BiennialSeptember 17, 2020
11th Edition of Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art
The 11th edition of the Berlin Bienniale titled “The Crack Begins Within” takes place from September 5th thru November 1st, 2020.
Under the curatorship of María Berríos, Renata Cervetto, Lisette Lagnado, Agustín Pérez Rubio, it originally began its planning in 2019, with all invited artists and participants exploring and practicing the notion of its epilogue, each one in its own contexts and temporalities. As stated in the Bienniale curatorial statement: “(…) since then it has been exploring the many cracks we carry, the fissures that keep us apart and those that bring us together( …) When the coronavirus pandemic hit the European fortress several months ago, it felt for a moment that the earth wanted to stand still. The virus exposed the cruelty of everyday life and the inequality endured by the vast majority of people imprisoned by patriarchal capitalism. As we write, many of those whose works are present in the exhibition are in the South and continue living under lockdown, in places where professional healthcare is a luxury, safeguarding only the privileged. ‘The crack begins within’ are words borrowed from poet Iman Mersal. She explores the many ghosts of motherhood, tearing apart its contemporary morals. (…) As the epilogue of the Biennale The Crack Begins Within calls out the fallacy of claiming for oneself the destruction of the old and the birthing of the new, refloated so many times by the white fathers as a new scaffolding to secure the continuity of their decaying structures (…) The Crack Begins Within comprises the overlapping experiences of the artworks gathered here, breathing together, touching and moving one another. It is a testament to the powerful collective stories they tell, the work they do, and the things they shatter. The epilogue is an exercise of mutual recognition, an acknowledgement of the cracks in the system, of those broken by it and their struggles. The Crack Begins Within is a nod to the solidarity in vulnerability of the healers and carers, the fighters, their fractures, and their power.”
The Bienniale consists of four chapters to the epilogue “The Crack Begins Within” which take place at four different locations:
The Antichurch at KW Institute for Contemporary Art; Storefront for Dissident Bodies at daadgalerie; The Inverted Museum at Groupius Bau and The Living Archive at the 11th Berlin Bienniale c/o Ex Rotaprint.
Over 75 participants’ works will be featured at this edition, such as: Flávio de Carvalho (in collaboration with Raymond Frajmund), Cecilia Vicuña, Colectivo de Serigrafía Instantánea, Francisco Copello, Sandra Gamarra Heshiki, Carlos Motta, Mariela Scafati, among others.
A platform for exchange of ideas is being implemented, one which has actively been taking place since September 2019. Gatherings and tours are also part of the daily Bienniale schedule, as well as a curatorial workshop directed by curator, educator and writer Pip Day, offered this year to Berlin based early career curators, educators and other practitioners regardless of age.
Special publications have been published by the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, available in English and German at the Biennale shop website: https://bb-shop.visitate.net/en/merchandise
Under the curatorship of María Berríos, Renata Cervetto, Lisette Lagnado, Agustín Pérez Rubio, it originally began its planning in 2019, with all invited artists and participants exploring and practicing the notion of its epilogue, each one in its own contexts and temporalities. As stated in the Bienniale curatorial statement: “(…) since then it has been exploring the many cracks we carry, the fissures that keep us apart and those that bring us together( …) When the coronavirus pandemic hit the European fortress several months ago, it felt for a moment that the earth wanted to stand still. The virus exposed the cruelty of everyday life and the inequality endured by the vast majority of people imprisoned by patriarchal capitalism. As we write, many of those whose works are present in the exhibition are in the South and continue living under lockdown, in places where professional healthcare is a luxury, safeguarding only the privileged. ‘The crack begins within’ are words borrowed from poet Iman Mersal. She explores the many ghosts of motherhood, tearing apart its contemporary morals. (…) As the epilogue of the Biennale The Crack Begins Within calls out the fallacy of claiming for oneself the destruction of the old and the birthing of the new, refloated so many times by the white fathers as a new scaffolding to secure the continuity of their decaying structures (…) The Crack Begins Within comprises the overlapping experiences of the artworks gathered here, breathing together, touching and moving one another. It is a testament to the powerful collective stories they tell, the work they do, and the things they shatter. The epilogue is an exercise of mutual recognition, an acknowledgement of the cracks in the system, of those broken by it and their struggles. The Crack Begins Within is a nod to the solidarity in vulnerability of the healers and carers, the fighters, their fractures, and their power.”
The Bienniale consists of four chapters to the epilogue “The Crack Begins Within” which take place at four different locations:
The Antichurch at KW Institute for Contemporary Art; Storefront for Dissident Bodies at daadgalerie; The Inverted Museum at Groupius Bau and The Living Archive at the 11th Berlin Bienniale c/o Ex Rotaprint.
Over 75 participants’ works will be featured at this edition, such as: Flávio de Carvalho (in collaboration with Raymond Frajmund), Cecilia Vicuña, Colectivo de Serigrafía Instantánea, Francisco Copello, Sandra Gamarra Heshiki, Carlos Motta, Mariela Scafati, among others.
A platform for exchange of ideas is being implemented, one which has actively been taking place since September 2019. Gatherings and tours are also part of the daily Bienniale schedule, as well as a curatorial workshop directed by curator, educator and writer Pip Day, offered this year to Berlin based early career curators, educators and other practitioners regardless of age.
Special publications have been published by the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, available in English and German at the Biennale shop website: https://bb-shop.visitate.net/en/merchandise
