Traduttore, Traditore

Curated by Karen Greenwalt and Katja Rivera

  1. Traduttore, Traditore, 2017 (installation view). Left: Bethany Collins, America: A Hymnal, 2017, book with 100 laser-cute leaves, 6 x 9 x 1 in. Right Edra Soto, Tropicalamerican, 2014, three inkjet prints on paper, each 6 x 43 x 1.5 in.
  2. Traduttore, Traditore, 2017 (installation view). Left: Arturo Hernandez Alcazer, Columna Del Trabajo (Salario Minimo), smoked tools and coins in balance, dimensions variable, 2016. Right: Carols Arias, Bilingual, embroidery on unbleached flax, 45 x 110 in., 2014.
  3. Trauttore, Traditore, 2017 (Installation view). Left: Emilio Rojas, Trittico Aldrovandi, photographs on Hahnemuhle cotton paper with debossed text, each 61 x 81 cm. Right: Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan, The Incomplete Thombu, artist’s book, 11.75 x 9 x 1.25 in.
  4. Traduttore, Traditore, 2017 (installation view). Left: Raqs Media Collective, The Translator’s Silence (Takeaway), laser-cut heave translucent paper, 9 x 12 in. Right: Katia Kameli, Stream of Stories, installation with archival pigment prints, wall vinyl, and three videos, 10:00min, 15:00 min, 8:00min, dimensions variable.

Artists: Bani Abidi, Arturo Hernández Alcázar, Carlos Arias, Luis Camnitzer, Alejandro Cesarco, Bethany Collins, Brendan Fernandes, Dora García, Emily Jacir, Katia Kameli, Harold Mendez, Paulo Nazareth, Sherwin Ovid, Michael Rakowitz, Raqs Media Collective, Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan, Edra Soto, and Stephanie Syjuco

Traduttore, Traditore brings together a group of artists from around the world who employ processes of translation to expose, question, and challenge global circuits of economic and cultural capital. In the wake of the current political climate, it has become increasingly evident that uninhibited travel, communication, and trade are available to a privileged few. Emerging from this context, the exhibition uses translation as a means of exploring the change—of language, customs, currency, and even memory—that occurs when people cross borders. Shaped by their specific cultural history and geographic location, each artist offers a unique perspective on the difficulties of translation in the so-called global world. Taken from the Italian aphorism that roughly translates to “translator, traitor,” the title of this project speaks to the misunderstandings, losses, and fragmentation that manifest during this process of exchange. Traduttore, Traditore therefore considers how artists navigate and expose issues of difference and proposes translation as a method by which to understand contemporary artistic practices.