***  Haus der Kulturen der Welt: Forum1 Archive  ***
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   [Date]: Sun, 10 Oct 1999 23:14:04 +0200
   [From]: Francisco Cordoba <cordoba@tin.it>
     [To]: "Cultural Exchange via Internet" <forum1@hkw.kbx.de>
[Subject]: Art as a game

Rome, October 10, 1999.

Dear members of the forum,

Hello everybody! I'm so glad that after Gerhard's statement in September so
many more contributions came in. In spite of the lack of time and many
activities to keep my art studio alive, I have followed every single
contribution from the very beginning of the forum. It's so enriching and
rewarding to finally read so many ideas, suggestions, project descriptions
and so on. For those who still remember, when we were having strong
arguments about a web exhibit, Leandro Katz once wrote that maybe this
forum was in a way already an "exhibit". If his observation was then
correct, maybe it is now when one can see such an "exhibit" at its best
degree of development, since the interaction between many more members has
finally knocked at the door.

In two days the forum will reach its first year of existance. I believe
that, if one takes a look at the forum members' statements, those who
expressed so much concern about the use of internet can better realize now
that internet is actually another tool. Our statements, the way they have
been developped, the topics we have dealt with, our differences,
similarities, agreements and disagreements totally reflect the societies
(and the "globalized society") we live in: its good and bad aspects, its
wealth and poverty, its goals for a democratic future and its tendency for
higher explotation, higher consumption and exclusion.

I feel the need to say "gracias" to Xavier, Raœl and Juan JosŽ for some of
their last contributions and some of the topics they have written about.
But I also must say "thank you" to Folake Shoga for her contribution on the
12th of May: "As a Black woman artist living in the U.K. and the mother of
four children, I am already extremely preoccupied with other, vital
activities. Yet art is as crucial to me as any of them, which it certainly
would not be if it were primarily an academic activity. I believe art is as
vital and important to the inner life of individuals and communities as
religion, ritual, educational development, manners, and housekeeping! And
that it takes place over as wide a range of sites, and in 
as many interlocking ways, as those other activities do. This is not a mere
idealistic notion on my part but hard-won practical knowledge: it costs me,
and most other artists that I know, a great deal materially, mentally and
emotionally, to follow this profession, which is more like a compulsion."

I meant to copy that part of her statement because I loved Juan JosŽ's
text: "Art is a game we make the mistake of taking it seriously". As an
"artist" (whatever that word can ever mean!) I need art as I need to
breath. I need to live it, defend it, use it, struggle for it, love it,
hate it, make mistakes for it, brake relationships for it. For me, as for
Folake, it's so important for my inner life as to justify many kinds of
sacrifices. Not that I think it should always be that way, but, in order to
defend this need of "creating" it is well known that one is often obliged
to "pay very high bills".

I get the feeling of the "game" mentioned by Juan JosŽ every time I have
the opportunity to create something. It's something which has to do with my
freedom, with an enormous strength wich comes from inside. It's the
capability, no matter how many imposed and self-imposed cultural barriers I
must face, to free that energy (or need) which is inside.

At the end of such a "game", after having succeeded (or not having
succeeded) there will be a "product" or a "non-product". That is after
having dealt with my own inner reality and with all the outside rules,
tendencies, needs, fashions, discriminations against and power. Such a
product sometimes reflects what my goals and purposes were at the very
beginning. It sometimes doesn't. It's like an eternal race characterized by
acceptance/non-acceptance, confirmation/disconfirmation,
recognition/non-ricognition, approval/disapproval before myself and before
the others. This "game", this tiny little magical moment of finding a
balance in order to come out with an artistic "product" always belongs to
the actual moment, to the "hic et nunc". It sometimes must face that
there's no difference between the barriers inside myself and the barriers
imposed by the outer world. This even leads me to my childhood in Costa
Rica and to some aspects of our society then, when young boys better played
soccer than paint. When girls were supposed to help cleaning the house
instead of picking coffee beans. It leads me to my wish of living in Italy
and "create my own way" and to the exclusions and discriminations against,
among others, because of not copying Renaissance icons to make money, nor
following the paths of the "Big Latin American Masters" (!) nor becoming a
follower of some European art fashions.

Yes, maybe the art game is so important that there are not too many other
ways apart from taking it seriously. I'm so glad that we have been playing
this game on democratic basis all these months and I hope that with the
project mentioned by Gerhard about the links list it can be played together
for many more months to come. 

In Italy, the 12th of October is celebrated only in Genoa, where Columbus
was born. In Costa Rica it used to be called "Day of the Race" ("D’a de la
Raza")  (!!!!!). Now it is called "Day of Culture" ("D’a de la Cultura"),
fortunately. Maybe, even if the intentions of the big internet powers are
not the ones of reinforcing culture, we now are indeed celebrating an
encounter of cultures. At least it is not with floods of blood like 507
years ago when Europeans started to conquer the American continent. And the
game of art has to do with all this, absolutely.

Best regards,

Francisco C—rdoba

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Francisco C—rdoba - via degli Zingari, 39
00184 ROMA - ITALIA-  tl-fx (39) 06.47.43.286
www.cordoba.it  -  e-mail: cordoba@tin.it