Activities

Interference is a programme of slides, documentaries and videos that tracks the evolution of the work by Perry Bard (Quebec, 1944) since she moved to New York in 1981. At the time, she was struck by the sight of homeless people sleeping in cardboard box shelters and the strong contrast with the surrounding sheets of glass and marble for which the city is known. Since then, Bard’s work has focused on the tenuous limits between public and private.

Liliana Porter (Buenos Aires, 1941) is the only female Latin American artist whose work is included in the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía’s audiovisual collection. For You/Para usted (1999) has its origins in a photographic series the artist did using toys and figurines going about their daily business, which Porter reformulated adding sound, rhythm and narration. From this point of view, the piece is closely connected to her earlier work in painting, drawing and photography, which already manifested the peculiar aspects of her personal narrative, far removed from traditional formulas. As Ana Tiscornia has noted, For You/Para usted is another step in the destabilisation of the conventional ideas of reality that prevails in Liliana Porter’s work. The video, originally shot in 16 mm, craftily uses the basic characteristics of the medium - emphasising time and movement - to present a scene that takes place almost completely off stage, in the mind of the viewer. In this presentation, Porter analyses her piece and illustrates the relationship between the video and the context of her work.

Inspired by the short story Beatles contra Duran-Duran, by the Cuban writer Mirta Yáñez (Havana, 1947), Madagascar (1994) by Fernando Pérez (Havana, 1944) revolves around the contradictions experienced by a university professor who has lost the ability to dream in Cuba during the 1990s economic crisis known as the ‘special period’ and her teenage daughter, who dreams of travelling to Madagascar. Their relationship, which is full of misunderstandings and mutual alienation, is depicted as an exercise in human communication. Its cinematic expressiveness, aesthetic pursuit and the humanity of its characters make Madagascar not only an innovative film, but also an important reading of the cinema of the times. This subtle story about the conflict between tradition and modernity has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Special Jury Prize and Special Cuban Critics Prize at the 16^th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema (1994) and the World Cinema Prize for Best Latin American Film at the 12^th Sundance Film Festival.