| |
 |
|
CURATORIAL -Documentary film series on Lagos, with the exhibition 419, or 'THE SPANISH PRISONER' Centre d'Art Santa Mònica presents a series of documentary film on the cultural, social and urban reality of Lagos,Nigeria. The
films will shown free of charge in the Sala de Actos of the centre on successive Tuesdays, April 1, 8 and 15 at 7PM. All films are shown in the original English version. All screenings will be introduced by Jeffrey Swartz PROGRAM -Tuesday 1 April, 7PM. Music is the Weapon (France, 1982) Dir. Stephane Tchal-Gadjieff i Jean-Jacques Flori On the musician and activist Fela Kuti, taken during a polemical period of his life when he was considering running for president of Nigeria. With scenes of live performances in Lagos. In English -Tuesday 8 April, 7PM This is Nollywood (USA, 2007) Dir. Franco Sacchi A new
documentary out of Boston on the Nigerian film industry, the third in the world in terms of films produced, with highly unusual characteristics in filming, acting and directing. A documentary for true fans of world cinema. In English. -Tuesday 15 April, 7PM Lagos Wide and Close (Holland, 2005) Dir. Bregtje van der Haak
Part of a project by Rem Koolhaas, narrator of the film, this was originally conceived as an audiovisual installation, but has also been shown in single channel format. A fascinating vision of Lagos, the fifth largest city in the world, and its unique internal logic and logistics. In English.
- 419, or 'THE SPANISH PRISONER' , exhibit opens in Barcelona on February 22, 2008The exhibition project on the Nigerian e-mail scam known as the 419, with a documentary section by curator Jeffrey Swartz and a video installation by Catalan artist Pep Dardanyà, will open at the Centre d'Art Santa Mònica, Barcelona, on February 22, 2008, at 8 PM. The exhibition runs to May 31. One part of the exhibition space is dedicated to a documentary portrait of the 419 advanced fee fraud, featuring books, CDs, objects, document portfolios and reproductions of documents and images, as well as scambaiter merchandising and a computer where links might be explored. This portrait includes an analysis of the internet culture that facilitates the success of 419, its legal ramifications, the world of anti-scam activism and scam-baiting, as well as a view into present day Nigeria and the cultural dynamics of Lagos where the scam originated. Pep Dardanyà contributes the video installation "Transpam" (2007), which astutely points up the contradictions and ambivalences of culture contact between post-colonial Nigeria and the First World. A film series on Lagos and its cultural and social complexity will complement the exhibition. The films will be shown on three successive Tuesdays in April at 7 PM, in the CASM: April 1. "Music is the Weapon", an early 80s documentary on the musician Fela Kuti; April 8. "This is NOllywood", a 2007 on the Nigerian film industry; and April 15. "Lagos Wide and Close", a single channel screening of the interactive installation, narrated by Rem Koolhaas. A full overview of the documentation to be exhibited and internet links related to the show have been posted here. A more complete press release from the previous venue in Vic is available here . A video of 419 expert Brian Wizard talking on YouTube about the world of email scamming. A video of the exhibit in Girona can be viewed on YouTube. The article published in the Spanish daily El País on November 23 can be found here. PUBLICATIONS - SPACE RUN ARTISTS, magazine publication I contribute a piece on artist self-initiative and social dynamics in the city of Barcelona to Issue 7 of Vancouver critical art publication Fillip, launched February 15, 2008, in Vancouver. - ESCENOGRAFIES, catalogue essay Recent work by Noguero will be seen in Escenografies at the Espai Zero of the Fundació Suñol, Barcelona, opening February 21, 2008. I contribute the publication essay for Noguero's first Barcelona solo show in 15 years: José Noguero's Freeze-Frame Baroque - BETWEEN INDIA AND THE WEST, magazine publicationThe latest issue of Papers d'Art (no. 92), published in late 2007, features a Jeffrey Swartz essay on East Indian sculpture and its complicated western reception, in the light of José Noguero's long sojourn in the country and 2006 exhibit in Alicante. - UNFOLDING YOUTH: Salvador Cidrás' Critical Analysis, catalogue essay Published in May, 2007, the catalogue of the Salvador Cidrás exhibition held in the Winter of 2006-07 at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Unión Fenosa, in La Coruña, Spain. I contribute the catalogue essay, which reviews Cidrás' work since the early 90s and comments on the shift in his approach in recent years, as seen in this exhibit. -Since May 2007 I've got a blog with articles on cultural politics in Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain: http://barcelonacultureblog.blogspot.com/. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BARCELONA CULTURE STUDIO Exhibits and Events Barcelona Culture Studio is the personal project and web page of Jeffrey Swartz. You can find here information on my professional activities as critic, curator and cultural educator. Consult Cultural Visits for my services for visiting students and tourists. FOR MORE INFORMATION: studio@barcelonaculture.com .
Jeffrey Swartz , Spring 2008
|
|
 | 
S. Cidrás: Consuming Youth
|  |
Pep Dardanyà's "Transpam"
|  |
José Noguero at Fundació Suñól
|  |
Anti-419 Patch by Brian Wizard
|  |
False Bank Certificate Nigeria
|  |
Bizarro cartoon by Dan Piraro
|
|
Exhibits and Activities