The Sky Within My House
Contemporary art in 16 patios of Cordoba

This exhibition presents works by 16 contemporary artists from several countries in 16 private and monumental patios in Cordoba, departing from an idea by Carlota Álvarez Basso. Patios (courtyards) constitute a most emblematic heritage of the city, providing a synthesis of Cordoba’s long multicultural history. Historically traceable to Mesopotamia and later to the atrium of ancient Rome, the patio was developed by Arabic and Mudejar architecture. This architectural element reached its height in Andalucía.

The Cordoban patios are unique, with the explosion of color and beauty provided by its baroque proliferation of flowers. Aesthetic environments for communal life, they embrace pieces of nature and of open urban space within the home, becoming a sort of family’s Gardens of Eden in the Arab tradition. Moreover, they are places to see and feel the sky: a way to appropriate a bit of the cosmos for private use.

The artworks shown are mainly site-specific interventions inspired by each patio, or they correspond to existing projects that have been adapted to the patio’s setting. The objective is to reach a balance, or rather a mutually enriching conversation between patios and contemporary art. Thus, the patios are not mere spaces to show artworks, but active components in a relationship. The artistic interventions are larger or smaller, depending on each case, but they carry out a meaningful dialogue. The works test and explore the relations between public and private milieus, between art and daily life, and among contemporary culture, history and tradition.

The Sky Within My House includes two exhibitions in one: visitors are able to enjoy both the art as the patios, several of which are opening especially for the occasion. Each one of the 16 patios constitutes a particular encounter between patio and artwork, a sort of micro-exhibition that has its own content and imagery and is addressed to a general audience. The exhibition’s "theme" is the patios as aesthetic, cultural, historical and semantic milieus.

List of artists and patios:

Magdalena Atria
San Basilio St. # 50

Fernando Baena
Pastora St. # 2

Cai Gou-Qiang
Municipal Archives of Córdoba, main patio, Sánchez de Feria St. # 6

Mariana Castillo Deball
Archeological Museum of Córdoba, Patio de la Grada, Jerónimo Páez Square # 7

Carlos Garaicoa
Faculty of Philosophy and Literature, second patio, Cardenal Salazar Square

Federico Guzmán
Municipal Archives of Córdoba, first patio, Sánchez de Feria St. # 6

Mona Hatoum
Viana Palace, Patio de la Cancela, Don Gome Square

Kan Xuan
Maese Luis St. # 22

Glenda León
Isabel II St. # 1

Cristina Lucas
Casa de las Campanas, Siete Revueltas St. # 21

Rubens Mano
Museos de Bellas Artes y Julio Romero de Torres de Córdoba, main patios, Del Potro Square, no number

Priscilla Monge
La Palma St. # 3

Jorge Perianes
Orive Palace, Orive Square # 2

Nedko Solakov
Parras St. # 5

Mounira Al Solh
Martín de Roa St. # 2

Nina Yuen
San Basilio St. # 17

(From a press release of the organizers)

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