Xavier
Cortada
the reclamation project:
The Reclamation
Project was launched at the opening of an installation by the same name
exhibited at the Bass Museum of Art
from April 22nd, Earth Day, until May 17th, 2006.
To learn more, please
click below.
bass invite | installation | de-installation
| reforestation
reclamation home
Xavier Cortada's
Reclamation Project opens at the Bass Museum of Art
with a reception on Earth Day, April 22nd,
2006 from 3 to
5 pm.
Cortada's exhibit will
include an installation of 252 red mangrove seedlings
(in clear, water-filled cups) lined up on a glass wall
in the western portion of the museum and two
continuous-loop videos: "18-mile" and
"Reclamation."
To see images of the installation,
please
click here.
The exhibit runs
through May 17th, 2006. At the conclusion of the
exhibit, the artist will plant the 252 seedlings in the
Bear Cut Preserve on Key Biscayne. These seedlings
had previously been used by the artist in installations
for OMNIART during Art Basel 2004, Art Miami 2005, and Art
Basel 2005.
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THE
RECLAMATION
PROJECT
The installation by
Xavier Cortada
at the Bass Museum of Art
during April - May 2006 served to launch a public
environmental art projects the artist is organizing for
during November 2006 - January 2007.
A pre-Art Basel
reception for the project volunteers is scheduled for
December 5th, 2006 from 8p to midnight at Bill Baggs State
Park in Key Biscayne, featuring Full Moon tours of the
Cape Florida Lighthouse.
Installation
on
South Beach:
Thousands of red mangrove seedlings (in clear, water-filled
cups) will be hung in retail and commercial spaces along
the business corridors of South Beach (Miami Beach),
Florida.
During October 2006, about
2500 mangrove
seedlings will be collected by Miami -Dade Department of
Environmental and Resources Management (DERM) from Miami Dade County
locations where they would otherwise perish.
During October 28- December 3, 2006, these 2500 seedlings
will be distributed to
retail and commercial spaces in South Beach, asking owners
to exhibit the mangrove
seedling (inside clear water-filled cups) in a prominent location inside their locale
through January 15, 2006.
Seedling exhibitors will be asked to return the seedlings on
Jan 16, 2006 so that they can be
planted at the end of January on Biscayne Bay
(as part of the Reforestation Project-- see below).
Alternatively, seedling holders will have the option to
plant the
seedling in their own home (or in a specified mangrove
forest), or return the seedling to a designated
environmental group (e.g., Citizens for a Better South
Florida) for later planting.
The
Reforestation on Biscayne Bay:
Working under the guidance of DERM reforestation experts,
hundreds of volunteers will plant thousands of red
mangrove seedlings in southern Biscayne Bay areas where
mangrove forests once thrived.
The tentative date for the reforestation in sometime at
the end of January 2007. A smaller scale
planting effort is set for December 17, 2006 at 10 am on
Key Biscayne.
(Due to
man-made barriers, there are no suitable Miami Beach
locations for red mangrove reforestation in 2006.
The Reclamation team is working with the City of Miami
Beach to prepare the shore of Pine Tree Park so that the
project's reforestation in January 2008 occurs there).
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The
Reclamation Project is sponsored by Citizens for a
Better South Florida, the Department of Environmental
Resources Management (DERM), the City of Miami Beach, the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve/State
of Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP),
Miami-Dade County Environmental Coalition of Miami Beach
(ECOMB) and Friends of Cape Florida.
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Artist's
Statement
The Reclamation Project
aims to remind
us of what our community was like before all the concrete
was poured. Through this installation, mangrove seedlings will conceptually
reclaim an island where they thrived a few decades ago.
Their reforestation will create a mangrove colony on Biscayne Bay, eventually rebuilding natural ecosystems above and
below the water line. Through this process I explore
our ability to coexist with the natural world.
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About the Artist
Xavier Cortada was born in Albany, New York and was raised
and lives in Miami. The Cuban-American artist holds three degrees
from the University of Miami. His work has been shown across four
continents and is in the permanent collection of The World Bank. Major collaborative art projects include International
AIDS murals in Switzerland and South Africa, peace murals in
Northern Ireland and Cyprus and child welfare murals in Bolivia and
Panama.
Through his art, he attempts to reclaim
Florida's fertile past. The concrete columns that hold up
I-95 through downtown Miami now bear Cortada's mark: in
2004, he led volunteers in painting colorful mangrove seedlings on columns
across four neighborhoods, a metaphoric re-foresting of Miami. He has elaborated on the mangrove metaphor
in murals he created for Miami City Hall, the Miami-Dade
County Commission Chambers, the Florida Capitol, and the
Museum of Florida History.
For more information, please visit
www.cortada.com.
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