Who is behind Cafuné and what does Cafuné mean?
Cafuné was born from Ingrid Kraus and Olav Lorentzen desire to create a space for experimentation and exchange between South American and European creative and multidisciplinary people.
Ingrid is a Brazilian art history major who has been living in Berlin for the past 2 years and is interested in curation and its relationship to culture.
Olav Lorentzen is a Brazilian artist graduated in London who has been living between Colombia and Brazil.
Cafuné however, is an independent collaborative space, this means that all people involved in projects have a part in running it, in its decision making and in the outcome of its programme.
Cafuné is a Brazilian word for physically fondling somebody’s head, we were playing here on the intellectual stimuli in exploring themes regarding the relationship between the Northern and Southern hemisphere.
You are offering over a 4 month period different options for artists, based on your project room with it ́s possibilities. tell us a little about it.
We want to be very open regarding the use of the space. We focus on finding people to work with that have the same interests as we do and introducing them to other people so they can use the space to invent a new kind of dialogue. Some projects last a month some last a week and some last only an evening. Our proposal is not to be a fixed gallery, but a space activated by ideas.
You are planning to bring together curators from brazil and germany, how you want to do this? And what are you trying to achieve?
For us it is very exciting to have people from different backgrounds that have never met before collaborate on a project. It is all about mixing, our idea was never to be a space for Brazil in Berlin, but a place for mixing cultures and finding out what comes out of it.
In a way, it is a challenge that is very welcome by curators, Brazilian curators working with German artists and German curators working with Brazilian artists makes it all fresh and open-minded.
What are the biggest cultural differences in your opinion after being now in Berlin for a certain time compared to Rio de Janeiro?
I would say both Berlin and Rio have very rich cultures. This is mostly due to the diversity of people, coming from all parts of the world, living together and influencing one another in everyday life. However, what is interesting about Brazil and what we are aiming on doing at Cafuné, is that, differently from Europe, where all cultures live together respect each other and learn from each other, we are a country that was formed by all these different influences so all of them have contributed significantly to what we have become.
The essence of the Brazilian people, which is so interesting to foreigners, is that we all have a bit of these cultures inside of us. We were able to mix them all together to become something new, that can be recognized and appreciated by people from all parts of the world.
And what can we Germans learn from the Brazilians and the other way around in your opinion?
The Germans can definitely learn how to dance. We have to learn how to make beer that actually tastes like beer.
Your favorite brazilian and german artist, please name them!
It is hard to name just one Brazilian artist, taking one from each generation, we would have say Lygia Clark one of the founders of the neoconcrete movement and a pioneer of interactive art worldwide, Cildo Meireles, one of the most celebrated conceptual artists of our time and Cynthia Marselle, current artist representing Brazil at the Venice biannual.
In Germany, we have to start with Beuys, I don’t think he needs an introduction, Kiefer, some of the most powerful work being made today, and Tino Sehgal.
So what will happen during 48 Stunden Neukölln in your space?
This time we will be transitioning from Fabien Maheu´s exhibition (Finissage) and One-Night Stand performances, onto a preview of our next project with DISTRUKTUR, who we will be welcoming with their video installation PUPPENHAUS.
https://www.cafuneprojectspace.com
http://www.distruktur.com/
http://www.felipevaz.com/
https://www.animoplex.net/