The 16th Lyon Biennale announces curatorial framework and participating artists, including Annika Kahrs.
Curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, the 16th Lyon Biennale ‘manifesto of fragility’ proceeds with the announcement of its curatorial framework, participating artists and institutional partners. The Biennale, opening September 2022 (14/09 – 31/12/2022), will expand beyond its customary venues in Lyon into locations throughout the city in order to welcome the participation of the broadest possible public.
‘manifesto of fragility’ is structured along two distinct axes that function as complimentary conduits for the Biennale’s consideration of fragility. A horizontal, geographical line carries the contributions of 87 contemporary artists from 39 countries engaging with the topic of fragility in a wide range of artistic practices. A vertical, temporal line will deliver more than 100 historical artworks and objects spanning two millennia on loan from several diverse collections in Lyon and abroad. The Biennale posits a point of intersection between the two axes to initiate a focused exploration of fragility within the context of the dazzling yet tumultuous 1960s era of Beirut’s so-called Golden Age, featuring 230 artworks by 34 artists and more than 300 archival documents from nearly 40 collections worldwide.
The artists taking part in the 16th Lyon Biennale bring diverse approaches to the focal theme of fragility that represent varied understandings of our current state of global uncertainty. The Biennale appeals to a broad coalition of international artists to share in building a nuanced patchwork of narratives illuminating moments of resilience in the face of social, political and environmental upheaval The artists gathered around the Biennale embody various faces of fragility, some in the issues they tackle, and others in the materials they use. What their works have in common is the potential to inform our thinking about generative paths of resistance.
