Bienalsur, declared of Cultural Interest by the Buenos Aires City Legislature on its tenth anniversary

Bienalsur , the world's most comprehensive cultural platform for contemporary art , culture, and global thought, centered in the Southern Cone, was declared a Site of Cultural Interest by the Buenos Aires City Legislature on the tenth anniversary of its creation. This recognition highlights its contribution to the promotion and democratization of contemporary art in its first five editions.

The event took place in the San Martín Hall of the Buenos Aires City Legislature, located at 160 Perú Street (CABA). The General Director of Bienalsur, Aníbal Jozami, and the Artistic Director, Diana Wechsler , creators of the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of the South, were in attendance.

Also present were local cultural institution officials and foreign diplomats, including the Haitian ambassador to Argentina, Olga Medor Ducasse; the Turkish ambassador, Süleyman Ömür Budak; the French ambassador, Romain Nadal; the Moroccan ambassador, Fares Yassir; and cultural attachés from the embassies of Brazil, Mexico, Finland, and Sweden, among others.

The declaration of Bienalsur as a cultural event was an initiative of legislator María Cecilia Ferrero, president of the Legislature's Culture Committee and member of the Juntos por el Cambio Alliance/Bloc, who led the event.

“Bienalsur isn't just another cultural project; it's a project not only unique in its magnitude but fundamentally in its conception: a biennial born at a public university. I asked Diana (Wechsler) and Aníbal (Jozami) if they had been inspired by any similar model, and they said no; they wanted to do something different. They certainly succeeded ,” added the project's creator.

“Projects like Bienalsur demonstrate that even in unfavorable circumstances, our human and professional resources at public universities are capable of creating cultural proposals with international reach and relevance. This sends a powerful message about the value of our educational institutions, not only for their academic training but also for the cultural, social, and economic development they are capable of providing,” Ferrero added.

Originating at the National University of Tres de Febrero (Untref), the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of the South (Bienalsur) was born in 2015 through a series of meetings in the Global South that resulted in this global artistic project based on dialogues, exchanges and presentations that make up a diverse and sustained public program.

From its already renowned “Km 0”, the Muntref (Museum of the National University of Tres de Febrero) home to the Hotel de Inmigrantes, to Tokyo (Japan), the biennial links a new cartography for contemporary art extending 18,370 kilometres , simultaneously connecting art spaces, artists, creators, diverse audiences and communities from all continents, with the support of UNESCO.

The first edition took place in 2017 , featuring more than 400 artists across 80 venues in 34 cities in 16 countries. In 2019, the map expanded to 112 venues in 47 cities across 21 countries. In 2021, during the pandemic, the third edition took place in 120 venues in 48 cities across 24 countries in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. In 2023, it was held in more than 70 cities in 28 countries across 5 continents, with the participation of more than 700 artists and 64 curators.

This year, the fifth edition will take place from July to December, in 135 venues across 35 countries, with more than 400 artists from around the world . In addition to the traditional Hotel de Inmigrantes, the Perlotti, Fernández Blanco, Sívori, Larreta, and Saavedra museums in Buenos Aires, the MAR Museum in Mar del Plata, and the provinces of Tucumán, La Rioja, and Salta are also part of the 2025 circuit.

With its epicenter in the city of Buenos Aires, Bienalsur brought together a variety of relevant and emerging national and international contemporary artists to exhibit their art and their reflections on global culture in various venues and cultural institutions. This platform has become a benchmark for borderless contemporary art, committed to the inclusion and democratization of art in Argentina and around the world.

On the other hand, the Minister of Culture of Buenos Aires, Gabriela Ricardes , was absent from the event although she left her written message , addressed to the directors of Bienalsur.

“In its first decade, Bienalsur has established itself as a unique project that connects diverse territories, cultures, and perspectives in a global artistic dialogue . Since its inception, it has maintained an unwavering commitment to inclusion, innovation, and critical reflection, building bridges between artists, audiences, and institutions around the world,” Ricardes stated.

“In a present marked by profound challenges and transformations, Bienalsur reaffirms its relevance and its purpose : to open spaces for imagination, free thought, and intercultural encounter, which is more necessary than ever,” he reflected.

" His vision, capable of transcending borders and building networks between the local and the global, continues to illuminate paths for contemporary art and for a more open and plural society," concluded the Buenos Aires Minister of Culture.

The event continued with remarks by Diana Wechsler , art historian, curator, vice-rector of Untref and artistic director of Bienalsur .

“We cross borders, we establish synergies, seeking to navigate with the humility of an immigrant , which is what we like to do, seeking to ask the questions we believe are necessary, listening and trying to understand each other's language, trying to contribute to the construction of what we like to imagine as the Binalsur community,” the Artistic Director emphasized.

He also addressed the global crisis of civilization. “ We know that art and culture are not independent variables . However, we like to think about and embrace their transformative potential, their ability to defuse inertia and unleash new meanings. Even more so, in the face of a crisis of civilization like the one we are experiencing, we believe it is possible to offer some opportunities for reflection and the emergence of new perspectives .”

And he continued: “We are convinced that it is through and with culture that these issues can be addressed , that it is with and from open spaces like Bienalsur that it is possible to develop independent, free, creative projects.”

Wechsler embraced his voice and that of the entire Bienalsur team and community in the so-called “Bienalsur manifesto.”

“ We are undisciplined; we break the inertia of habit, of the reflexive actor that governs social, cultural, and interpretive dynamics . We assume a proactive, emancipated, creative, reflective, and critical position, where the present is the situated, and local production is part of an action aimed at breaking isolation and individualism and rebuilding a physical, present, diverse, and real community. For this reason, and even if it's only a matter of placing a grain of sand in the desert, we believe it's worthwhile to test strategies for the development of a possible contemporary humanism. Today more than ever . For the encounter with this dimension, as we like to say, we continue Bienalsur,” exclaimed Wechsler, followed by thunderous applause in the San Martin Hall of the Buenos Aires Legislature.

During the event , a video was shown with testimonials from local and international artists who exhibited their work at Bienalsur, featuring the voices of muralist Martin Ron, artist Diego Banchi, and the beloved Luis Felipe "Yuyo" Noé, who passed away in April of this year, among others.

Then, essayist, editor, and university professor Alejandro Katz gave his speech, harshly criticizing current culture.

“ We live in times of closure, times in which the old conflict and tension between opening and closing, the now atavistic dispute between the bridge and the wall, is once again leaning more in favor of the latter.”

He also referred to culture without borders, to the current cultural barriers that exist on the planet. "There's a metaphor here, a metaphor intertwined with the Biennial itself that I find particularly appealing: that of the passport ," he argued.

“ Bienalsur functions as a very special kind of cultural passport . Not because it bears any resemblance to passports, those documents traditionally granted by states that establish hierarchies at borders by authorizing the transit of those who already have a recognized place in the world, the state passport primarily singles out those without rights of passage.”

“On the contrary, the Bienalsur passport inverts the control function to present itself as a device whose purpose is to create space where there was none before , to territorialize instead of simply allowing or preventing migration, because one thing is to migrate, to go from one territory to another, and quite another is to territorialize: to make something become territory, to make a new spatiality emerge where there was previously emptiness or subordination.”

“In times when tomorrow has become unthinkable, when the promises of progress are hollow, culture becomes a reservoir of the future . It is in it and through it that we can experiment with other ways of being together, of inhabiting the world, other ways of imagining it together. That's why this recognition matters, because it celebrates something that goes far beyond Bienalsur: a way of conceiving culture that adds rather than subtracts , that expands the realms of the possible rather than managing their scarcity,” Katz concluded.

Finally, the words of Aníbal Jozami , sociologist, international relations specialist, emeritus rector of Untref and General Director of Bienalsur.

"I am interested in reaffirming, once again, our commitment to supporting a project that vindicates the right to culture and diversity ," said one of the creators of Bienalsur.

“Although we live in a world of persistent complexities, as Alejandro Katz pointed out, and reaffirming the principles of Bienalsur, we are willing to continue supporting cultural venues .”

“In this task we have set ourselves, receiving recognition like this encourages us to continue.”

The creator of Bienalsur, along with Wechsler, thanked Representative Ferrero, the Bienalsur team, Martín Kaufmann (Institutional Director), all the members of Untref, and "the Ministry of Culture for its continued sponsorship and support, and those within and outside of Bienalsur who make up our emotional circle."

“ I also want to thank all those in more than 70 cities across five continents who have joined our project and, as is the case in this beloved city of Buenos Aires, have given the projects we bring them a unique touch, which has materialized in the various editions of Bienalsur. We continue Bienalsur,” he concluded.

The declaration of "Cultural Interest" by the Buenos Aires Legislature represents the fourth award Bienalsur has received in its ten-year history . In 2021, it was recognized by the Jorge Luis Borges International Foundation, followed by the 2022 Konex Prize as a cultural institution, and the Gratis Artis Award granted by the National Academy of Fine Arts in 2023.