The XXIII Paiz Art Biennial Opens Across 5 Venues in Guatemala City and in Antigua Guatemala, With an Extensive Program of Events

Josué Castro, La niña del volcán (The volcano child), 2023. Performance at the opening event at CCE, Guatemala City. Photo: Courtesy of Sergio Muñoz and Fundación Paiz.

XXIII The XXIII Paiz Art Biennial
bebí palabras sumergidas en sueños (i drank words immersed in dreams)*
July 13, 2023 – July 30, 2023
https://bienaldeartepaiz.org/bienal/

“The 23rd Paiz Art Biennial has been built starting from a polyphony of voices emerging from a dialogue with the participating artists and the reflections emanating from their work; through this, voices and gestures emerge from each specific territory, experimenting with proximity in order to articulate spaces of encounter.”– Francine Birbragher-Rozencwaig and Juan Canela

The Biennial takes place across five venues in two cities:
– Guatemala City
Official opening: Thursday, 13 July 2023
Venues: Centro Cultural de España (CCE), Centro Cultural Municipal Álvaro Arzú Irigoyen (AAI), and Galería Portal

– Antigua Guatemala 
Official opening: Saturday, 15 July 2023
Venues: Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española (CFCE) and La Nueva Fábrica (LNF)

*The project’s title is a verse belonging to the poem Nací mujer (I Was Born a Woman) by the writer and poet Maya Cú

The XXIII Paiz Art Biennial, i drank words immersed in dreams* officially opened on Thursday, 13 July, in Guatemala City, with the performance “La niña del volcán” (The volcano child) by artist Josué Castro (Guatemala); and on Saturday, 15 July, in Antigua Guatemala, with the performance “Trying to untie the knots tied in our inner selves, such as the generational knots existing within society” by Colectivo Tz’aqol, together with an extensive program of public events.

Presented by Fundación Paiz para la Educación y la Cultura and curated by Francine Birbragher-Rozencwaig and Juan Canela, the XXIII Paiz Art Biennial includes 131 artworks, by 30 artists and collectives from Guatemala and 12 other countries.

The Shared Knowledge Program, the educational component of the Biennial curated by Esperanza de León, will accompany the two weeks of exhibitions including performances, guided tours, workshops, conversations and much more. These will take place in both cities, as well as virtually, and feature the participation of artists such as Duen Neka’hen Sacchi (Argentina), Salissa Rosa (Brazil), Adler Guerrier (Haití-US), Risseth Yangüez (Panamá), Eliazar Ortiz Roa (Dominican Republic), Josué Castro (Guatemala), Yavheni de León (Guatemala), Martin Wannam (Guatemala-US), the curators Francine Birbragher-Rozencwaig, Juan Canela and Esperanza de León,  amongst many other collaborators.

On Friday 14 July,  taking advantage of The Current IV residency that coincides in both  time and place with the presence of artists of the XXIII Bienal de Arte Paiz, the Shared Knowledge Program presents the performative discussion, “We meet at the exit of a volcano”: a spontaneous dialogue that aims to trace thematic interests, points in common, inflection and references, between both projects.

We meet at the exit of a volcano
Time: From 4 to 7 pm
Location: CCE, Centro Cultural de España, Guatemala City
Free admission
RSVP (all activities)
There will be a zoom webcast for those who cannot attend in person.
Link webinar zoom: https://bit.ly/TBA21y23BAP | Access code: 529641

Participants include Nadia Huggins, artist; Tessa Mars, artist; Dénètem Touam Bona, philosopher and playwright; Monique Johnson, volcanologist; Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, founder of TBA21; Markus Reymann; director of TBA2; Yina Jiménez Suriel, curator The Current; Adler Guerrier, artist; Colectiva Ixqcrear, artists; Eliazar Ortiz Roa, artist; Juana Valdés, artist; and Minia Biabiany, artist.

Most projects presented at the XXIII Paiz Art Biennial are commissioned and/or site specific, including those of Minia Biabiany (Guadalupe); Collective Tz’aqaat – Cheen (Cortez) and Manuel Chavajay (Guatemala), Zoila Andrea Coc-Chang (Guatemala-US), Roberto Escobar Raguay (Guatemala), Adler Guerrier (Haití-US), Marilyn Boror Bor (Guatemala), Julieth Morales (Colombia), Laia Estruch (Spain), Helen Mirra (US), Duen Neka’hen Sacchi (Argentina), Juana Valdes (Cuba-US), Josué Castro (Guatemala), Eliazar Ortiz Roa (Dominican Republic), Itziar Okariz (Spain), Martín Wannam (Guatemala-US), Carolina Alvarado (Mexico-Guatemala), Lourdes de la Riva (Guatemala), Yavheni de León (Guatemala), Verónica Navas González (Costa Rica), Risseth Yangüez Singh (Panama), La Nueva Cultura Material – Bryan Castro and Valeria Leiva (Guatemala); Sallisa Rosa (Brazil), Ix Shells (Panama), and more.

The book, bebí palabras sumergidas en sueños (i drank words immersed in dreams)*, will be presented on Sunday 16 July, at Filgua, the International Book Fair in Guatemala, with the participation of María Regina Paiz, president of the Paiz Foundation, the curator Maya Juracán and the artists Carolina Alvarado and Yavheni de León.