[spectre] alternative II Biennial de Valencia

[Technologies To The People]

info: http://www.e-valencia.org (www.e-valencia.org/bienaldevalencia)
REALITATS DE LA CIUTAT (THE REALITIES OF THE CITY)
In view of the imminent inauguration of the Second Biennial de
Valencia which has "Ideal City" as this year's theme; we asks
ourselves about the appropriateness and timeliness of this
spectacular cultural macro event, particularly as its ramifications
are not well understood beyond the effects of publicity strictly
speaking, as was the case with the first Biennial and with regard to
the recent statements by Luigi Settembrini, its director. This time
the ambitious proposals which include occupying vacant lots of land
to carry out public interventions - these vacant lots are necessarily
set out of context and divorced from the city they belong to - makes
us pose some important questions.

First of all, what Valencia are we speaking of? The city we know is
beset by several conflicts fought between the Administration and
citizens. If we begin with town planning questions, we can start with
the ZAL project at the port and the evictions that are being carried
out to extend Blasco Ibañez Avenue to the seafront. In doing so, the
integral character of the Cabanyal quarter is being obliterated. An
unnecessary extension of the IVAM will take priority over the
adjoining area and affect more than 50 families; furthermore, the
basic structure of the Carmen quarter is being eroded while recently
restored buildings are being declassified in order to make the old
Arab wall more visible. We are also witnessing the encroachment of
the city on the green/agricultural belt around the city while
residue-treatment plants are being set up in adjoining areas. There
is a complete absence of a true urban renewal programme as there is a
lack of services in the most degraded parts of the city. The goal of
this process is the complete decapitalization of whole districts so
that more land becomes available for speculative operations
(otherwise known as gentrification policies).

Another issue is the corridor of the high-speed AVE railway which
will eat its way through the most populated area of the Valencian
Community and do away with areas of landscape heritage. The National
Water Project (PHN) compromises the historical rights of farmers in
the Ribera area, yet it does not solve the water problems faced by
the Valencian region. Another thorny question is the new Mining Law
and so on and so forth; all these issues together with more 'silent'
projects are quietly cooking away while the outrage from citizens
steadily mounts ; yet concerned citizens are greeted with the mocking
"Ideal City" campaign directed by the authorities.

In second place, what is this Biennial going to bring to us? In this
sense, we should remember the theory of information, fully confirmed
by the evidence of the last edition, showing that a non-critical
accumulation of activities is not a benefit on itself but on the
contrary, it may constitute a real problem of saturation because the
inevitable "noises" distort communication as a whole. On the other
hand, the promotion of "parachutist " artists, artists hired just for
the event, without any real knowledge of the city, is a completely
obsolete practice at an international level. Public art believes
mostly in global strategies and co-operation tactics between
different professionals and citizens directly affected by changes.
This is a field in which artists may have a lot to say and do as
catalysers of the general feeling, beyond the symbolic simulacrum
implied in the idealization of actual problems.

With regard to this panorama, we continue asking ourselves: what is
going to happen when this second Biennial will finish? Will common
citizens be able to perceive the investment done? Will the vacant
lots being occupied have more and better public infrastructures? Will
the apartments that should be built there be more accessible to
people? Will this edition do a simple research about conflicts and
deficiencies and try to solve them in the near future? Because if
after these four months, this event in which an investment of at
least 5 million euros has been done, pretending to evaluate the
cities of the future, has only been a wall to show contemporary
artistic works (knowing that Valencia is a desert for contemporary
art), it will prove unmistakably again that it should have been
better to use all this energy in a different place, like the
different neighbourhoods and conflicts not solved that our local and
autonomous government is determined to ignore.

Citadans per una Cultura Democrática i Participativa



REALITATS DE LA CIUTAT will open to the public Thursday 5 of June.
Complete program

5 Thursdays June

20 h. Openning Café el Negrito


6 Fridays June

20 h. Round table. Antagonisms: Art, citizenship and participation.
Oscar de Llisca, Fernando Flores y Antonio Montiel


Sábado 7 Junio

11 h. Lecture. Concha Jerez. Cultural policies


12 h. CLectura Manuel Delgado. Trivialidad y trascendencia. The
social and political uses of the culture


18 h. Round table. Cultural policies. Joan M. Oleaque, Trini Simó y
Pau Rausell y presencia de los ponentes de la mañana


Domingo 8 Junio

12 h. Visit guided by conflicting points of the city