La Biennale de Montreal 2014: Influencer l’avenir / Influencing the Future

December 15, 2014 - February 1, 2015

Curated by the students in Dr. Alice Ming Wai Jim’s ARTH 649 graduate seminar on international art exhibitions, fall 2014.

This poster exhibition argues that La Biennale de Montreal 2014 (BNL MTL 2014) could be as influential an exhibition as those featured in Jens Hoffmann’s book, Showtime: The 50 Most In-fluential Exhibitions of Contemporary Art.(1) Our research aims to explore the dynamic shifts of BNL MTL 2014 within the emerging field of biennialogy, and the increased desire to be part of ‘global art worlds’.(2) As outlined in Hoffmann’s book, this biennial is representative of current trends in exhibition-making, such as: integration into the public sphere; use of interdisciplinary fields; and negotiation with issues of race, nationality and class gender.(3) By exploring the com-plex identities and cultural diversity of the city through the theme of L’avenir (looking forward), BNL MTL 2014 seeks to position itself within a network of world biennials.

In order to assert the significance of La Biennale de Montréal through its response to these is-sues, our poster exhibition proposes three main arguments: BNL MTL 2014 strategically builds on existing opportunities within the city of Montreal; it introduces discursive events through its partnership with Musée d’art contemporain; and it adopts the theme of futurity to highlight past and present social conditions. Following our investigation, we hope to engage with the academic community, as well as foster a publicly accessible discourse on the role of La Biennale de Mont-réal and biennial exhibitions as a whole. This vitrine presentation at Concordia University will be accompanied by a website launch featuring our extensive research. We invite viewers to engage in our reflections on this biennial model as it relates to the cultural diversity of Montreal.

(1)  Hoffman, Jens. Showtime: The 50 Most Influential Exhibitions of Contemporary Art. New York: D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, Inc., 2014. Print.   
(2)  Belting, Hans. “The Plurality of Art Worlds and the New Museum.” The Global Contemporary and the Rise of New Art Worlds. Ed. Hans Belting, Andrea Buddensieg, and Peter Weibel. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2013. 246-254. Print.
(3)  Hoffman, Jens. Showtime: The 50 Most Influential Exhibitions of Contemporary Art. New York: D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, Inc., 2014. Print.

Poster content and design by Farah Atoui, Marie-Hélène Busque, Isadora Chicoine-Marinier, Tamara Harkness, Alyssa Hauer, Muriel Luderowski, Gillian M. MacCormack, Samantha Merritt, Marie Elisabeth Ohlinger, Maude Pesant Johnson, Dario Ré, Damien Smith, Evan Stanfield, Tianmo Zhang, and Charissa von Harringa.

For more information: http://showtime2014.weebly.com/