Casa M

Fernanda Albuquerque

Casa M opened before the period of the 8^th Biennial and will remain in activity after the exhibitions have closed. Based in an old house in Porto Alegre city centre, in a residential area a few blocks from the Quayside, it provides a place for meetings, discussion, study, exchange and experimentation, to extend the duration of the Biennial activities, expanding channels of dialogue with the community and contributing to the development of the local art scene. Casa M (for Mercosul) is an interdisciplinary space, not just a place for exhibitions, focusing on different languages and promoting presentations, performances, workshops, courses and discussions that connect visual art with literature, film, music, dance, theatre and other areas of knowledge.

The spaces include a café, a group studio, a projection room and a reading space providing public access to art magazines and books belonging to the Biennial Foundation’s Documentation and Research Centre, together with a selection of publications about the topics and artists involved in the 8^th edition of the event. The monthly exhibitions occupy the showcase of the house – which belonged to the artist and teacher Christina Balbão and was for many years the family hat shop. This space facing the street will be occupied by the artists Tiago Giora, Rogério Severo, Viviane Pasqual, Helene Sacco, Rommulo Conceição, Glaucis de Morais and João Genaro, developing projects specific to the context of the house. Three other artists are also showing works devised for different spaces in the building: Daniel Acosta (reading room), Fernando Limberger (garden) and Vitor Cesar (entrance).

Ideas of conviviality and habitation run through the different actions of the Casa M: in the Showcase and permanent works; in the Tearoom and other activities offered to the neighbours; in the Residency Programme, inviting four curators to spend a week in Porto Alegre, visiting studios and working on the programme; in the Duos project, bringing together twelve artists from different fields to use Casa M as a work space, running workshops and developing collaborative projects; in the Combos; and in the discussions, talks and workshops about the topics of the 8^th Biennial, which enable the creation of a community to be created around the exhibitions. The programming of the space is developed by the curatorial team supported by an advisory board made up of artists, researchers and cultural workers.

www.bianalmercosul.art.br/casam