In the Spirit of Commonality

Cecilia Vicuña, Ricardo Gallo and Carla Macchiavello

November 16, 2021, 7pm
Géza, 306 Maujer

Open Exchange takes the shape of a three-way conversation between artist and poet Cecilia Vicuña, musician Ricardo Gallo, and art historian Carla Macchiavello. They weave together an improvisation in sound, no-language, thoughts, and words. While they have overlapped creatively in multiple ways over the past decade, this auspicious meeting brings these three artists and thinkers together as collaborators. Their many shared stories in their common paths of living and working in New York, Colombia, and Chile sheds light on a quest for communal knowledge that is at the heart of Andean cultures and that may provide a key for action in the face of current ecological and social crises. In the spirit of open exchange, this event is an invitation to dialogue and listening.

This is an in-person event. Free and open to the public.

Image: Sendero Chibcha. Photo by Oscar Monsalve

About the Speakers

Cecilia Vicuña
Artist-poet Cecilia Vicuña created the concept of Arte Precario (Precarious Art) in Chile in 1966 as an early response to the ecological crisis. Her improvisatory performances emphasize indigenous cultural memory and the collective nature of action to bring forth justice, balance, and world transformation. Vicuña is the author of 27 books of art and poetry and her artwork has been the subject of numerous exhibitions worldwide.

Ricardo Gallo
Born in Colombia and based in New York, pianist, keyboardist, electronic musician, and composer Ricardo Gallo creates 21st-century Planet Earth music. He has written for acoustic and electro-acoustic formats, short films, videos, dance, installations, multimedia stage productions, and has performed and written for jazz and improvisatory groups.

Carla Macchiavello
Carla Macchiavello is a Chilean art historian and educator who studies contemporary Chilean and Latin American art, focusing on video art, performance, networks of solidarity and resistance, and artistic practices aimed at social change. She is Associate Professor in Art History at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, NY, and received her PhD from Stony Brook University..