Basma al-Sharif, Old Masters (still), 2025. Courtesy Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA).
Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art 2025: a hand that is all our hands combined
On view: 20 September – 30 November 2025
Curator: Christina Lehnert
Artistic Director: Ioana Leca
Organiser: Röda Sten Konsthall
The 13th Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA) has opened across Gothenburg and Skövde under the title a hand that is all our hands combined. Curated by Christina Lehnert, this edition brings together 24 artists across four main venues and several temporary locations, with nearly a third of the works newly commissioned for GIBCA 2025.
Rather than articulating a single thematic framework, this edition unfolds as a polyphonic platform, giving space to diverse artistic voices and responses to the political and emotional conditions of our time. The project takes shape amid growing polarization and the erosion of solidarity, a founding principle of the European welfare state, foregrounding collective resistance, multiplicity, and dissent as vital modes of engagement.
Developed through close dialogue with participating artists, GIBCA 2025 engages each venue as a site of meaning and encounter:
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At The Gothenburg Museum of Art, artists respond to the institution’s historical collection and its entanglements with European modernity.
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At the Gothenburg City Library, the biennial reflects on the library as a civic and discursive space.
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The presentation at Skövde Art Museum traces affinities with the feminist and socially engaged legacies of Siri Derkert and Vera Nilsson.
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In collaboration with Göteborgs Konsthall, the biennial explores new forms of institutional presence beyond the physical site.
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At Röda Sten Konsthall, the biennial anchors its concerns around freedom of expression, solidarity, and artistic resistance.
The title of the biennial, drawn from Solmaz Sharif’s poem Personal Effects, evokes the shared and inherited weight of history. Sharif’s writing informs the biennial’s public programme, which includes readings and conversations exploring the intersections of poetry, politics, and responsibility.
Participating artists:
Noor Abed, Patricia L. Boyd, Simnikiwe Buhlungu, Raven Chacon, Moki Cherry, Siri Derkert, Hans Haacke, Kiluanji Kia Henda & Tiago Mena Abrantes, Hanni Kamaly, Thuy-Han Nguyen-Chi & Dalena Tran & Andrew Yong Hoon Lee, Lydia Ourahmane, Olivia Plender, Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo), Lala Rukh, Georgia Sagri, Basma al-Sharif, Jonelle Twum, Helena Uambembe, Pamela Z, Christian Nyampeta, Rosalind Nashashibi.
The biennial is accompanied by a rich programme of performances, artist-led sessions, and conversations, featuring new works by FRANKIE (Franziska Aigner) and Puppies Puppies, as well as discussions with writers and thinkers such as Moshtari Hilal, Sinthujan Varatharajah, Jennifer Hayashida, Leila Inanna Sultan, and Athena Farrokhzad.
Running in parallel, GIBCA Extended activates over 90 initiatives across Västra Götaland, with exhibitions and events by artist-run spaces, galleries, and museums responding to the biennial’s themes of collectivity and shared experience.
Produced by Röda Sten Konsthall in collaboration with the Gothenburg City Library, The Gothenburg Museum of Art, Göteborgs Konsthall, and Skövde Art Museum, GIBCA continues to serve as a vital platform for critical artistic reflection within both local and international contexts.
More information: www.gibca.se
