Presentation

Technology has created endless opportunities for human development, and has extended the boundaries of our perception and understanding of the world in which we live. With each new discovery, mankind encounters challenges that must be overcome in order to advance civilization. Life is never motionless. Customs and behaviors are permanently modified by our actions. Our capacity for change may hold, in the last instance, the key to human happiness and prosperity.

In the arts today, much discussion is taking place about the invasion of technology into our lives, and the new opportunities it seems to offer the contemporary artist. Sculpture and drawing, but also filmmaking and photography for example, are well established mediums for artistic expression, and are within the repertoire of techniques commonly used by artists through the end of the 20th century. These mediums are now enhanced by the incorporation of video and digital technologies, much in the same way that the invention of acrylics or the zinc plate were added, only few decades ago, to the centuries-old traditions of painting and printmaking.

To adapt to an evolving reality is a condition life constantly demands from us, no matter what one may think or wish. To take advantage of new possibilities and to make the best out of them is, however, a different story. One has to be aware of the difference between both concepts if the goal for the individual is to improve its humanity, and for society to thrive collectively. All these considerations are behind the Cultural Center’s organization of the Inter-American Biennial of Video Art, already in its second edition.

The journey into the future is always possible, and will remain so, but only when the lessons of the past have been learned. In many ways the Biennial, while reflecting some of the region’s shortcomings, also illustrates its obstinate determination to overcome them, which is a conviction shared by the IDB and demonstrated throughout its 46 years of continuous commitment to elevate economic growth for a better quality of life in our hemisphere.

Mirna Liévano de Marques
External Relations Advisor
Inter-American Development Bank
Washington, D.C