Overview

[Since Guilermo Cifuentes passed away in 2007, Akram Zaatari invited Solange Oliveira Farkas to propose the next artist in the programme. Founder and director of Videobrasil, Farkas introduced Zaatari to Cifuentes’ work.]

Solange Oliveira Farkas introduces Enrique Ramírez’s Brisas [Breezes] (2008)

‘Chilean artist Enrique Ramírez participated in several editions of Videobrasil and his work attracted my attention because he speaks with great poetic force on the humanisation of utopia. His work often borders on the fantastic, even as it deals with political and humanitarian issues related to memory. His videos and installations often deal with political issues in Latin America and the exile by focusing on the discontinuity of memory.’

Brisas [Breezes] (2008) problematises the role of memory in recent Chilean history and invites viewers to revisit historical events through different entry points and points of view. He guides the audience on a walk that passes through emblematic and recognisable sectors of Santiago de Chile and ends when crossing the Palacio de la Moneda, a government symbol that speaks of the past but with the voices of the present. It refers to a recent period in the country's history; the government of Salvador Allende, the military coup of August Pinochet and the return to democracy. The poetic political journey Brisas [Breezes] simultaneously alludes to the history that remains, to memory, and to some traces that are kept and others that are forgotten.

This film was screened at Videobrasil, Sao Paulo (2013) and Rotterdam Film Festival (2009). Commissioned by Le Fresnoy–Studio national des arts contemporains, this film is a part of the collections of Lemaitre and MACVAL–Musée d'art contemporain, Vitry-sur-Seine.

Screening and Booking Information

Brisas [Breezes] (2008)
Director: Enrique Ramírez
Chile, France
Experimental | 13 minutes
Spanish with English subtitles

This screening is part of the Genealogies in the Middle East and Latin America project, which explores historical and contemporary relationships between artists from these two regions. It unfolds along narratives revealed by the artists' personal accounts that provide critical alternative perspectives and insights by decentralising dominant narratives, schools and paradigms produced and affirmed in the West.

To learn more, please click here.