Biennial of the Central American Isthmus

Founded in 2002 in Managua, Nicaragua.
General Coordinator: Juanita Bermúdez

The Visual Arts Biennial of the Central American isthmus (BAVIC) was born in 2002 in response to the demands of artists who were hoping the biennial would be a platform in which they could express themselves in the most contemporary languages of universal art: installations, videos, video installations, photography, art actions, interventions in the public space, among other manifestations. Artists from the five Central American countries and Panama participate in the biennial. In the cases of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica they are the ones who have won the national biennials and in the cases of El Salvador and Panama were selected by an international jury.

Eighth edition of the Visual Arts Biennial of Central America
will open next January 15 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Panama City. BAVIC, the most important artistic event throughout the region, was founded 16 years ago and involves all Central American countries except Belize. The biennial will be open to the public until 18 February 2012.

The artists chosen to represent each country in the VIII BAVIC are Alvaro Gomez, Roberto Guerrero, Elena Wen, and John Juric, as well as the duos integrated by Paulina Velazquez & Travis Johns, and Carolina Parra & Xavier Villafranca (Costa Rica); Luis Cornejo, Rodrigo Dada, Melissa Guevara, Kabistan Mauritius, Eduardo Lytton, and Danny Zavaleta (El Salvador); Marlov Barrios, Menchu Eick, Norman Morales, Joshua Romero and Pliny Villagrán, and La Torana collective (Guatemala); Lucy Argueta, Fernando Cortez, Lester Rodriguez, Jorge Oqueli, Cesar Chinchilla, and Gabriel Vallecillo Marquez (Honduras); Patricia Belli, Alejandro de la Guerra, Maruca Gomez, Erika Mierisch, Ricardo Miranda Huezo, and the collective veinti3 (Nicaragua); Jose Castrellon, Maria Raquel Cochez, Francisco Malaga, Darién Montañez, and Jhafis Quintero (Panama).

This eighth edition will also host a symposium, “De facto: boundless actions”, on the 16 and 17 January 2013. The event “will discuss the people, strategies, challenges and impacts of transformative projects in Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico.” The latter will be the guest country, with Mexican speakers of the caliber of artists Carlos Amorales and Ruben Gutierrez, and curators Jose Garcia and Paola Santoscoy. Round tables and conferences will also include, among others: Rocio Aranda-Alvarado, curator of the Museo del Barrio; Michele Dalmace, Caribbean art history professor at Michel de Montaigne University; Stefan Benchoam, Ultraviolet Projects director; Andres Asturias, editor of Rara; Raul Quintanilla, editor of Malagana; Bayardo Blandino, director of Mujeres en las Artes; Humberto Velez, director of Visiting Minds, Monica Kupfer, founder of the Panama Art Biennial, and Inti Guerrero, artistic director of TEOR/etica, who will offer a curatorial workshop within the framework of BAVIC.

See Central American Biennial’s profile here