SANTIAGO.- The Triennial of Chile 2009 proposed to the international scene “to explore the boundaries of art”. The President of the Republic of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, together with Ticio Escobar, Ministry of Culture of Paraguay and curator of the Triennial, opened the first version of this event at Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Santiago).

Triennial was a Bicentenario national program which included artists, curators, critics and intellectuals, local and foreign, exhibitions and different activities along the country. National visual arts will be celebrated with a decentralized model of action every three years.

The meeting included exhibitions of Chilean and Latin American art, discussions, workshops of art, clinics, interventions and residencies of artists, cycles of video and intersection among native, popular and contemporary art, and political discussions about native matters.

The Triennial of Chile is a decentralized model, different to the other biennials giving visibility to only one city. Seven cities of the country (Iquique, Antofagasta, Valparaíso, Santiago, Concepción, Temuco and Valdivia) were active cultural epicenters with three development zones: North, Center and South.

The curator Escobar said: “This is a work related to the boundaries of art, where usual devices and the situation of the Chilean scene are questioned”.

Among the main exhibitions: “Territorios de Estado, paisaje y cartografía. Chile, siglo XIX”, curated by Roberto Amigo (Argentina); “Lo impuro y lo contaminado 3: pulsiones (neo) barrocas en las rutas de Micromuseo”, curated by Gustavo Buntinx (Peru); “Una múltiple mirada, el Museo del barro”, curated by Aracy Amaral (Brazil); “Terremoto de Chile”, curated by Fernando Castro Flórez (Spain) of several proposals, languages and intentions of contemporary Chilean art; and “Arte Latinoamérica: Estados de Sitio”, curated by Gabriel Peluffo Linari (Uruguay).

Activities like a cycle of art video, directed by Mónica Carballas (Spain) and a program of international colloquiums, directed by the prestigious Chilean editor Nelly Richard and the participation of prominent intellectuals.

This Triennial is a net device where artists and Chilean entities have the possibility of developing bonds with different actors to revitalize the scenes and place our artists inside international circuits.