We are proud to announce the ESTE ARTE 2016 Special Commissioned Project: “Himno Internacional (International Anthem)” by Gabo Camnitzer and Luis Camnitzer. In collaboration with the 3a Bienal de Montevideo.
“Himno Internacional (International Anthem)” is a sound artwork composed by a collage of fragments of all the national anthems of the world, in English alphabetical order. The piece will be performed by the marching band of the National Navy on the esplanade of the Legislative Palace on the occasion of the opening of the 3rd Bienal de Montevideo.
With the work “Himno Internacional (International Anthem)", the utopian idea of a composition that unites all inhabitants of the planet is destroyed under a class of less visible chauvinism. Instead of using geography, divisions of nation-states, symbols such as flags and pictures of football teams, this chauvinism happens to be within the diversity of languages that just prevents the unification. For its part, the sound transcends linguistic fragmentation and allow universal access. The model most hymns comes from Western bombastic music of the nineteenth century, which in this case acts as a new Latin sacrifice of local musical contributions of individual countries.
Since 2014, ESTE ARTE launched its distinguished program of special commissioned projects, produced by the fair, with the aim of extending its commitment to support the development of artists, providing a global stage of their work.
“We are honored that father and son have agreed to present this project with us. Through his practice, Luis Camnitzer connects narratives, complexities and documents of the past with our contemporary times. His work contributes to the understanding not only of entangled local histories, but also the importance of looking back as an artist to learn and understand the present. This is in some ways a similar approach to the one we have with the fair, “says Laura Bardier, director of ESTE ARTE.
About Gabo and Luis Camnitzer
Leading figure of Latin American conceptualism, Luis Camnitzerwas born in Lubeck, Germany and raised in Montevideo; he studied at the School of Fine Arts of Uruguay and the Academy of Munich. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1961 and 1982. His work is in Tate Modern, MoMA and El Museo del Barrio. He is Professor Emeritus of the State University of New York.
Gabo Camnitzer is an artist and educator based in Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden, where he is a lecturer in Fine Art at Valand Academy at Gothenburg University. He has exhibited internationally at, Gertrude Contemporary Art Center, Melbourne, Australia. Exit Art, New York, USA. Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden, El Basilisco, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Kunstsaele, Berlin, Germany, among others.