Update: The Necessary Approach of a Young Curator to Art and Technology

Published on July 1, 2024
Update. Approach to a digitized Cuba

Published:

July 1, 2024

Perhaps it was the influence of the media art and the forms of artistic creation related to technology which led the young curator Enedys Seijo to dream up a project such as Update. Approach to a digitized Cuba ,._...,

The call for young curators launched by the Fondo de Arte Joven (FAJ) in January 2024, turned its ongoing interest in investigating the relationship between society and technological evolution into a group exhibition. For Enedys, the show was an opportunity to highlight and discuss the changes that have arisen in Cuban art and society as a result of the massive digitalization that began in 2018 with access to the Internet from cell phones on the island.

"Far from simple technicalities, the selected works illustrate the issues generated by the interaction of the emerging artist with the new hybrid space that navigates between the physical and the digital. That is why, Update... was conceived for that generation that grew up in a context influenced by the Internet, social networks, and now artificial intelligence. I felt I owed that space of exposure and visibility to young people," Seijo explains.

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A cloud of labels welcomes those arriving on the afternoon of May 29, 2024 at the Ludwig Foundation's space in Havana. St. Google, Reel, Metaverse, Facebook, NFT, Interactivity and a myriad of terms derived from digital spaces make up the icon of "cargando", which has its epicenter in the word Update.

With this letter of introduction, the audience -most of them very young- knows that they are about to enjoy an out-of-the-ordinary exhibition. Another wish of the curator, inspired both by the Ludwig's history with new media and technology, and by the work of artists such as Néstor Siré, Yonlay Cabrera and the Copincha.

"I conceived this initiative with young people in mind, not only as the protagonists of the exhibition, but also as the target audience. That's why in the design, aesthetics and promotional communication materials we used animations, striking colors, iconographies and symbols that would connect directly with this digital native generation," explained the curator.

"The themes shown orbit around the production, circulation and/or reception of information; the perception and/or construction of the self or others in the digital space and the relationship of art and the artist with these tools and/or spaces," he added.

For Enedys, it is still a pending issue in exhibition spaces that have very marked interests, sometimes distant from digital technologies. "Although many times it is not for lack of interest, but because of the lack of material resources necessary to produce an exhibition of this type. FAJ's support was very important here, as it allowed me to obtain what I needed to produce an exhibition of this kind. Update... possible. This is a golden opportunity, which makes you grow a lot as a professional.

Although Update... is not a conclusive curatorship, much less an absolute one, it has opened the door to the exchange between art and other scientific branches of knowledge. It is the beginning of a path that will investigate and update the concerns of a young curator about society, art and the use of digital technologies.

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