As part of the festival “Brazil, Brazils – The Year of Brazil in France”, Le Plateau / Frac Ile-de-France and the Paris Festival d’automne are proud to present, from September 21 to November 28, 2005, an exhibition dedicated to the artists Mauricio Dias and Walter Riedweg.
Since 1993, the Brazilian Mauricio Dias (born in 1964 in Rio de Janeiro) and the Swiss Walter Riedweg (born in 1955 in Lucerne) have collaborated on several public art projects (perfomances, videos, installations) throughout the world (Brazil, United States, South Africa, and several cities in Europe…).
Marked by a desire to explore “the other” and to conduct genuine investigations, their works question the relationships between different individuals and groups in society. By engaging their subjects in lengthy discussions, the artists attempt to analyze the various tensions and conflicts which exist amongst the world’s diverse political, social, and economic stratas.
For each commission, Mauricio Dias and Walter Riedweg create a work which is specifically adapted to the surrounding environment of the exhibition space. Their multiform creations (sculptures, videos, photographs…) from across the world offer up a different way of presenting marginals who often live side by side with society’s more well-to-do members. Each work created takes on a particular form based on the nature of the community in question.
As part of Paris’ Festival d’Automne, Mauricio Dias and Walter Riedweg will be presenting a new exhibition consisting of seven pieces on the theme of migrations, borders and territories. These works will include two new projects which deal with the theme in its Parisian context : the first project, entitled Parcours, is an in situ work which takes its inspiration from the environment immediately surrounding le Plateau, acting as a mirror reflecting the neighbouring streets and sidewalks. The second piece, Labeur, is a portrait of immigrant communities centered around the notion of work. Alongside these two projects, the artists will also be presenting a new video installation entitled Flesh, as well as a series of recent works never before shown in France, including Sugar Seekers (in association with the the Liverpool Biennial at the Tate Liverpool, 2004), Voracidad Maxima (a commission from Macba, 2003), and This is not Egypt (a commission from Pro Helvetia, Swiss Council for the Arts, 1999).
