The Biennale de Paris in Burundi
20–28 April 2012
Bujumbura
Standard II
André Éric Létourneau will give a lecture on the theme of the artistic manoeuvre. He will focus in particular on Standard, an intersubjective manoeuvre in which everyone is invited to participate. Individual encounters with the artist become part of everyday life, which becomes an artistic gesture through a simple “manoeuvre.” Standard is an infiltrative and invisible art project that acts directly within reality and life.
Each participant is invited to make a very simple proposal to the artist: to choose a place in which to observe an intimate, invisual and non-spectacular commemorative silence. The Standard II project questions the customary forms of social rituals proposed by states and institutions by bringing them back to an intimate, human scale.
Standard II interweaves the time of life with the time of art.
“André Éric Létourneau’s approach falls within the spectrum of operative invisibility, which forms the axis of the intangible economy towards which our societies are evolving. In his practice, art’s time is outwitted by real time.”
— Alexandre Gurita, Director of the Biennale de Paris, 2007.
Throughout the project, anyone wishing to participate may contact André Éric Létourneau directly to arrange a meeting at a location of their choice. Appointments can be made during the lecture or by telephone.
Duration of the manoeuvre: one week.
Programme
24 April 2012
Lecture at the University of Burundi
Embedding art in everyday life through the manoeuvre: intangible cultural heritage and oral tradition.
28 April 2012
Address on behalf of the Biennale de Paris
Contribution by Alexandre Gurita, strategist in the art sector, via Skype or, if this is not possible, through the reading of a text.
Partners
University of Burundi
Institut français
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
Canada Council for the Arts
International Organisation of La Francophonie
Documents
Contacts
Arthur-Cyriac Dekougbonto
Executive Secretary of the East African Community Arts Biennale
Tel.: +257 79 862 857
Email: eastafab.burundi@hotmail.fr
Jean-Michel Feffer
Deputy Director
Institut français du Burundi
French Embassy in Burundi
P.O. Box 460, Bujumbura, Burundi
Tel.: +257 7800 0008 / 2222 2351
Email: direction@ifburundi.org
www.ifburundi.org
André Éric Létourneau
Biennale de Paris
Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild
11, rue Berryer
75008 Paris, France
Paris tel.: +33 1 45 34 30 04
Montréal tel.: +1 514 993 8746
Email: a.e.letourneau@biennaledeparis.org
Photograph Caption
Jean-Michel Feffer, Deputy Director of the Institut français du Burundi; Arthur-Cyriaque D., Executive Secretary of the East Africa–Burundi Biennale; Annabelle Giudice, Cultural Affairs Officer at the Institut français du Burundi; André Éric Létourneau Dumaine, artist and representative of the Biennale de Paris for Africa; His Excellency Mr Jean Lamy, French Ambassador to Burundi; and Rose Ndayiragije, President of the East Africa–Burundi Biennale.
Photo credit: André Saint-Amant.