Argentinean photographer Marcelo Brodsky at opening of Limite Sud

In late October, ArteBA launched Limite Sur | South Limit as an Argentinean add-on to the São Paulo Biennale. The title refers to the relation of Buenos Aires to São Paulo and bears no relation to the work inside. The event is structured like an art fair with booths for commercial galleries representing individual artists. The only tangential reference to an idea of South came from Javier Barilaro:

Javier Barilaro Me desatino si me impongo un destino + un millón de colores de hielo (I am foolish if I impose a destination + million colors of ice)2008

Barilaro’s collage work depicts various nations with garish packaging as part of his overall project of popularism – Filosofía Combiera (Philosophy of the Cumbia). As often happens in Latin America, Australia falls off the map.

Like the Design Indaba theme It’s a South Thing in Cape Town, the use of ‘south’ in the Buenos Aires event is a pure branding exercise. How long will it be before someone bites the bullet and puts some content into the South concept?