18th Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art: To pass from one dream to another

18th Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art
September 19 – December 13, 2026
Lyon, France

The 18th Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art, titled To pass from one dream to another, will take place from September 19 to December 13, 2026, across multiple venues in Lyon and the wider Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

Curated by Catherine Nichols, this edition draws on the ideas of French artist Robert Filliou and his notion of a “poetic economy,” proposing a shift in how we understand value, exchange, and artistic production. The Biennale positions itself once again as a key meeting point for contemporary artistic practices, bringing together local and international artists in dialogue with the city’s historical, economic, and social fabric.

At the core of Nichols’ curatorial approach is the idea of passage, both literal and metaphorical, derived from Lyon’s traboules, the semi-hidden architectural passageways that traverse the city. These spaces, historically linked to labour, resistance, and circulation, serve as a conceptual framework for the exhibition, understood as a movement between different states, temporalities, and imaginaries.

The title To pass from one dream to another references Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project, in which urban environments become sites where collective dreams and histories intersect. In this context, the Biennale explores how economic systems, understood not only in financial terms but as networks of relationships, exchanges, and interdependencies, shape both lived experience and artistic practice.

Filliou’s concept of a “poetic economy” plays a central role in this enquiry, proposing a model of value grounded in connection, creativity, and shared experience rather than productivity and accumulation. Through this lens, the Biennale examines how alternative economic imaginaries might emerge from artistic practices that prioritise care, exchange, experimentation, and collective engagement.

The exhibition unfolds across key venues including macLYON, Les Grandes Locos, and the Musée des Tissus, each articulating different dimensions of this inquiry, from existential questions of life and inheritance to relational forms of exchange and the industrial processes shaping contemporary economies.

Beyond the main exhibition, the Biennale extends throughout the region via programmes such as “Résonance”, which connects galleries, institutions, and independent initiatives, and “Biennale en territoires”, a long-term platform for collaborative, community-based projects. Together, these initiatives reinforce the Biennale’s commitment to accessibility, participation, and the integration of art within broader social contexts.

Bringing together a wide range of international artists, including a significant presence from the Pacific region, the 18th edition continues the Lyon Biennale’s long-standing role as a platform for global exchange rooted in local specificity. In doing so, it reaffirms its position as a space where contemporary art engages critically with the conditions of the present while opening pathways toward alternative futures.

Participating artists: 

Akwasi Bediako Afrane, Lara Almarcegui, Joël Andrianomearisoa, Serwah Attafuah, Béatrice Balcou, Eva Barto, Lucy Beech, Rossella Biscotti, Barbara Breitenfellner, Yuriyal Eric Bridgeman, Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide), Fiona Clark, Lúa Coderch, Léa Collet, June Crespo, cyan, Edith Dekyndt, Huong Dodinh, Yana Nafysa Dombrowsky-M’baye, Mikala Dwyer, Robert Filliou, Florian Fouché, Rose Frigière, Angela Goh, Birke Gorm, Núria Güell, Alice Guy, Oda Haliti, Archana Hande, Matthew Harris, Timo Hogan, Ngahina Hohaia, Jelena Jureša, Lucia Kagramanyan, Kirtika Kain, Mikhail Karikis, Ndayé Kouagou, Perrine Lacroix, Maureen Lander, Ida Lawrence, James Lewis, LYL Radio, Kokou Ferdinand Makouvia, Nicholas Mangan, Angelica Mesiti, Hana Miletić, Hayley Millar Baker, Jazz Money, Mai Nguyễn-Long, Manfred Paul, Thea Anamara Perkins, Susan Philipsz, Laure Prouvost, raumlaborberlin, Miguel Rothschild, Selma Selman, Erwan Sene, Igor Simić, Sriwhana Spong, Tina Stefanou, Mette Sterre, Michael Stevenson, Pol Taburet, Huda Takriti, Tsuneko Taniuchi, Ashleigh Taupaki, Minh Lan Tran, Thu-Van Tran, Álvaro Urbano, Kaylene Whiskey, Luke Willis Thompson, Candrani Yulis.

To read more about the upcoming edition of the Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art keep following our site and social media as well as the biennial’s own channels.