Haiti’s fourth Ghetto Biennale launched its six-day programme this week in Port-au-Prince (until 20 December), topping even the ten-day Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art earlier this year as the world’s shortest biennial. Events include film screenings of C.T. Jasper and Joanna Malinowska’s Halka/Haiti 18º48’05"N 72º23’01"W, an opera inspired by the curious connection between Polish soldiers and Haitian independence that was first shown at the Venice Biennale, and the Reflektor Tapes, a documentary about the making of Arcade Fire’s latest album, with a stop in Haiti at carnival time. Berlin-based Henrike Naumann and Bastian Hagedorn are staging a Museum of Trance with a local vodou priest, while “Andre Breton” gives daily lectures on surrealism, 70 years after his original revolutionary visit (and almost 50 after his death).
Organisers are hoping to give the ephemeral project a longer shelf life with a Kickstarter campaign to produce the first Ghetto Biennale catalogue, a document of the four editions from 2009. Artists are pitching in to offer a tempting range of rewards for backers if the £25,850 target is reached by 10 January. A pledge of £50 earns a psychic consultation over Skype with Irina Contreras, £60 a ritual warding off evil courtesy of Lazaros and £750 will get patient crowdfunders a pair of VIP tickets to Arcade Fire’s next world tour (estimated delivery: November 2017). Tight-fisted iPhone owners, take note: for this month only you can also support the cause via Art Basel’s crowdfunding scheme on the UBS Planet Art app. In return for a free download, the Swiss banking giant promises to donate $15 to the non-profit of your choice.
