Faena Festival Opens Miami Beach Art Week with 'This Is Not America'

Miami Beach's art week kicked off with the inaugural Faena Festival, a seven-day multidisciplinary event organized by Faena Art, the nonprofit arm of Alan Faena's real estate development. The festival, titled 'This Is Not America,' takes its name from Alfredo Jaar's iconic neon installation 'A Logo for America' (1987). Curated by Zoe Lukov, the program features performances, installations, and site-specific works exploring American identity in the current political climate of border closures and 'America First.' The opening night on December 3, 2018, began at the Faena Forum with performances by Isabel Lewis and Cecilia Bengolea, followed by a procession to the beach where works by Tavares Strachan ('We Belong Here'), Alfredo Jaar (a floating barge installation), George Sánchez ('How to Win Friends and Influence People'), Derrick Adams ('America's Playground'), and Luna Paiva ('A Matter of Time') were unveiled. Sánchez's house, a replica of a Levittown home, is scheduled to be set on fire on December 5. The evening concluded at the Faena Hotel with performances by Wu Tsang and boychild, and a site-specific installation by Miya Ando on the Versailles Hotel. The Faena district, officially designated in 2014, includes hotels, residential buildings, a cultural center, and a shopping center designed by Norman Foster and Rem Koolhaas. The festival runs through December 9, 2018, coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach.