OPEN 2009 No 16

The Art Biennial as a Global Phenomenon
Strategies in Neo-Political Times

Publisher: NAi Publishers

Not only is there a boom in international art biennials, but they are also increasingly deployed for developing and marketing cities and regions. In order to compensate for this, political issues are more and more often put on the agenda. Can biennials really represent an alternative political voice? This extra anniversary issue of “Open” contains a number of lectures delivered at the debate on this issue in October 2008 in connection with the first Brussels Biennial. Together with supplementary texts, a “reader” has been created in which the biennial as a global phenomenon is analysed and approached not only in terms of an art theoretical discourse or curatorial practice, but also on the basis of more sociological and politico-philosophical points of view.

Content:

The Biennial: A Post-Institution for Immaterial Labour – Pascal Gielen

Production and Distribution of the Common: A Few Questions for the Artists – Michael Hardt

Democratic Politics in the Age of Post-Fordism – Chantal Mouffe

The Global and Singuniversal Reflections on Art and Culture in the Global World – Thierry De Duve

From Medium to Message: The Art Exhibition as Model of a New World Order – Boris Groys

Marks of Distinction, Vectors of Possibility: Questions for the Biennial – Simon Sheikh

The Interscale : Art after Neoliberalism – Brian Holmes

The Making of ‘Once is Nothing’: How to Say No while Still Saying Yes? – Charles Esche, Maria Hlavajova

Geo-Cultures: Circuits of Arts and Globalizations – Irit Rogoff

Read the special issue on ISSUU.