In a pandemic context, thinking and making the Buenos Aires International Festival was a challenge. However, and thanks to the work that was already being made in relation to the transnationality of performative creations, it was possible to find new ways of joint creation to co-produce international projects. These were gestated or created in such countries as Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, France, Spain, Korea, USA, Japan, Chile, and Bolivia.
Many of these contents became possible thanks to co-production alliances established with international cultural Embassies and Institutions, in order to reinforce the cultural bridges between local artists and international examples. There has been some tight cooperative work with the ITALIA XXI series—produced by Teatro Coliseo and Istituto Italiano di Cultura—, COINCIDENCIA - A program from the Swiss Foundation for Culture Pro Elvetia, the Institut Français d’Argentine, KOFICE along with the Korean Cultural Center, the Goethe-Institut Buenos Aires and the Canadian Embassy.
Italian architect and stage designer Emanuele Sinisi, a unique and talented European artist, is in charge of the production of the #PandemicTheatre series, which takes place at the Mandarine Cultural Tent venue located in the Punta Carrasco Complex, as part of FIBA. It is also the world premiere of this device in tangible format, which is formed by a circle of cars (occupied by the spectators) that light the artists with their own headlights, deploying a 360º scene. The three proposals that can be enjoyed in this space are: Comizi d’amore #BuenosAires, Fuego y Pasión and Boom Chapadama.
In co-production with the Institut Français, in the new Ministry of Education of the City of Buenos Aires, located in Barrio 31, there is Resiliencia, from French artist Séverine Fontaine. In turn, Virtual Crossings is a collaborative encounter between Switzerland Gilles Jobin Company, already present at FIBA 2003 with The Moebius Strip, and Edgardo Mercado and Damián Turkieh from Argentina. It is a project linked to the «COINCIDENCIA» program for South America from the Pro Helvetia Swiss Foundation for Culture.
Also playing is asses.masses, from Canadians Miltom Lim and Patrick Blenkarn. A proposal sponsored in Buenos Aires by the Canadian Embassy that consists of the installation of a video game in a theater space and the invitation for the audience to participate by assuming command of the proposal.
In its purely visual format, the international program includes the complete presentation of Santa Estasi, from renowned Italian artist Antonio Latella. It is another one of the great proposals presented by the ITALIA XXI series and in collaboration with Teatro Coliseo and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura.
Also present is Explore el jardín de los Cárpatos, from Catalonian group José y sus Hermanas; from Bolivia, Diego Aramburo presents his eclectic treated Leyes; Canada, through its Embassy, displays its danced madness with Noam Gagnon’s This Crazy Show; and from the United States comes the sharp sensibility of Marike Splint and her reflection on distance in You Are Here, accompanying the event with a live Q&A for the audience. All of these works can also be seen through the platform of the Ministry of Culture of the City of Buenos Aires: Vivamos Cultura, the main venue in this edition.
Also, another virtual venue presents two peculiar live proposal through Zoom: from Chile, Mauro Vaca Valenzuela presents Reminiscencia, and as the great virtual closing of this Festival, there’s a performance broadcast live from Munich and Dubai: AshramMommies, from German company “Agenzy,” made with the support of Goethe-Institut Buenos Aires.
There are also two works in progress: Gerardo Nauman’s Chau, Europa! and Marcos Canale’s La velocidad de la luz. In turn, Foco BA Danza invites two international projects to become part of the Festival’s program, and they are available to watch at Vivamos Cultura. Dancing (Buenos Aires) is a co-production with Foco Buenos Aires Danza Contemporánea and a project linked to the the «COINCIDENCIA» program for South America from the Pro Helvetia Swiss Foundation for Culture. Revisitando la obra Somoo en residencia is the result of a creative process gestated through a call presented by Foco Buenos Aires Danza Contemporánea. In this virtual residence, six performers from the movement arts chosen through a national call worked alongside the Korean company Art Project Bora directed by Bora KIM, with the aim of appropriating some choreographic materials from the play Somoo and, at the same time, creating new gestures inspired by it. With the support of KOFICE’s Traveling Korean Arts Program and the Korean Cultural Center of Buenos Aires.
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