Bianca Baldi stayed as SWICH artist in residence at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. Her residency was split up in two phases: The first phase started on 11 April 2016 and ended on 11 May 2016. The second phase started in September 2016 and lasted one month.
During her time at SEM, the artist Bianca Baldi has become interested in two collections connected to a Slovene expedition to Togo.
In one collection, a series of technical photographs show the construction of the first wireless transmitter to connect Africa (Togo) with the so-called west (Germany). The other collection comprises curious talismans which suggest a mythological architecture to trap an evil spirit. Bianca Baldi begins to draw links between these two disparate artefacts as a means to take into consideration the question of communication as another invisible tool for imperialism.
Her initial notes can be viewed here:
Bianca Baldi is a visual artist based between South Africa and the EU. Her video installations bring to the fore overlooked narrative strands and the hidden structures of power. In her work, through the focus on specific cultural or sociological artefacts, historical plots reveal complex webs of political, economic and cultural influences.
Baldi grew up in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa and completed her Bachelor of Art at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town. She pursued her postgraduate studies at the Städelschule, in Frankfurt am Main, and at IUAV University of Venice. Recent and upcoming exhibitions include: The AV Festival 2016, Newcastle (UK); The Image Generator II, Extra City Kunsthal, Antwerp (BE); Open House, Kunstverein Braunschweig (DE); 19th Contemporary Art Festival SESC Videobrasil, São Paolo (BR); Sightings, KZNSA, Durban (ZA); The 8th Berlin Biennale of Contemporary Art at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (DE), Zero Latitude at the Goethe Institut, Johannesburg (ZA).
Information on SEM website
