquired through study and practice that converge in a cultural product open to the public that is energized by the viewer's gaze.

What projections or expectations do you have for the future of RADAR as a curatorial platform?

It is an excellent curatorial platform and I'm sure it will be a fundamental part of the curatorial development in our country.