Benjamin de Búrca and Bárbara Wagner

Benjamin de Búrca and Bárbara Wagner

Set to go

Working together for a decade, Benjamin de Búrca (b. 1975, Munich, Germany) and Bárbara Wagner (b. 1980, Brasília, Brazil) are artists that produce films and video installations featuring protagonists engaged in cultural production as forms of resistance.

‘Set to go’ by Wagner & de Burca takes its title from their first film work, ‘Faz que vai’, which in  Portuguese is the name of a dance step that feigns a moment of imbalance where the body lurches forward only to stop on its heels, arms spread wide to steady the action.

This selection of films of Wagner & de Burca, shown together for the first time in this exhibition, explore how traditional forms of dance and music are fashioned and refashioned for a contemporary public, involving a balancing act that bridges past and present.

Developing a methodology that falls within the framework of postcolonial discourse, the artists produce films and film installations in dialogue with other artists and collectives, constructing the direction, screenwriting, costumes, and soundtracks in collaboration with the protagonists of their films.

For this exhibition, the artists also present works sourced from collaborators that have directly informed the outcome of their films. These contributors also employ a research method in line with documentary practices. Together they form a meta-discussion with Wagner & de Burca’s films, aligning with and responding to the themes of the works in the exhibition, continuing the spirit of collective engagement present within their filmmaking practice.

Exhibition opening:  Friday 10th March 7pm Followed by afterparty in Club Áras na nGael with eclectic,
electronic and retro pop provided by DJ Sasha Von Thulen (Sarah O’Toole)

This exhibition is also accompanied by a further two films screening in  Nuns Island theatre on Saturday 11th March  and Saturday 22nd April.

More on the screenings events can be found here 

Artists Biography

Working together for over a decade, Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca produce videos and video installations in dialogue with other artists and collectives. The duo has developed a research method according to documentary observation and investigation, constructing the direction, screenwriting, costumes, and soundtracks in collaboration with the protagonists of each project. This horizontal way of working is crucial for transmitting the frequently urgent, socially and historically determined content of their audiovisual investigation. Even in their incursions into other modes of making, such as woodcutting, social types and political friction are still formative elements of the discourse presented.

Their solo exhibitions include Estás vendo coisas / You are seeing things, De Pont Museum, Tilburg, Holanda (2022); Five Times Brazil, New Museum, Nova York, USA (2022); One Hundred Steps, The Model Arts Centre, Sligo, Ireland (2022); Swinguerra, ICA Boston – Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, USA; Bretagne, Rennes, France (2022); Terremoto Santo, The Box, Wexner Centre for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, USA (2018). The artists have also participated in the group exhibitions Dance! – Movement in the visual arts 1880-2020, HAM – The Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland (2022); One Hundred Steps, Manifesta 13 Marseille, France (2020); Because the Night, Fotomuseum Winthertur, Winthertur, Switzerland (2018); Incerteza Viva, 32a Bienal Internacional de São Paulo, Pavilhão da Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2016)

The duo has works in important public collections, such as CIFO – The Ella Fontanals Cisneros Collection, Miami, USA; De Pont Museum of Contemporary Art, Tilburg, Netherlands; DSM, Heerlen, Netherlands; FUNDAJ – Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, Recife, Brazil; ICA Boston – Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, USA; IMS – Instituto Moreira Salles, São Paulo, Brazil; MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Coleção Pirelli-Masp de Fotografia. São Paulo, Brazil; MAM – Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; MAM – Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Museum Het Domein, Sittard, Netherlands; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Coleção PIPA, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; PAMM – Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, USA; Kadist Art Foundation, Paris, France; The Arts Council Collection, Dublin, Ireland