For the eighth edition of Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA) taking place from September 12 – November 22, 2015 GIBCA and Public Art Agency Sweden / Statens konstråd is collaborating on presenting the site-specific project House of Words (HoW)– a temporary pavilion designed by architect Santiago Cirugeda – Recetas Urbanas and activated by artist Loulou Cherinet. A House o
f Words refers to “la Casa de la Palabra” – a traditional meeting place common in some African societies providing a hub for oral history, storytelling, performance, and ritual. GIBCA 2015’s HoW will function as a social platform for multidisciplinary discussion,exchange, and collaboration throughout the course of the biennial and beyond. Its construction, led by Santiago Cirugeda, will consist of a collective process engaging individuals and local communities from Gothenburg and elsewhere. HoW will be built with recycled materials and be physically attached to the Röda Sten Konsthall. Within it, Loulou Cherinet will create a relational community project in which a wide range of cross-cultural and multidisciplinary programs will take place. Cherinet’s project will be complemented by a public program curated in collaboration with curator Elvira Dyangani Ose. It will address ideas on how participatory practices may question and create an activated social space where the notion of “publicness” will ultimately be framed through a powerful sense of “togetherness”. HoW will be one of the most socially engaged features of the biennial, remaining accessible, critical and reactive. It will involve not only cultural producers, but also members of civil society and public authorities. By providing a place for diverse individuals and communities from Sweden and across the globe to participate in genuine, relevant and hands-on history-making, HoW aims to create an environment that questions radical contingency by fueling collective agency.
