DISJECTA ANNOUNCES

Curator-in-Residence
2015-2016

Contact: Bryan Suereth bryan@disjecta.org 503.913.6884

PORTLAND, Ore. Tuesday, April 7, 2015 - Disjecta Contemporary Art Center is pleased to
announce the selection of Chiara Giovando as Curator-in-Residence for the 2015/2016
exhibition season.
Giovando is a Los Angeles-based curator and artist. She received a BFA from the San Francisco
Art Institute and a MFA from California Institute of the Arts. Giovando has a diverse portfolio;
she curated Sound Structures in San Francisco, a series that recreated indeterminacy scores
ranging from early Japanese Fluxus works to Steve Reich's Pendulum Music. This spring she
curated In Search of an Author at the Unge Kunstneres Samfund in Oslo, Norway. Other recent
projects include The Third Ear, an exhibition of new sound art curated as part of the Fellows of
Contemporary Art Curators Lab Award, and Thousand Points of Light, a site-works and
residency program founded by Giovando in Joshua Tree, CA.
Prior to accepting the Curator-in-Residence position at Disjecta, Giovando was Co-Director and
Curator at Human Resources L.A. for two years. In 2013 she was invited to arrange a score for

Disjecta Contemporary Art Center / 8371 N Interstate Avenue Portland OR 97217 / disjecta.org / 503.286.9449

the Calder Quartet at the Barbican in London based on Christian Wolffs 1969 work Edges. In
2012 she was awarded a research fellowship with German collector and curator Ren Block that
culminated in the Hammer Without a Master: Henning Christiansens Archive, an exhibition that
included fourteen artists and composers as well as archival material.
Sound is ephemeral, temporal, and pervasive; it has physicality yet it is intangible. It can sooth
or irritate our organs, shatter glass, and map the depths of the ocean floor. Sound surrounds us,
inspires us, and while it often brings us together, it may also confuse and disorient us, says
Giovando. Disjecta's 2015-16 program will explore an expanded definition of sound, looking at
historical experiments in musical notation, new sound art practices, and ways that sound
functions in architecture and installation.
An emphasis for the Curator-in-Residence is to place regional ideas in dialogue with
international contemporary art practice. Giovandos intergenerational programs will support
both emerging and established artists and celebrate local, national and international exchange.
Chiara has a wealth of experience working with artists from abroad and were excited to see
her expand the boundaries of the program, notes Bryan Suereth, Disjectas Executive Director.
But shes also intrigued by the work of Portland-based artists and that results in a highly crosspollinated vision for her exhibitions.
Giovando leads the Curator-in-Residence program into its fifth season. The program is funded
in part by a grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust.
ABOUT DISJECTA
Disjecta Contemporary Art Center builds ambitious programs that promote artists and engage
communities.
These programs showcase new work and fuel collaborations between artists, curators, and
viewers that impact and intervene in the larger contemporary arts dialogue. Disjecta exacts
equal rigor from local and national artists, while keenly recognizing and supporting the talent of
the region. For more information, visit www.disjecta.org.
Image:
Claus Haxholm & TR Kirstein. Grundtoner. 2013. Earth, sound. Kunsthal 44 Men, Denmark.
The performance and installation were a part of Hammer without a Master: Henning
Christiansen's Archive.
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Disjecta Contemporary Art Center / 8371 N Interstate Avenue Portland OR 97217 / disjecta.org / 503.286.9449