Faena Art, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is thrilled to announce its highly anticipated Miami Art Week 2024 programming, which will include a site-specific commission by renowned cross-disciplinary artist Nicholas Galanin. Faena Art’s Miami Art Week Programming is kindly supported by Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Partially buried on the sands of Faena Beach, Tlingit/Unangax̂ artist Nicholas Galanin will present a monumental site-specific installation, Seletega (run, see if people are coming/corre a ver si viene gente), in the form of a Spanish galleon’s masts, sails, and rigging emerging from under the sand. The work by Galanin will rise over thirty feet in height, tying the occupation of Indigenous Land to the initial invasion of the “Americas” to extract wealth for European aristocracy. In 1519, Cortés led a Spanish expedition to Mexico and ordered his ships to be scuttled. This was done to motivate his crew, who were exhausted after the long journey and to prevent them from retreating or joining forces with an enemy. Cortés’s actions sent a clear message to his men: there was no turning back. The Spanish expression quemar las naves (burn the ships) means to eliminate the possibility of retreating before a problem.

The masts and sails of the galleon in this work evoke a decisive moment, symbolizing a point of no return, where past actions force a commitment to a new, uncertain future. This act, like burning one’s ships, speaks to the irreversible choice to move forward without the option of retreating, of charting a new course and never going back and the act of giving oneself to a cause or belief.

Spray painted on the sails in Spanish and English (the first languages to colonize the Americas): “What are we going to give up to burn the sails of empire? Qué vamos a renunciar para quemar las velas y los aparejos del imperio? What are we going to build for our collective liberation? Qué vamos a construir para nuestra liberación colectiva?”  These questions, marked on the sails, speak to past and present, asking visitors to consider their roles and responsibilities in shaping the future. Just as the ships were burned to make retreat impossible, the work asks us to reflect on what we must let go of to move towards collective liberation.

Galanin’s work engages deeply with social issues, particularly those impacting Indigenous communities, inviting dialogues between Indigenous and non-Indigenous experience.

“By bringing these groundbreaking artists to Miami Beach, we not only honor their innovative practices, but also provide a transformative space for immersive experiences that engage local and global audiences. We are thrilled to continue elevating the community and expanding the cultural landscape of Miami Art Week with bold, thought-provoking programming that invites the world to explore new artistic horizons,” said Alan Faena.

Faena Art’s Miami Art Week Programming will be on public display from Tuesday, December 3 through Sunday, December 8, 2024, from 12 – 8 PM.

Satellite Programme
Faena Art will also present the public debut of multidisciplinary artist Lyra Drake in the Faena Hotel Cathedral. Drake’s artistic debut sees her present the artwork Infinite Faith in a Finite World, a piece investigating the agency of human belief using her custom AI consciousness. In Infinite Faith in a Finite World, the artist invites visitors to step into a portal of reflection to engage in a personal, real-time dialogue with the art itself. Within the work, visitors experience the presence of a feminine oracle, inviting them to ponder the nature of faith and belief.

In addition to its artistic programming, Faena Art will present a site-specific commissioned piece by Miami-based artist Magnus Sodamin for the 2024 edition of No Vacancy, in partnership with the City of Miami Beach. No Vacancy is a juried art competition that supports and celebrates mainly local artists, provokes critical discourse, and encourages the public to experience Miami Beach’s famed hotels as temporary art destinations.

All three of the works on display directly relate to Faena Art’s focus on the cultivation of community; audiences will be invited to view each unique piece and consider the roles they play within the communities to which they belong and the way that those communities engage with the natural world.

Additional Miami Art Week programming and events will be announced in the coming weeks.

 

Rendering of Seletega, 2024 by Nicholas Galanin. Image courtesy of the artist and Faena Art