The 15th Cuenca Biennial exceeds 20,000 visitors; will continue until February 28

With less than a month to go until the fifteenth edition of the Cuenca Biennial closes, the venues have been visited by more than 20,000 citizens the first nine weeks. Beyond the questioning and support of different art critics for the concept of curator Blanca de la Torre, the logistics and organization met expectations.

On December 28, Blas Garzón wrote a Twitter asking the Biennial account for information on venues, schedules, guides and recommendations. They answered him in a matter of minutes and that generated a “pleasant surprise” and anticipated that his family visit was going to be welcoming. The next day, together with his wife and daughters, they arrived at the Municipal Museum of Modern Art (MMAM) and then proceeded to Remigio Crespo Museum, where the winning work is exhibited.

Blas has been a regular visitor to the Biennale since the fourth edition opened in November 1994, he has always been interested in it and the current one was not going to be the exception, despite the limitations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, respecting the biosafety regulations, he arrived at the MMAM around noon and although they told him that by protocol a guide could not accompany them permanently, he still enjoyed the tour because later on the way he met his fellow teachers and historians.

His second stop was the Remigio Crespo Toral Museum, where he had a reception “more familiar”, where the mediators were very predisposed. What he liked is the interaction applied by the young performers, who began asking questions to the attendees to arouse their interest.

The experience expressed by Blas Garzón fits what was planned by the organization, explains the executive director of the Biennale, Katya Cazar. He reported that, despite the restrictive context due to the coronavirus, in the first eight weeks more than 20,000 visitors came, a not insignificant figure when compared to the 2018 edition, when about 21,000 arrived in eight weeks. This, he believes, confirms his position that In times of crisis, art is a space to revitalize the spirit, but also that one can no longer speak of an “elitist biennial”, as is usually in the imagination of the people.

In previous editions, a large part of the visitors were students, but in these times they became families, a situation that forced the mediators to prepare mentally and physically, since they not only had to explain the works, but also understand a population mentally affected by the pandemic.

On the artistic criticism received towards the baptized Biocene Biennial, where it was raised as a general concept change green to blue, believes that they are something that will always be present and what has generated them is to rethink that any aspect of life and art is perfectible. Before the venues close on February 28 they have planned to carry out nocturnal and cycling visits. While from virtuality they announce activities with the artists, and just in case someone did not go for some reason, they work from now on for the later Memory catalog.

To know everything planned, Cazar recommends keeping an eye on the social networks of the Cuenca Biennial. (I)