The Bucharest Biennale (full name: Bucharest International Biennial for Contemporary Art) is a contemporary art biennale held in Bucharest, Romania.
The first edition of the Bucharest Biennale was held in 2005, with the following one held in May–June 2006. From 2006 onwards, it has been held every two years. The biennale is organised by PAVILION – journal for politics and culture, and is sponsored by various private partners and cultural institutions. It was founded and is directed by Răzvan Ion and Eugen Rădescu. [1]
The first edition took place in 2005 and curated by Eugen Rădescu.
The 2006 edition was curated by the Hungarian critic and curator Zsolt Petranyi, and was held at numerous venues throughout Bucharest, including the National Museum of Geology, the National Museum of Literature (Romania), the National Centre for Dance, the Botanical Gardens, South Shop and the Herăstrău Skate Park. 18 artists, both Romanian and international, participated in the 2006 edition.
The 2008 edition was held between 23 May and 21 June, and it was curated by Jan-Erik Lundström and Johan Sjöström from Sweden.
The 2010 edition was held between 21 May and 25 July 2010, thus expanding its duration for one month. It was curated by the German curator Felix Vogel.
The 2012 edition was curated by Anne Barlow. [1] [2]
The 2014 edition was held from 23 May to 24 July. It was curated by Gergő Horváth. [3] The edition was initially titled Belonging and Longing and curated by Nicolaus Schafhausen. [4] [5]
The 2016 edition was held from 26 May to 17 June. It was curated by Niels Van Tomme with assistant Curator Charlotte Van Buylaere. [6]
The 2018 edition was held from 17 May to 8 July. It was curated by Beral Madra and Răzvan Ion. [7]
The tenth edition will take place in 2022. It will be curated by Jarvis, an AI system conceived by Spinnwerk Vienna. [10]
The Venice Biennale is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy, by the Biennale Foundation. It focuses on contemporary art, and includes events for art, contemporary dance, architecture, cinema, and theatre. Two main components of the festival are known as the Art Biennale and the Architecture Biennale, which are held in alternating years. The others – Biennale Musica, Biennale Teatro, Venice Film Festival, and Venice Dance Biennale – are held annually. The main exhibition held in Castello alternates between art and architecture, and there are around 30 permanent pavilions built by different countries.
Nicolaus Schafhausen is a German curator, director, author, and editor of numerous publications on contemporary art. Since 2012 he has been the Strategic Director of Fogo Island Arts, an initiative of the Canadian Shorefast Foundation to find alternative solutions for the revitalization of the area that is prone to emigration. Schafhausen is also a Visiting Lecturer at HISK, Higher Institute of Fine Arts, Gent.
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Răzvan Ion is an intersectional innovator, academic curator, tech queer activist, introspective journalist and professor of critical thinking. He is best known for leading the DerAffe Vienna team in creating A.I. JARVIS, the first artificial intelligence curator in history and Gay 45, a European queer magazine.
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The Moscow International Biennale for Young Art (MIBYA) is a major contemporary visual art exhibition that focuses on the work of artists and curators under the age of 35. It aims to bring together new artistic initiatives from Russia and the world by supporting the creative development of young artists for interested audiences. MIBYA was first held in 2008 in response to rising interest from artists, curators and critics following the festival of young art, "Qui Vive?" sponsored by the National Center for Contemporary Arts (NCCA) and held annually from 2002 to 2006, in collaboration with free workshops at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA). "The project has acquired new status thanks to growing interest from young artists, curators, and critics. Through the combined efforts of the NCCA and MMOMA, the biennial for young art was developed." Participants are given the chance to establish connections and connect with the professional artistic community.
Anne Barlow is a curator and director in the field of international contemporary art, and is currently Director of Tate St Ives, Art Fund Museum of the Year 2018. There she directs and oversees the artistic vision and programme, including temporary exhibitions, collection displays, artist residencies, new commissions, and a learning and research programme. At Tate St Ives, Barlow has curated solo exhibitions of work by artists including: Outi Pieski (2024); Hera Büyüktaşcıyan (2023); Burçak Bingöl (2022); Prabhakar Pachpute (2022); Thảo Nguyên Phan (2022); Petrit Halilaj (2021); Haegue Yang (2020); Otobong Nkanga (2019); Huguette Caland (2019); Amie Siegel (2018) and Rana Begum (2018). She was also co-curator of "Naum Gabo: Constructions for Real Life" (2020) and collaborating curator with Castello di Rivoli, Turin for Anna Boghiguian at Tate St Ives (2019).
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The German pavilion houses Germany's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals.
Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung is a contemporary art curator and writer. He lives in Berlin.
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The Dutch pavilion houses the Netherlands's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals.
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