Between the 17th and the 20th, October, Asunción gathered more than 68 international critics from 27 countries. The first three days the Congress debated about “Art and Criticism in Times of Crisis” and during the fourth day the AICA Internationl General Assembly took place, in which the election of the new President for the period 2011-2014 wa proceded: Marek Bartelik (USA).

The congress focused on the present state of art in both a local and an international context and the conferences, dissertations, and lectures posed the following questions: What kind of perspective and axes of communication should be adopted, in response to the changing relations between art, criticism, and society? What is the critic’s role and responsibility vis-à-vis the society s/he lives and works in today?

The thematic axes where:

1. Axes of the crisis: Political and Ethical. Social and Economic. Cultural and Artistic. Art Criticism and the Media
2. Spaces of Interaction / Fields of Tension: Cultural Institutions (foundations, museums, galleries, biennials, etc.). Press and Other Media. Public Debates. Alternative Forms of Interaction
3. Art and Criticism in Virtual Space: New Languages. New Tools. New Kinds of Behaviours

Organizing Committee for the Congress

Adriana Almada, president of AICA Paraguay (hosting chapter) and vicepresident of AICA International.
Yacouba Konaté, president of AICA International (2008-2011).
Brane Kovic, general secretary of AICA International.
Haydée Venegas, treasurer of AICA International.

Scientific Committee

Marek Bartelik (president of AICA USA and vicepresident of AICA International).
Yacouba Konaté, president of AICA International (2008-2011).
Adriana Almada, president of AICA Paraguay and vicepresident of AICA International.
Niilofur Farrhuk (president of AICA Pakistan and vicepresident of AICA International)
Henry Meyric Hughes (president of AICA UK and honorary president of AICA International)
Lisbeth Rebollo Gonçalves (president of ABCA and vicepresident of AICA International).

The congress disign was held by Adriana Almada, Marek Bartelik and Haydée Venegas.

Program

Patronages, Partners and Sponsors

High patronage: UNESCO
Partners: Secretaría Nacional de Cultura del Paraguay, The Getty Foundation.
Principal Sponsors: Universidad Columbia del Paraguay, Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos, Embajada Argentina, Embajada de Francia, Embajada de Brasil, Instituto Cultural Paraguayo Alemán.
Support: ICOM, Fausto Cultural, El Tendedero, Comisión Nacional del Bicentenario.

For more information about the constitution of the Executive Bureau and the Administrative Council of the AICA International, please click here.