35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts, MGLC Grad Tivoli. noks collective, In the End We Decided Not to Give Up, 2023, light art installation. Photo: Jaka Babnik. MGLC Archive.
IBA Stage: 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts
December 11, 2023 (Monday)
3:00 pm (Ljubljana/GMT+1)
For our last IBA Stage of 2023 we are proud to have with us the Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts one of our earliest members and one of the longest running biennials historically with its first edition having taken place already in 1955.
This year’s edition under the artistic directorship of Ibrahim Mahama, titled From the void came gifts of the cosmos, saw the participation of a wide curatorial team comprised of: Exit Frame Collective, Alicia Knock, Selom Koffi Kudjie, Inga Lāce, Beya Othmani, Patrick Nii Okanta Ankrah.
The 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts explores the ecosystem of connections, solidarities and histories of resistance that emerge from the once close post-independence relations between Ghana and the former Yugoslavia. With its main exhibition spanning various venues around the city of Ljubljana, it features the work of more than 50 artists drawn from the pool of connections between contemporary art and printmaking in the fields of architecture, design, agriculture and botany.
From the void came gifts of the cosmos reflects on the entanglements of built environments, infrastructures and materials with the modern histories of anti-colonial and anti-imperial struggle, nationalism, internationalism and their contemporary echoes.
The curators synchronously imagine the Biennale as a void and a site of potential, but also as an ecosystem of friendships and solidarities, unearthed histories of resistance, liberation and transnational relations beyond the centre-periphery framework that holds the possibility of transforming the void into gifts of the cosmos. The void, in this context, suffices as an egalitarian framework out of which multiplicities emerge, while also operating as a site of artistic indeterminacy in the spirit of inclusion.
As always IBA Stage events are meant as a moment to hear about a project through its makers and have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session at the end of the presentation.
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