SAO PAULO.- The 17th International Contemporary Art Festival SESC_Videobrasil, opened in São Paulo, Brazil, featuring Olafur Eliasson's first solo exhibition in Latin America. The show comprises a series of installations by the Danish-Icelandic artist created or adapted especially for three venues with a strong architectural identity: SESC Pompeia, a factory recreated by Italian architect Lina Bo Bardi; Pinacoteca do Estado, a historic building renovated by Pritzker Prize winner Paulo Mendes da Rocha; and the recently opened SESC Belenzinho.

The exhibition is a further statement on the recent changes in the Festival focus, according to general curator Solange Farkas, the president of Associação Cultural Videobrasil. Starting from the present Festival, Southern Panoramas competitive exhibition, once devoted exclusively to video and video art, opens itself to all contemporary artistic manifestations. The enlarged scope is reflected in the new name of the Festival, now aimed at all contemporary practices.

"The change is not casual," says Solange Farkas. "The Festival has been transforming itself to keep up with the changing role that audiovisual languages play in contemporary art production. Thus, also, the choice of an artist who deals with issues brought by science, the moving image, and technology, but whose practices go way beyond all language limitations and whose work imposes itself as a sensorial experience accessible to all audiences."

Olafur Eliasson's exhibition is curated by Jochen Volz and opened on September 30, along with Southern Panoramas exhibitions and screenings. The 17th International Contemporary Art Festival SESC_Videobrasil is being held at SESC venues until December 2011.