MAC USP - Visualidade Nascente

Projeto Nascente 25 years
Katia Canton

Department of Research in Art, Theory and Criticism MAC USP

It is with great pleasure that MAC USP hosts the exhibition celebrating Nascente Project a quarter of a century anniversary, in its visual arts, design and audiovisual categories. Conceived at the end of 1990 by the, then Pro-Rector of Culture and University Extension of USP, Professor João Alexandre Barbosa, the project gained body for several years through a partnership between USP and Abril Publisher. Professor João Alexandre presented the idea to Juca Kfouri, the journalist who adopted the motto "Cadê seu talento?" (Where is your talent?), branding the interdisciplinary character of the project.

The intention was to create a space where all undergraduate and postgraduate students in USP could to show their production, regardless of their area of studies at the University. Who would have thought to discover a great writer in the Faculty of Physics, even a talented musician or visual artist in Biology?

Since the beginning, the coordination of the visual arts core, entitled Visualidade Nascente, was undertaken by the then director of MAC USP, Professor Ana Mae Barbosa, who assigned me this role from my admission to the University, at the Museum of Contemporary Art. So this is how the first 13 editions of the project went, while we immerse ourselves vigorously and very experimentally in the universe of the new.

In those early years, the MAC USP worked alongside the Pró-Reitoria de Cultura e Extensão. We bent over backwards: we organized the judging committee, curated and created events for the project, with lectures, round tables and discussions open to the public. In addition, we sought whenever possible to include young artists and award-winning projects in events beyond the context of the University itself.

We even called upon ECA USP students to design the catalogs and to create advertising campaigns to announce the project. The exhibitions initially took place at MAC USP itself or at the Maria Antonia Center (CEUMA).

After the 13th edition, passing through a process of professionalization, the Nascente was expanded and rethought by a Council elected by the rectory of USP. The jury and curatorial teams started to follow committees that alternated according to the indications. The spaces for the exhibitions of the Visualidade Nascente also changed and they began to occupy other places of the University.

Amid all this history, the most important is the vitality of the project. The Nascente not only remains alive and pulsating but also continues to present works that instigate and reflect upon the future of the artistic and cultural production.

It is worth to remember that, from the previous editions of Visualidade Nascente, rose many of today's references in the Brazilian contemporary art scene, such as José Rufino, Rosana Paulino, Tonico Lemos Auad, just to name a few. The other categories of the project have also released important references in literature, the performing arts, music and video.

Unlike some discussions that arose in the 1990s about the eventual dematerialization of the work of art, the consistent history of the Nascente has demonstrated the tendency towards the plurality and the coexistence between experimental and traditional ways of making art. Moreover, this is done even through an assessment framed by the new.

Indeed, what it demonstrates, more and more is an inclusive cultural positioning, which juxtaposes artistic supports and mentalities.

In this edition, in addition to a remarkable representation of photography, artists also show paintings, engravings, drawings, performances and objects, using the most varied materials, from fabrics and papers to fabrics and embroidery, from wood to stone, from latex to cement.We have much to celebrate in the 25th anniversary edition of the Projeto Nascente. The MAC USP, its first home, thus restates its calling to believe in and give visibility to the new.