MIA/BER

MIA/BER
Curated by William Cordova
Galerie Verein Berliner Künstler, Berlin, GE.

South Florida consists of multi-layered and interwoven landscapes that, while merging into one another, are equally separated by political, racial, economic, and other factors.

Miami's diverse art scenes share one thing in common: a sense of isolation, caused by everything from the lack of critical artistic discourse within academia to a lack of public support and funding for grassroots organizations. The artists, like the workers, are left to their own devices with minimal city and government support. Unlike the artists, the workers are often better trained to adapt to a changing economic environment, coupled with a lack of external support, while the artists are too quick to participate in the gentrification of former working-class neighborhoods. Here, a superficial sense of community emerges for the artists, one based on the displacement and removal of entire neighborhoods. This is not a new phenomenon; it has been practiced for many decades in various major US cities: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Austin, New Jersey, Detroit, etc. In contrast, Miami lacks the infrastructure to support visual artists due to the fact that Miami has made the tourism industry its primary source of income. Today, many Miami artists are feeling the negative effects of their own roles within the real estate market: neighborhoods that were once culturally rich and diverse have been degraded into culturally deserted residential areas. The artists selected for the MIA_BER exhibition project represent various generations of artists whose artistic practice is rooted in and inspired by South Florida. With great perseverance, they have practiced their art despite great hardship, thereby making an immense cultural contribution that exceeds all expectations.

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MIA_BER is an artistic exchange project between Miami and Berlin, with the institutions ArtCenter South Florida/Miami and the Association of Berliner Künstler/Berlin. The exhibition of Miami artists, which opens on June 18, 2014, at the VBK Gallery, is curated by William Cordova.

The exhibition of Berlin artists, which will take place in winter 2015 at the ArtCenter South Florida in Miami, is curated by Glexis Novoa Vian.

The project manager for the entire project is Andrea Sunder-Plassmann.

The project was initiated and conceived by William Cordova, Glexis Novoa Vian, and Andrea Sunder-Plassmann in collaboration with the ACSF/Miami and the VBK/Berlin.