Berkeley, CA, April 12, 2006-The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) presents the second in a cycle of exhibitions in solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, curated for the MATRIX Program for Contemporary Art by Chris Gilbert. Now-Time Venezuela, Part 2: Revolutionary Television in Catia features a selection of the work of the community television station Catia TVe, and will open at BAM/PFA on May 14 and run through July 16, 2006.

Now-Time Venezuela: Media Along the Path of the Bolivarian Process is a cycle of exhibitions relating to the revolutionary transformation that has occurred in Venezuela following the election of Hugo Chávez to presidency in 1998. The exhibition cycle aims to support and contribute to this process, and secondarily, to advance a theory of art and culture: that cultural products find their creative agency in alignment with broader processes of political and economic transformation.

The first exhibition in the series, Part 1: Worker-Controlled Factories (on view through May 26, 2006) features a newly commissioned multi-screen projection by Dario Azzellini and Oliver Ressler on the subject of Venezuela's worker-controlled factories. The second exhibition, Part 2: Revolutionary Television in Catia, samples the work of the community television station Catia TVe, in western Caracas. Independent media channels such as Catia TVe have become a central part of everyday life in Venezuela, where they contest the corporate media landscape. Catia TVe is a true television "channel" in the sense that some 70 to 80 percent of its programming is produced by small groups of community organizers and activists, who have taken part in workshops the station offers. Catia TVe uses participatory communication to construct socialism for the twenty-first century through research, education, and organization.

Though Catia TVe once did limited guerilla broadcasts with an improvised transmitter, new Venezuelan telecommunications laws combined with some state support have shifted its position to one of greater empowerment and means. Today the station broadcasts fourteen hours per day, operates a well-equipped editing facility and powerful transmitter, and maintains a substantial equipment inventory for loan. Part 2: Revolutionary Television in Catia samples the work facilitated by the station and also includes two newly commissioned works made especially for the exhibition: a self-reflexive piece describing Catia TVe's working methods, and a series of messages for the people of the United States from the people of west Caracas.

Public Program
Panel Discussion: Catia TVe and Media Activism
Sunday, May 14, 2:30 p.m.
Museum Theater
Reception follows

With curator Chris Gilbert, representatives from Catia TVe and San Francisco Indymedia will discuss the important role of media collectives and media activism in Venezuela and internationally. In Spanish and English, with translation provided.

Credit Line

The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Additional support is provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Koret Foundation, the Bernard Osher Foundation, Packard Humanities Institute, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Columbia Foundation, the Christensen Fund, the William H. Donner Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, Gap Inc., other private foundations and corporations, and our individual donors and members. Major endowment support has been provided by the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation and by George Gund III.

Gap Inc. is proud to support First Impressions: Free First Thursdays at BAM/PFA. For more information about Free First Thursday gallery tours and screenings visit our website at bampfa.berkeley.edu.

University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
Located at 2626 Bancroft Way, just below College Avenue near the UC Berkeley campus.

Gallery and Museum Store Hours:
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Admission:
General admission is $8; admission for seniors, disabled persons, non-UC Berkeley students, and young adults (13 – 17) is $5; admission for BAM/PFA members, UC Berkeley students, staff and faculty, and children under 12 is free; admission for group tours is $3 per person (to arrange a group tour, call [510] 642-5188). Admission is free on the first Thursday of each month.

Information:
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Website: bampfa.berkeley.edu

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