NewsBiennials & festivals
Wham! London's first Brent Biennial to launch with a nine-metre high George Michael mural
The inaugural exhibition in the north-west borough opens in September and will include 23 new commissions
NewsPhotography
Martin Parr steps down as artistic director of Bristol Photo Festival after student's anti-racism campaign
The photographer has publicly apologised after lending his name to “offensive and demeaning" photography book
InterviewAppointments & departures
'The show must go on': new Rencontres d’Arles director promises 'less is more' approach after pandemic scuppers this year's edition
Head-hunted from Paris Photo, Christoph Wiesner will begin role as Luma Foundation officially opens its headquarters in the French city
PreviewExhibitions
Impressionism and contemporary art meet for festival in northern France
Around 50 contemporary artists will feature in Normandie Impressionniste, shedding new light on one of art history’s major movements
NewsBiennials & festivals
Saudi Arabia moves ahead with plans for 2021 biennale at historic Ad Diriyah site
New contemporary art event is yet to confirm participating artists
PreviewExhibitions
Riga’s Riboca biennial defies Covid-19 by transforming into an arthouse feature film
Unfinished exhibition space will be used as a set, while the public programme moves online
NewsBiennials & festivals
AI you ready for this? Bucharest Biennale to be curated by artificial intelligence called Jarvis
The 2022 edition will exist in virtual reality and use data harvested from universities, galleries and art centres to select artists
NewsBiennials & festivals
Venice Art Biennale delayed until 2022, now the same year as Documenta
Organisers say "it is impossible to move forward within the set time limits in the realisation of such a complex and worldwide exhibition"
NewsBiennials & festivals
‘In two and a half years, who knows where the world will be’—Lyon Biennale curators reveal why exhibition was pushed back from 2021 to 2022
Pressure on resources play a part as well as ethical issues in the wake of coronavirus
NewsBiennials & festivals
Prospect New Orleans Triennial postponed until 2021
And Asia Society Triennial in New York pushed to October this year
Newscoronavirus
Galway City of Culture programme abandoned
The board of the festival has cancelled its contract with arts production company Artichoke, which was organising the ambitious schedule of outdoor events and public art
Newscoronavirus
Coronavirus: Manifesta 13 in Marseille on hold and Sydney Biennale goes virtual with Google Arts & Culture
Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art has also been postponed
PreviewBiennials & festivals
Sydney Biennale puts climate emergency and Indigenous struggle front and centre
Show’s 22nd edition aims to be as much a conversation as an exhibition, with hundreds of public events including bushwalks with aboriginal elders and campfire talks
NewsPhotography
Resistance, subversion and identity at the heart of Fotofest's first African focus
The complicated kinship between photography and colonialism is exposed at this year's festival in Houston
NewsFolkestone Triennial
Folkestone Triennial to include Gilbert & George billboards, an amusement arcade and the largest dance floor in town
The 20 artists taking part have been announced, with major installations heading for the seaside town
NewsBienal de São Paulo
The 34th edition of the Bienal de São Paulo explores ‘calls to resilience’
The biennial launches this month with “kunsthalle-sized” exhibitions ahead of the main show in September
NewsSaudi Arabia
Desert X AlUla—the inaugural art biennial in a historic Saudi Arabian valley—announces participants
Wael Shawky, Superflex and eL Seed are among the artists who will base works on the ancient history of the region
NewsBiennials & festivals
Honolulu Biennial switches to triennial format
The next exhibition curated by Hirshhorn director Melissa Chiu will open in February 2022, with a preview symposium held the year before
ReviewBiennials & festivals
Mali's reputation for insecurity challenged by the 25th Bamako Encounters
This year's edition of the photography festival showed "there are many Africas", as 85 artists portrayed a multifaceted, self-aware continent
PreviewThe Year Ahead 2020
Art on a Finnish island and Manifesta in Marseille: our guide to the brightest biennials and festivals in 2020
Prospect.5 commemorates the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and its all change as Liverpool Biennial gets a new director
NewsUK politics
Arts commentators question Conservative Party's controversial £120m ‘festival of Brexit’
Will artists and institutions participate in “national celebration” planned for 2022?
NewsBiennials & festivals
The biennial refurbishing a Unesco World Heritage city one building at a time
The third edition of Anozero in Coimbra includes works by Steve McQueen, Anna Boghiguian, and the Portuguese duo João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva
NewsBiennials & festivals
Moscow Biennale opening marred by 2017 controversy
Event’s president Julia Muzikantskaya accused of allegedly threatening artists and withholding payments
PreviewBiennials & festivals
Performa 19 to take viewers on a utopian journey back to the Bauhaus
The latest edition of New York’s performance art biennial commemorates the centenary of the ground-breaking art school
ReviewBiennials & festivals
Bubbling pools and animatronic snakes in Pierre Huyghe's Okayama Art Summit
Second edition of the Japanese triennial includes works by 18 artists that interact and overlap with each other
PreviewBiennials & festivals
The first Toronto Biennial takes a long view of human relations
Among the highlights of the city-wide exhibition is a “panoramic pantomime” of Cook’s Pacific expeditions by the New Zealand artist Lisa Reihana
ReviewMedia & broadcast
Art films worth seeing from the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival
Claes Bang takes the lead in two art dramas, while Cunningham dances through the decades
NewsBiennials & festivals
Work of art advertised on Airbnb lets visitors stay for free in the Arctic Circle—but there’s a twist
The installation by Czech artist Kateřina Šedá is part of the Lofoten International Art Festival in Norway
FeatureArt & Design 2019
Chicago Architecture Biennial reckons with displacement, privation and segregation
Artists’ works address a history of colonialisation and marginalisation and its impact on contemporary urban realities
NewsClimate Change
Art world impact just 'a drop in the ocean': Istanbul biennial curator takes on climate crisis
Nicolas Bourriaud examines the Anthropocene in 16th edition of the exhibition and says the “real issue is mass tourism"
PreviewBiennials & festivals
‘Post-industrial’ Biennale de Lyon to examine shifting social and economic experience of the region
As the largest edition of the biennial expands into an abandoned factory, we also roundup new festivals sprouting up around the world
NewsControversies
Eleven artists withdraw or modify their works at Aichi Triennale in ongoing censorship row
Cuban activist Tania Bruguera closes down her exhibit while other artists reconfigure works to reflect the controversy
NewsBiennials & festivals
Inaugural Rabat Biennale to be made up (mainly) of female artists
Curator Abdelkader Damani explains the reasons behind launching Moroccan show in already saturated biennial landscape
ReviewBiennials & festivals
Scattered over 12 islands, Japan’s Setouchi Triennale offers poignant reflections of local life by the sea
Triennial features more than 200 sculptures and installations scattered across a dozen islands in the region
NewsPerforma
Performa 19 to explore the influence of the Bauhaus School on live performance
The biennial includes around 20 new commissions by artists such as Kia LaBeija and Ed Atkins
BlogIn the frame
Ryan McNamara to stage immersive work at a Fire Island festival
Theme of free public event will be "Dancing With Adversity"
ReviewThree to see
Three to see: Edinburgh Art Festival
Trisha Brown, Samson Young and James Richards are among the highlights of this year's cultural offering in the Scottish capital
NewsWhitney Biennial
Four artists withdraw their work from the Whitney Biennial
The move follows on-going calls for the resignation of the museum board's vice chairman
ReviewExhibitions
St Louis’s Counterpublic triennial tests the limits of local engagement
In its first iteration, the exhibition paired artists with local storefronts far from the city’s major cultural districts
PreviewBiennials & festivals
From plastic waste to indigenous heritage, old and new biennials tap into contemporary concerns and issues
Toronto gets a new waterfront biennial while Istanbul stays fresh by shifting to dramatic new locations
NewsBiennials & festivals
Actor Russell Tovey to curate new arts festival in the UK seaside town of Margate
Exhibitions and performances will coincide with this year’s Turner Prize exhibition at Turner Contemporary
BlogIn the frame
How to spend the longest day of the year with art and nature
Storm King Art Center is hosting a Summer Solstice celebration alongside its shows by artists Mark Dion and Jean Shin
NewsBiennials & festivals
São Paulo biennial ups its budget for a huge 2020 edition
The 34th exhibition will involve collaborations with more than 20 cultural institutions in the city and multiple openings throughout the year
NewsBiennials & festivals
No theme, no private funding and it lasts five years: inaugural Oslo Biennial opens in Norway
The event aims to boost the Nordic city's public arts programme
ReviewBiennials & festivals
Everything is good at the Whitney Biennial but nothing makes a difference
Despite a history of protest and a very present controversy at the museum, this year’s survey of American contemporary art is missing a radical spirit
NewsVenice Biennale 2019
Fierce debate over Christoph Büchel's Venice Biennale display of boat that sank with hundreds locked in hull
Up to 1,100 may have died on board the fishing vessel; critics say its display is grossly insensitive at best while others describe it as a powerful reminder of exploitation
PreviewBiennials & festivals
Whitney Biennial aims to focus on artists but—as protests mount—it cannot escape politics
The Whitney Museum has turned to two in-house curators to put together a show that celebrates diversity in American art—but as in 2017, the biennial is already mired in controversy
ReviewVenice Biennale 2019
Venice Biennale 2019: the must-see pavilions around the city
An indoor beach, Mongolian throat singing and ceramic vaginas—where to go beyond the Arsenale and Giardini
ReviewVenice Biennale 2019
We've chosen the best of the art in Venice, now here's the worst
We’ve seen a lot of exhibitions in the city so you don’t have to
NewsChicago
Veterans and artists draw creative profit out of war
A project at the inaugural National Veterans Art Museum Triennial in Chicago aims to create artistic equity out of conflict
CommentVenice Biennale 2019
Why is the Venice Biennale still so important?
Historical importance, glamour, big spenders—it continues to be an art festival like no other
PreviewExhibitions
Honey I shrunk the art: the ultimate alternative biennial opens in Los Angeles
Dollhouse-sized paintings and installations replace big artistic statements and egos
CommentHavana Biennial
The 2019 Havana Biennial is a smokescreen for government censorship
Art fares poorly when parroting official narratives, especially when that messaging is opposed to the values of free speech and an open society
PreviewExhibitions
Havana Biennial opens amid controversy
Works on view draw on themes of collaboration and agency, at the same time the government seeks to control what art can be shown on the island
CommentOkwui Enwezor
Okwui Enwezor was one of the most influential curators in history
The Art Newspaper's features editor Ben Luke pays tribute
NewsCuba
Activists to stage alternative biennial in Havana
Independent artists groups plan to put Cuba's controversial Decree 349 to the test
CommentBiennials & festivals
Why we need an independent biennial in Havana
The San Isidro Group of Cuban artists explain their plans for the Bienal Sin 349
BlogIn the frame
Brexit and big fish at the Bombay Beach Biennale
NewsBiennials & festivals
Authorities cancel activist youth festival in Russia's Far East
Officials raise concerns that the festival was promoting an LGBT agenda
PreviewTriennale di Milano
Why Milan’s triennial is a matter of life and death
Human extinction and planetary devastation are tackled in the XXII Triennale di Milano—but the message is one of hope through innovation
NewsWhitney Biennial
'I stand in solidarity with the staff and say no': Michael Rakowitz on why he turned down the Whitney Biennial
Recent controversies over the museum's board prompt artist to question participation in this year's event
NewsBiennials & festivals
Block Universe performance festival expands to Berlin power station
New 350 sq. m contemporary art space E-Werk Luckenwalde has joined the programme for the event's fifth anniversary
PreviewBiennials & festivals
Honolulu Biennial focuses on indigenous artists and local issues
The second edition of the biennial takes a proudly Pacific-centred view
ReviewBiennials & festivals
Hits and misses at Palm Springs's second Desert X biennial
Some half-baked works mean this year’s event fails to live up to the promise of the first edition
NewsBiennials & festivals
Singapore Biennale to look on the bright side of life
Exhibition in November "puts its faith squarely in the potential of art to rework the world”
NewsZimbabwe
Zimbabwe biennial postponed amid political turmoil
As civil unrest and internet shutdowns continue, organisers say they now hope to hold event in 2020
ReviewBiennials & festivals
Environmental issues grow on the Taipei Biennale
Co-curators Mali Wu and Francesco Manacorda have invited Taiwanese indigenous land right protesters to occupy parts of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum
PreviewThe Year Ahead 2019
Must-see biennials, triennials and festivals in 2019
From "interesting times" at Ralph Rugoff's Venice Biennale to an Anthropocene-inspired Istanbul Biennial, plus Sharjah and the best of the rest
NewsArt Basel in Miami Beach
We are all America: first Faena Festival aims to unify, not divide
There is continuity across the two continents, says curator of Miami Beach event
NewsDocumenta 14
Documenta deficit caused by Athens overspending widens to €7.6m in final audit
Shareholders agree to increase funding for the 2022 edition
CommentBiennials & festivals
Why we cancelled the 2020 FotoFocus Biennial and dispersed its $800,000 budget as arts grants
As the coronavirus pandemic raised concerns about their 10th anniversary event plans, the leaders of the Cincinnati festival explain why they decided to support the local arts community instead
Mary Ellen Goeke and Kevin Moore