Director of Sharjah Art Foundation and President of IBA Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of KADIST Julia Morandeira Arrizabalaga, Curator and Art Critic Mouna Mekouar and Curator and Educator Thiago de Paula Souza discuss the role of biennials in times of global polarization and the formation of international networks of solidarity. This was the 3rd and concluding panel discussion of the “Mending the Shores: Transforming Biennials for a Sustainable Future” conference as part of the IBA’s 11th General Assembly public program.
The panel was moderated by Christian Oxenius (IBA).
Director of Liverpool Biennial and IBA Board Member Sam Lackey, Berlinklusion Founding Member Dr. Kate Brehme and Alexia Fabre, guest curator of the 17th La Biennale de Lyon reflect on the role of biennials as inclusive spaces allowing for a diverse public to participate and contribute. This was the 2nd panel discussion part of the “Mending the Shores: Transforming Biennials for a Sustainable Future” conference as part of the IBA’s 11th General Assembly public program.
The panel was moderated by Christian Oxenius (IBA).
With the intention of exploring multiple and interconnected ways in which the biennial model can be envisioned as a sustainable exhibition and institutional form, our first question to our invited guests, as part of “Mending the shores. Transforming Biennials for a Sustainable Future” was whether the idea of De-Growth could be a useful concept. Nataša Petresin-Bachelez, interdependent curator, editor and writer and Lorenzo Giusti, art historian, curator and director of GAMeC responded with fascinating and relevant examples drawn from their own practice.
The panel was moderated by Christian Oxenius (IBA).
The keynote speech for “Mending the shores. Transforming Biennials for a Sustainable Future”, public conference organised in partnership with La Biennale de Lyon was delivered by Didier Gondola, Professor of African History and Africana at John Hopkins University. Its title “Restitution & Renaissance: A View from the Tervuren AfricaMuseum” brings together a reflection on the complexity of restitution as well as our understanding of museological practices and their underlying ideological apporaches.
The panel was moderated by Christian Oxenius (IBA).
Deniz Erbaş, Executive Curator of CABININ (Çanakkale Biennale Initiative) walks us through the history of the Çanakkale Biennale and describes its latest edition “Let Time Run Its Course” which closed its doors in November 2024.
Curator Els Wuyts presents her project for Beaufort24 titled “Fabric of Life” with Selva Aparicio and Filip Vervaet, two of the artists who have developed new public works for the triennial taking place on the coast of Belgium.
In its 3rd Edition, the Prague based Biennale Matter of Art, organised by tranzit.cz articulates an important reflection meandering between urban and rural spaces. We hear from its two curators: Katalin Erdódi and Aleksei Borisionok about the main ideas and challanges of staging such an exhibition. Tereza Stejskalova (Founding Director) and Frantisek Fekete (Head of Production) give us an introduction to the whole project behind Biennale Matter of Art and its history.
Founding Director Doris Ghetta and Lorenzo Giusti, Curator of Parliament of Marmots, the 9th edition of Biennale Gherdëina, discuss with us about the history of the Biennial located in the unique setting of the Dolomites, with a focus on the peculiarities of developing a biennial in a small mountain community.
Alan Quireyns, Project Manager and Sevie Tsampalla, Co-Curator of Triennale Brugge 2024 “Spaces of Possibility“, give an in-depth presentation of the 2024 project, the fourth edition of Triennale Brugge.
Curators Carol Yinghua Lu and Liu Ding walk us through their project for the 8th Yokohama Triennale titled “Wild Grass: Our Lives” referencing the seminal Chinese writer Lu Xun and the eponymous book published in 1927. The presentation is introduced by Yokohama Triennale Deputy Executive Director Aki Hoashi and moderated by Christian Oxenius.
Artistic Director Ibrahim Mahama and curatorial team members Inga Lace and Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh discuss their project “From the void came gifts of the cosmos” for the 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts. The Q&A session following their presentation focuses primarily on their collaboration, reflecting and creating alternatives to current systems of power and away from the western model, and cooperation between institutions.
Matt Packer, CEO and Director of EVA International, discusses with us the 40th edition of EVA International as well as its longer history in occasion of its 40th anniversary. We also had the chance to hear from him how, the past years and the attempt to focus on more continuous projects for EVA International have impacted the biennial.
