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An Encounter with Jimmie Durham at the 58th International Art Biennale of Venice

 by Dominique Godrèche

Jimmie Durham and his wife Maria Thereza Alvez (photos: Dominique Godrèche)

 

 

AN ENCOUNTER WITH JIMMIE DURHAM

AT THE

58^TH INTERNATIONAL ART BIENNALE OF VENICE

“May you live in interesting times”

_______

a Paris Writers News interview

by Dominique Godrèche

 

Jimmie Durham, American poet, activist, artist, attended the International Venice art Biennale, «May you live in interesting times», curated by Ralph Rugoff, to receive the Golden Lion Award for lifetime achievement.

Born in the United States into a Cherokee family, Jimmie Durham studied art at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva, and had his first solo shows in 1965.  He later joined the American Indian Movement during the confrontation with US federal forces at Wounded Knee in 1973, and became Director of the International Indian Treaty Council and its representative to the UN during the 1970s. He moved to Cuernavaca, Mexico in the 90’s, and to Europe in 1994. He now resides in Naples, Italy, and Berlin, where, with his wife Maria Thereza Alves, they created a design company, Labinac, supporting the crafts of Latin American Indigenous populations, and the access to education for Indigenous students. While in Venice, he shared his thoughts with Dominique Godrèche about the Golden Lion Award, Native American art, Beauty, and living in Europe.

Dominique Godrèche: How do you feel about receiving the Golden Lion at this Venice Biennale?

Jimmie Durham: They probably think I am going to die soon! (laugh) I am very honored to be recognized, not as a prize recipient for making art, but for seriously making art. This is my 7th Biennale. I love being in big group shows, around other artists, and this art show exhibits so many people: it gives a chance to see what is going on in the world. I always loved Venice, where I taught art and history at the university: it is a beautiful city. So I am always happy to be here.

 

How did you select the pieces for the Arsenale, and Giardini?

Ralph Rudolph came to Berlin, and told me what he wanted for the Arsenale and the Giardini: I had the skulls of animals from my previous show in Zurich, a year ago, which  he was pleased with. Then I told him about a new piece made of serpentine stone for the Giardini, which he approved.

The eyes of the skulls, shown at the Arsenale, are made of Murano glass: did you work there?

I had a show a few years ago at the Querini Stampalia Museum, and I used broken Murano glass; as I have a friend who works there, and took his left over. I love broken glass, the pieces which are not quite “good”. In Murano they can do anything with glass, except a not good looking piece! Their glass work is too nice, it is made for the bourgeois; I love this beauty, but I know that you cannot make art with beauty, unless you are a really  good artist! Broken glass has so much energy: it vibrates in front of my eyes.

 

Can you elaborate about “art cannot be realized with beauty”?

Art is an intellectual enterprise. I don’t know what is meant by “creative”: I cannot create anything, but I can change the language, by talking, or creating poetry. -My first life was poetry-. But I don’t create language: I make poems, I answer an interview. As artists, we know that what we do in art is not translatable into language, and you cannot say what you mean. Art is important for human society; we need it as much as we need language.

 

But why did you mention that art cannot be beauty?

Because it is too easy, too incomplete. If I write or read a poem only made of beautiful words, it is not enough: there needs to be more complexity. And beauty takes over the complexity.

 

Since how long have you been living in Europe?

We moved here in 1994, from Mexico, and I had previously lived in Geneva for 4 years. I never feel at home anywhere, but I want to be able to participate to the intellectual and artistic life in Europe. As the United States is a colonial country, where people are racist, violent, not interested by culture, - just by money-. So now we have fame and money as a standard, and it comes from America.  When you hear about an American writer, actor…You only hear about how much he makes: that is not the right standard of success, as money has nothing to do with it. But that is the colonial idea of success; and is not good at all for art. In Europe it is still not as bad.

 

Why did you choose to live in Mexico?

We lived in Cuernavaca, as the most magical man, Ivan Illich, was there; and his ideas are more and more meaningful.

And why Naples today?

I never imagined to live in Napoli; we were living in Berlin and Rome. But a friend brought us to Napoli, and we fell in love with the city!

 

Do you identify yourself as Native American?

Yes, I am a Cherokee; but it is not a big deal. It becomes a big deal when craziness, or the media pick it up. What is important is that I never stopped being an activist and an artist since long ago, and I don’t make a separation between the two: if you are an activist and an artist, you don’t choose one over the other.

 

Do you think that your Native American identity reflects in your art work?

The same way Marcel Duchamp’s identity reflects in his art work. When we lived in New York, my art work was about the situation in the United States and the Native culture. Because we are colonized, we cannot make decisions on our own, and it is intolerable. I did not make art to instruct people; I made art that would be liked, and at the same time show a reality abou  racism. It is a sardonic type of art, with as much humor as possible, to show the stupidity of racism in everyday life; but I would not say it is Native American as such.

 Would you consider living in the United States again?

No. It is too frustrating to do art there, as the standard is money, and you cannot get beyond that; and it applies to everything.

 

Are you still concerned with Native American art, and issues?

I never was interested by Native contemporary art from the point of view of the United States: we are cheated by colonialism, and told, as Native American artists, that we should portray our lives, or ways of being, which means being oppressed, not free. And that gets boring very quickly, as they want us to create their romanticized image of ourselves; which is a cheat, and also not good for us.

An issue frequently mentioned by Native American artists…

Yes, but it is a difficult situation, to make art there, and fight colonialism: it is a hard task. You cannot do it directly; and not in America.

 

 

Will you continue to live in Berlin and Napoli?

I do not  like to be “at home”. Berlin is like Los Angeles: big, spread out, nowhere. So it is a good base. I like to live in a place until I reach a point where I hate it so well that I have to leave.

 

The Venice Biennale runs through November 24, 2019

 

Dominique Godrèche, ethno psychologist, writer, journalist, author of "Santana", Albin Michel editions, Awardee of the literary Prix de la Villa Medicis Hors les Murs, is a contributor for various medias (Télérama, le Monde Diplomatique, Geo...) She has published "Mad about God", "the Jerusalem Syndrome", in Paris Match, “Ultra orthodoxy and fashion”, in Le Point, “Religious fiction and Reality” in ça m’intéresse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unceded: Voices of the Land. An Encounter with Douglas J. Cardinal

Douglas J. Cardinal

UNCEDED: VOICES OF THE LAND

CANADA AT THE 16 th VENICE BIENNALE OF ARCHITECTURE

FREE SPACE

AN ENCOUNTER WITH DOUGLAS J. CARDINAL

Dominique Godrèche

“We see the earth as a Client. Architecture is the play of light, sun, shade, moon, air, wind, gravity in ways that reveal the mysteries of the world. All of these resources are free”, declared the curators of “Free Space”, the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara.

“Unceded: Voices of the Land”, Canada’s official entry, presented by Douglas J. Cardinal, architect of the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, curated by David Fortin, Director of the McEwen School of Architecture at Laurentian University, Ontario, and Gerald McMaster, professor of Indigenous Visual Culture and Critical Curatorial Studies at OCAD University,Toronto, responds to Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara’s statement through the work of 18 Indigenous architects and designers, showcasing contemporary Native Architecture in Canada and the United States.

Divided into four thematic territories --Sovereignty, Resilience, Colonization, Indigeneity-- the exhibition addresses the fundamental values of Native people reflected in today’s architecture, shining the light on Indigenous architecture as a way of being, as underlined by Douglas Cardinal.

Born in 1934 in Calgary, Alberta, from Métis, Blackfoot, German and Algonquin heritage, Douglas Cardinal grew up in Red Deer, Alberta, where he studied at St. Joseph's Convent Residential School. In 1952, he attended the School of Architecture at the University of British Columbia, and later the School of Architecture of the University of Austin, Texas, from which he graduated in 1963. Douglas Cardinal received an award from UNESCO, for best sustainable village, and was awarded “World Master of Contemporary Architecture” by the International Association of Architects. In 1990, he was made Officer of the Order of Canada, in 1999 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, and in 2012, he received the Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Settled in Ottawa, he currently works on a sport complex, “Fortitude”, in Orleans, Ottawa. Douglas Cardinal‘s philosophy and ideal envision architecture as a collective adventure, including the clients in their projects, so that the buildings will intimately relate to the inherent nature of their communities.

Invited at the Biennale to present “Unceded: Voices of the Land”, the first ever Indigenous- led exhibition representing Canada, he shared his visions for the future of Indigenous architecture, and his hopes for a global environmental awareness.

What does the topic of “Free Space” evokes, for you, and how did you select the architects?

Free space is about the nature of our people, who always had a sense of freedom, and cared for the beauty of the land: we lived that way for thousand of years before being colonized. David Fortin had the idea to submit Indigenous architects to the Canada Council for the Arts in charge of the presentation at the Biennale. The architects asked me to be the presenter, and I accepted, if we had traditional Native Elders involved, to show the importance of our Indigenous culture to the world. It was a great experience: the people in Venice were very responsive to what we had to present. And of course, being in Venice, so beautiful, was very nice.

What made you decide to become an architect, and who were your influencers?

I was brought up in a convent, surrounded by arts, culture; my mother trained me in music and arts. So I understood the importance of art and architecture, and felt I wanted to become an architect, as I could see how architecture would influence people‘s thinking. Frank Lloyd Wright was one of my influences. And one of my professors introduced me to Rudolf Steiner, who had a great influence on my architecture, because of his spiritual vision, his concern to build with love and care for the people: he was an architect in his approach of education, how he responded to the rhythm and the growth of the children in a natural way, bringing their beauty and values into the world, instead of colonizing them to fit into a patriarchal system of power and control.

Would you say that is what happened to the Native children? How do control and power manifest?

Absolutely; it was all about being forced into a colonial way of thinking, of power and control. But the Indigenous people follow the matriarchal system, of loving, caring, cooperation. The church and state make decisions for the people from the cradle to the grave; and even after. But architecture is about fulfilling people’s dreams and visions, without allowing the system to interfere: it is about freedom. The freedom of choice, not being programed to fit into a patriarchal system. I include the community and the people into the plans of the building, so I can build around their needs. Nobody ever asks the teachers, or students, how to design a class room: but when you do that, you get a building that serves the people properly. The ones who use the building know what works for them: a school genitor knows the school he works in, so you have to consult him.

So when you built the Oneida casino and resort, did you meet with the community before starting the construction?

Definitely. I had them make all the decisions: they had enough people deciding for them in the past, and I do not want to perpetrate that colonial mentality. I make sure they make all the decisions themselves, as they know how to use the space, and what they want. I had the people in the community tell me what their needs were, and I asked them to criticize whatever I do, so I could make changes according to their wishes: I put full responsibility in their hands, as it is for them, so they are the ones who should decide. Architecture is just about serving people, to bring their visions and reality, and not assume that you know all, forcing your vision on people. It is hearing the people’s vision, and carry out their dreams. Architects are usually like the society they serve: it is about power and control. That is not what I do. I do not want to build pyramids for the system, but rather work for the people. It is another way of looking at the world: instead of using your intellect, you look at the world from your heart and feelings. I gave Presidents Francois Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac a tour of the Ottawa Museum of History in Gatineau, and they liked it.

 What is the specificity of Native architecture, which examples would there be?

The architecture built in stones, before the arrival of the Europeans: the Mayans, and the Incas in South America, were great builders, who related to their culture and people. Indigenous people always lived in harmony with their values, and built in harmony with their environment and community. There was a relationship between the structures the people lived in, and their culture: when you live in harmony and respect with your environment and the people around you, whatever you do reflects that. The Indigenous world vision is far more compatible with the planet then the Western view, mainly related to power and control, not harmony.

Do you see an evolution among young Native architects, and do Native companies favor Indigenous architects for their projects?

Yes; the young ones want to be able to bring back their values and culture, and it is very important. Native companies are sometimes forced by the Bureau of Indian affairs to work with architects they have not chosen, but they would rather hire Indigenous architects, who think like they do.

You designed a hospital based on Indigenous beliefs and values: do some spaces have a healing quality, or, reverse, can they be destructive, because they do not fit people’s needs?

Space can be healing, when it reflects caring and loving qualities. And it can be destructive; or just serve the ministry who requested it. We had to build a hospital: who knows about patients care? The nurses know how things should be, so they should be included, with the doctors: I had doctors and nurses designing a hospital, which ended up being different from what the Department of Health wanted to implement. And not only did I include the doctors, but the medicine men who heal the people in the hospital; I introduced Indigenous healers inside the facilities and the operating rooms, where we combined both approach – traditional and medical -. Traditionally, Native people built Sundance lodges, healing lodges for their spiritual ceremonies: certain spaces are healing.

Given the way Native communities have been treated, put on reservations, with poor housing, going through a destructive history of their people, their space, does Indigenous architecture represent a political act today?

The architectural factor, or its absence, was part of the apartheid and the genocide policy of the Canadian government. Architecture has always been important through the ages, and can be very constructive for creating social changes. So maybe will we able to transmit our values, to make changes in the world; so that people become more respectful of the environment.

UNCEDED: VOICES OF THE LAND ARSENALE

VENICE BIENNALE UNTIL NOVEMBER 25

www.djcarchitect.com

 

The story behind Modigliani's magnificent portrait of a chocolate maker from Lognes

Investigative journalists at The Fifth Estate have done a fascinating documentary on a disputed Modigliani which the Panama Papers revealed was in the possession of one of the most powerful art dealing families in the world.  Anyone interested in art history and provenance could learn a lot, and lovers of Modigliani will certainly enjoy the unwrapping of this mystery.  

 

There is, in addition, an interesting local history connection. The sitter for this beautiful portrait by Modigliani was Georges Menier, who lived in Lognes, a pretty town in the eastern banlieue of Paris of which he was the mayor. He belonged to the great Menier chocolate-making family.

 

  

Linked Data Queries With Sparql

Linked Data seems to hold such promise. But linking data just for the sake of linking data doesn't really make sense. Not unless one can access the data that various institutions and individuals have been, each in their own little corners, linking. 

How can one query Linked Data? Search it, retrieve it, use it?

That's where Sparql comes in.  

Unfortunately, learning Sparql can be a little daunting for non-programmers like myself.  So it's nice to find both MOOCs like INRIA's thorough "Introduction to Linked Data" as well as excellent Youtube videos like the one below.

 

 

Where can one find this Linked Data? One way is through what's called Sparql Endpoints. Sometimes these work. Sometimes they don't. Below are a couple of very very big ones that do (or mostly do).

•  DBPEDIA Sparql Endpoint
•  British Museum Sparql Endpoint
•  Europeana Sparql Endpoint
•  Getty Vocabularies Sparql Endpoint
• BNF Sparql Endpoint
•  Yale Center for British Art Sparql Endpoint
• SPARQL endpoints for the authority files of the German National Library 
• More Sparql Endpoints from W3C

There is real power here, but it is not easy to access. User friendly Sparql is not. But the possibility of searching across multiple data bases and through all kinds of layers and types of data is a tantalizing one and one, I hope, that will prove worth the effort.

I am extremely grateful to INRIA for their information-packed Mooc "Introduction to a Web of Linked Data", which took some of the fear away and make it possible to get started. There is much to learn...

A talk with Simon Goodman, author of The Orpheus Clock

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The Orpheus Clock  is both a fascinating read and an extremely valuable addition to the literature of  the Nazi era. It details two interlinked histories:  the story of the Gutmanns, a Dutch family of Jewish origin who was robbed and murdered under the Nazis, and the story of their descendants, the British Goodmans who have for decades struggled to uncover the truth and reclaim their heritage despite well-financed opposition by the indirect beneficiaries of Hitler's policies. 

Against intense opposition, the Goodman brothers fought an epic court battle to force the powerful Chicago billionaire Daniel Searle to admit the truth about the provenance of  a painting, a Degas, that had belonged to Goodman's grandparents, Friedrich and Louise Gutmann. In 1943, the Gutmanns were deported to Theresienstadt: Friedrich was beaten to death and Louise murdered in Auschwitz. 

What I discovered in Simon Goodman's outstanding book, The Orpheus Clock: The Search for My Family's Art Treasures Stolen by the Nazis, was that the immense Chicago battle was only the first of many, many battles that were to come,  each one demanding incredible reserves of time, money, effort, patience and courage, not only to recover the Gutmann/Goodman family's lost legacy of art treasures, but, equally important, to reestablish its history, which had been deliberately obliterated.

 

 Simon Goodman, author of The Orpheus Clock: The Search for My Family's Art Treasures Stolen by the Nazis

a Paris Writers News interview

 

Brushstroke! The story Alice Goldfarb Marquis switched to fiction to tell

Alice Goldfarb Marquis was a fearless master of non-fiction whose books about the art world made headlines, notably Alfred H. Barr Jr: Missionary to the Modern, her revealing biography of the director of the Museum of Modern Art. Unbeknownst to the general public, Goldfarb also wrote a novel about the art world - from all apparences a roman à clef - which she was never able to get published during her lifetime.  It fell to her friend, Larry Jarvik, to bring the novel out, years after her death. 

A talk with Larry Jarvik, publisher of Brushstroke! the only story Alice Goldfarb Marquis turned to fiction to write.

Elizabeth Rynecki on Chasing Portraits of pre-Holocaust Jewish Poland

Moshe Rynecki's paintings depicting Jewish life in Poland were scattered and presumed lost after he and most of his family were murdered in the Holocaust.

Today, three quarters of a century later, his great-granddaughter, Elizabeth Rynecki, has undertaken a quest to reconstruct his life's work and to reconnect with her family's past. Chasing Portraits is her moving first person account of her search for the artistic legacy that her great-grandfather hid in an attempt to save it before the Nazis came.

 A Talk with Elizabeth Rynecki on Chasing Portraits, a memoir at the intersection of art, history, family legacy and the Holocaust.

Anne-Marie O'Connor on the extraordinary tale of Klimt's The Lady in Gold

When Maria Altmann died in 2011 at the age of 94, she left behind a legacy that reached far beyond herself. Her struggle to reclaim Klimt masterpieces that Nazis had stolen from her family in Vienna paved the way, not just for a precedent-setting Supreme Court decision and one of most important restitutions of Nazi looted art in history, but for a long overdue telling of a story that had been too long concealed. 

If I am so excited about Anne-Marie O'Connor's book The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer  it is because she tells that story brilliantly. Framed by a dramatic, high-stakes battle for justice, The Lady in Gold is a cracking good read.  Colorful, engaging and wonderfully detailed, The Lady in Gold resurrects fascinating people in a vanished - and brilliantly complex - world. It is, perhaps, no accident that O'Connor is a seasoned war correspondent, as well as a culture writer. I can only agree with Library Journal when it writes: “The dazzling, nearly surreal ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I’ is about a lot more than just art. O'Connor captures the whole story.” 

Anton Gill, author of Art Lover: A Biography of Peggy Guggenheim, on research and writing non-fiction

Non-fiction makes special demands on a writer: many talented authors wrestle for years with the fruits of their research, struggling to corral all the facts and details into a coherent, compelling and accurate narrative.

Enter Anton Gill, author of over thirty critically acclaimed works on a wide range on topics, both fiction and non-fiction, most recently The Sacred Scroll.  I first discovered Anton's work with Art Lover: A Biography of Peggy Guggenheim,  realizing only later that this was the tip of the proverbial iceberg (he's also written on The Titanic).

Actor, director, author of both history and historical fiction, biographer, mystery writer, Anton Gill is a man of many talents (and several pennames).  How, I wondered, does he do it?