The Mexicali Biennial Honors Calafia
The roots of greatness, strength, power, fertility, beauty and riches, all still persist in the land of California. Right from its glamour of Hollywood, fertile paradise and all the riches can be traced back to ca.1500, the time period of “Calafia”, represented as a beautiful queen, a symbol of fertility and beauty, powerful, rich and courageous with a strongest empire in the world whose island was inhabited only by female warriors. The Mexicali Biennial returns after 5years, as a master stroke of eminent curators who are ED Gomez also the director and co-president of the program, Luis G Hernandez, Daniela Lieja Quintanar and April Lillard Gomez. This biennial is not just a curatorial project but it also serves as a satirical declaration of the abundance of biennials that take place around the world and the impact they have on the artistic community. This biennial represents flourishing as well as established artist's works with a common intention of representing a strong essence of cultural and political understanding of the region now and then. The exhibition displays all media, including, but not limited to performance, two dimensional, three dimensional, installations, new genres installations and new genres.
In the fifth book by Garci Rodrigues de Montalvo of his sixteenth-century work Las Sergas de Esplandian (The Adventures of Espandian), the story of the great queen Calafia and her army of Amazonas has a decided marvel that not only establishes its place as a powerful influence In California, a region that spans both sides of the US-Mexico border, but also as a reflection of the area's continuing history. Calafia, also called Califia, has been depicted as the Spirit of California, and has been the subject of modern-day sculpture, paintings, stories and films; she often figures in the myth of California's origin, symbolizing an untamed and bountiful land.
Calafia truly deserves such an honor across the border, a soulful gratitude to the spirit of California. Venue of this biennial is another interesting part to know, the venue is not just at one single place but it is all across the border of California. Event includes powerful weekends of performances at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions in Hollywood and the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art in San Bernardino, exhibitions at the Armory Center for the Arts, Steppling Gallery at SDSU IV campus in Calexico as well as locations on and around the border and venues in Mexicali and Tijuana.
Looks like the whole kingdom of Calafia has once again come together but this time to celebrate art and for admiration of beauty in order to feel the moment of ultimate aesthetics of fine art!