Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art announces its 13th edition: a hand that is all our hands combined

Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art: a hand that is all our hands combined

Gothenburg, Sweden
September 20 – November 30, 2025
Press & professional preview: September 18–19
Opening programme: September 20–21
Curator: Christina Lehnert

What does solidarity look like when it must cross borders, identities, and institutions?

Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA) has announced the curatorial concept and full list of participating artists for its 13th edition, a hand that is all our hands combined, curated by Christina Lehnert. Drawing its title from Solmaz Sharif’s poem Personal Effects, the biennial unfolds as a collective reflection on art’s role in resisting silencing, confronting division, and building transnational solidarities, especially at a time when such principles are increasingly fragile across Europe.

Rather than anchoring the edition in a traditional thematic structure, Lehnert invites a chorus of artistic voices that bear witness to today’s social urgencies: the erosion of democratic values, authoritarian resurgence, and the quiet normalization of exclusionary practices. “This biennial is a hand extended—formed of many hands, with no single author. It holds space for shared responsibility, for forms of care and collective resistance that emerge from friendship, alliance, and the need to speak when speech is threatened,” Lehnert says.

For the full curatorial statement follow this link.

The artists in GIBCA 2025, ranging from historical names to some of the most interesting contemporary figures, engage with artistic forms that centre on community, memory, and dissent. They respond to current political climates not only through critique but also by modelling practices of mutual support, shared authorship, and expanded listening.

Participating artists:
Noor Abed, Basma al-Sharif, Patricia L. Boyd, Simnikiwe Buhlungu, Raven Chacon, Moki Cherry, Siri Derkert, Hans Haacke, Hanni Kamaly, Rosalind Nashashibi, Thuy-Han Nguyen-Chi & Dalena Tran & Andrew Yong Hoon Lee, Christian Nyampeta, Lydia Ourahmane, Olivia Plender, Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo), Lala Rukh, Georgia Sagri, Helena Uambembe, and—at the invitation of Jonelle Twum / Black Archives Sweden—Kiluanji Kia Henda, Tiago Mena Abrantes and Pamela Z.

The biennial will unfold through multiple venues and institutions in the western Swedish city of Göteborgs including Röda Sten Konsthall, Göteborgs Konsthall, Gothenburg Museum of Art, Skövde Art Museum and Gothenburg City Library, reinforces the biennial’s commitment to activating the city in all its richness and reach into its public sphere.

“Solidarity is not just a subject—it is a structure,” says Artistic Director Ioana Leca. “GIBCA 2025 invites audiences into a conversation not only about the urgency of political response, but about the forms and relations through which that response is made possible.”

This edition marks a continuation of GIBCA’s commitment to presenting urgent contemporary art across diverse formats and perspectives. With support from the City of Gothenburg, the Region of West Sweden, and the Swedish Arts Council, GIBCA remains a vital platform for dialogue between local and international conversations.

📚 a hand that is all our hands combined runs from September 20 to November 30, 2025.
Press and professional preview days: September 18–19.