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Caroline Fucci

Cultural and Museum Studies, University of Leicester

Thesis title:

Brazilian Contemporary Art in the Global Biennial Context, 1998-2020

This project considers how different biennials have impacted the knowledge and understanding of Brazilian contemporary art. Focusing on the representation of Brazilian art within key biennials such as São Paulo, Liverpool, Venice, Havana, and Istanbul, this project asks how the expansion and diversification of the biennial model have impacted knowledge and understanding of the contemporary art of formerly peripheral nations.

Since the 1990s, the biennial field has introduced new genealogies of contemporary art into mainstream knowledge, contributing to a wider post-global epistemological shift (Kompatsiaris, 2017). The chronological axis of the case studies is defined by the period from the late 1990s to the 2010s, which coincides with a heightened discourse on the impacts of globalisation on contemporary art and curating and the emergence of a phenomenon commonly referred to as ‘biennialization’ (Tang, 2011; Marchart, 2014). 

This project therefore looks at a tangled fragment of what constituted the representation of Brazilian contemporary art in international biennials and their epistemic claims as a means to reflect on the conditions, strategies, and mediating agents and institutions that have informed and shaped a Brazilian art historical genealogy, as well as contributed to our present understanding of Brazilian contemporary art.

Research Area

  • Cultural and Museum Studies
  • Museum and Gallery Studies

Publications

'The Third World in the Third Havana Biennial: Contemporary Art in the Global South', Plataforma de Curadoria, Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), 2021. 

'Issues of Authenticity in Modern and Contemporary Art', XII CODAIP Curitiba, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), 2018-2019. 

'The Value Gap: An Examination of its Origins and the Current Situation in Latin America', IAEL Book, FRUKT: London, 2018. 

'The Copyrights of Works of Art and the Mechanical Reproduction: The Brazilian Factual Status of Sculptures', Law Review of the Federal Judge, Rio de Janeiro, 2016-2017. 

Conferences

The Art of History Conference, University of Nottingham. Paper: 'Reporting from São Paulo, I'm from the United States: The History of Exhibitions in Andrea Fraser's Artistic Critique', June 2024. 

Ventana Conference: Navigating Uncomfortable Contradictions: Decolonial Routes Towards Pluriversality, University of York. Paper: 'The Biennial as a Decolonial Platform? The 35th São Paulo Biennial and the Choreographies of the Impossible', October 2023.

University of Leicester Doctoral College Researcher Conference, University of Leicester. Paper: 'The Biennial as a Platform for Knowledge about Contemporary Art and its History', April 2023.

UK Association for Art History Annual Conference, University College London (UCL). Paper: 'Brazilian Indigenous Art on a Global Stage: The Politics of the 34th São Paulo Biennial', April 2023.

Emerging Scholars Symposium: Visualizing Identity: Exploring Dimensions of the Self through Art, University of Georgia and Georgia Museum of Art. Paper: 'Tarsila do Amaral's A Negra: The Portrait of the Black Woman and the Legacy of Colonialism in Brazil', February 2021 (online).

Copyright and Public Interest Conference, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). Paper: 'Issues of Authenticity in Modern and Contemporary Art', November 2018. 

Copyright and Public Interest Conference, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). Paper: 'The Copyrights of Works of Art and the Mechanical Reproduction: The Brazilian Factual Status of Sculptures', November 2017. 

Public Engagement & Impact

Co-convened the M4C-funded one-day symposium Identity Complex: Identity representation within global exhibition-making at Bonington Gallery, Nottingham (June 2024). 

Delivered the online talk The 60th Venice Biennale: The Theme Explained, in collaboration with London Art Walk (March 2024).

Delivered two online talks on the 2024 Venice Biennale in collaboration with Art'emRede (February 2024). 

Delivered the online talk Beyond São Paulo and Venice: A Visit to the Liverpool Biennial, in collaboration with Art'emRede (October 2023). 

Delivered the talk From Biennale to Biennialization at Galeria Movimento, Rio de Janeiro (October 2023). 

Delivered the talk From Biennale to Biennialization at Canteiro Campo de Produção em Arte Contemporânea, São Paulo (July 2023). 

Other Research Interests

  • Contemporary art and globalisation
  • Brazilian modern and contemporary art  
  • Exhibition histories
  • Biennial studies
  • Art and culture in the post-1989 context
  • Postcolonial theory
  • The politics of curating, display and art institutions
  • Art and labour
  • Aesthetics 

Memberships

  • UK Association for Art History 
  • The Paul Mellon Centre's Doctoral Research Network 
  • ICOM UK (International Council of Museums UK)
  • Archivo International Network for Photography and Visual Culture
  • Young Professionals in the Arts 

Academic Qualifications

MSc Modern and Contemporary Art: History, Curating and Criticism, Distinction, University of Edinburgh (2020) 

LLB - Bachelor of Laws, Honors, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro - PUC-Rio (2016)

Academic Roles

Co-Editor-in-Chief, Museological Review Issue 27: "What if we could trust the ground under our feet? Museums as spaces of rootedness and response-ability" (2023-2024) 

Marker (Temporary), School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, MA Museum Studies and MA Art Museum and Gallery Studies Practice (2023)

Awards

2019-2020 Chevening Scholarship UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office 

2017 PUC-Rio Prof Alredo Lamy Filho Special Award for Most Innovative Undergraduate Dissertation