Watch the video from the talk Biennial Culture: What can the Spectator learn from a Biennial?, which was held at the fair in 2014.

chaired by
Nicolaus Schafhausen Director of Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna/Austria

Speakers
Adam Budak Director of Collections and Exhibitions, National Gallery, Prague/Czech Republic
Kasper König Curator Manifesta 10, St. Petersburg/Russian Federation

The term “biennial” describes an (art) event taking place every two years. Biennials are a driving force behind cities’ political positioning and used as strategic marketing tools with an additional economic value. For a period of several months, they attract international artists and art professionals as well as tourists interested in art and culture. In a nutshell: Biennales almost have a magnetic appeal and are considered highlights of urban culture marketing. But what is the added value generated by biennials considering their steadily rising visitor numbers, increasing budgets and more and more artists? Is a biennale as a global phenomenon an adequate model to shed some light on marginal places? Or do they merely transport the established from one place to another? In his discussions with Adam Budak and Kasper König, Nicolaus Schafhausen will try to find answers to these and other questions and explore which added value biennales might hold for cities, artists and visitors in the future.