A New Curatorial Fair Initiative Spotlights International Dialogue
Plenty of ink has been spilled on the subject of the art world’s fast-paced, globalizing tendencies; as fairs and biennials proliferate, and international curators increasingly work in dialogue with one another, how do conversations between international artists manifest themselves? This year miart is asking just that question with a brand new curatorial section of the fair, *conflux*—the name of which, one imagines, alludes to the perforated borders of cultural production and shifting terrains of the art world.
Artsy got the inside scoop on the section, which presents two collaborative and three solo and installation projects by international galleries and artists, curated by Abaseh Mirvali. In *conflux* Dubai’s Isabelle van den Eynde presents a collaborative project by four Iranian artists—Rokni Haerizadeh, Ramin Haerizadeh, Hesam Rahmanian, and Iman Raad—a series of mixed-media works on paper that delve into Iran’s history, gender constructions, and pop culture; Berlin gallery Meyer Riegger exhibits narrative paintings by Kazakhstan-born Waldemar Zimbelmann; Turkish gallery NON puts the spotlight on the collaborative social practice-oriented Swedish duo Goldin+Senneby and Meriç Algün Ringborg, a Turkish-born artist who probes issues of border politics and translation in multimedia works; pan-American gallery Praxis showcases works by Argentine performance and installation artist Gaspar Libedinsky; and Steve Turner Contemporary, hailing from Los Angeles, displays prints, paintings, and sculptural works from Mexican artist Edgar Orlaineta.
Of her approach to this diverse and international grouping, which entailed a collaboration between herself, the artists, and gallerists, Mirvali told us, “By developing a cohesive and high-quality project that seeks to highlight common languages and interactions, *conflux* aims to put the focus on the artists’ works rather than their geographic origin, abandoning all cultural or geographic labels. My hope is that in future years as the section grows, it becomes simply a platform for discovery of work that we might not have had the chance to focus on given the intensity with which the contemporary art calendar has grown and with it, our work demands.”
