SACO8 - Destiny

The 8th edition of SACO builds imaginary exhibition spaces where contemporary art unfolds as an utopia in the middle of the world's driest desert. Between July and September 2019, more than 40 artists from 15 different countries participate in the festival in process of being turned into a Biennial, that takes place in the region of Antofagasta. The transformation of schools, universities, anthropological sites and museums into spaces of contemporary art is the central idea that nourishes the exhibitions of SACO.

Under the curatorial concept Destiny , and from different perspectives (both foreign and local), the exhibitions of the Festival seek to address the future that awaits humanity through the central themes that surround the territory of the Atacama Desert: from the abominable impact of mining that reverberates at a territorial and socio-cultural level, to the infinite possibilities offered by the most pristine sky in the world.

"In times of the Western crisis of religions, of the generalized discredit of rulers, of the rebirth of the weeds of extremism and the disillusionment of instant recipes, it seems that the compass is not updating. The system crashed. SACO8 proposes to understand the artist’s role as a subject capable of anticipating the present, pulling back the curtain and revealing something of what is envisioned there, so that we might have the chance to restart the compasses."
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EXHITIBITIONS - museum without museum

International Exhibition

Destiny is also the title of the most significant exhibition of the festival, at the heritage site Melbourne Clark Historic Quay in Antofagasta, an important milestone in the history of the country that is now resignified as a space for the presentation of works of contemporary art, seven projects chosen from 226 proposals from 32 different countries, a process carried out by the international jury members Sandino Scheidegger (Costa Rica-Switzerland), Sissi Hamann (Peru), Anne Brand (Guatemala-Switzerland), Andrés Vial and Dagmara Wyskiel (Poland-Chile).

Circuit Antofagasta & San Pedro de Atacama

Museum without museum of SACO8 is the circuit of twelve exhibitions and venues distributed between Antofagasta and San Pedro de Atacama. For this version, it features works by more than 40 artists from fifteen countries, also including public and open spaces with actions such as Bloch of the Swiss duo Com&Com, and Miguel Braceli with students of the port of Mejillones. Museum without museum makes possible the connection with the production of recognized representatives of the contemporary art scene such as Fernando Sicco, Paz Errázuriz, Francis Naranjo & Carmen Caballero, Cristóbal León, among others.

EDUCATION - school without school

The SACO school without school is based on ideas that work from the absence to generate a proposal of activities and projects that brings art closer to the community. In its eighth version, the festival generated diverse pedagogical projects that deeply reached children and young people, but also adults, artists, researchers and any interested person. It provided key tools for the work of mediation in an area that is barely open to this concept; it prepared artists from the city in a workshop that allowed them to be part of an exhibition at SACO8; it worked with photographers from Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Argentina in the construction of stories through images; it developed contemporary art writing skills with journalists and others; it took diverse international artists to educational establishments and it worked with sensory experiences in the Atacama Desert.

RESIDENCIES - territory

Located in a privileged place, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, the world's driest desert and the continent's most pristine skies, SACO invites its visitors to connect with a unique landscape that contextualizes the Festival's work. During 2019, various artists and curators took advantage of the unique characteristics of the landscape to inspire themselves and generate works and research. Through collaborative work, the artists were able to develop residencies in conjunction with institutions and experts specialized in diverse areas such as astronomy, mining and geology. The constant arrival of guests allows the cultural-territorial exchange towards and from Antofagasta to the rest of the world; and the relevance of the zone as focus of the visual arts that also attracts international projects that take advantage and activate in diverse ways the unique context of this Chilean region.