What Water Knows, The Land Remembers, the second edition of the Toronto Biennial of Art is providing Torontonians unparalleled free access to contemporary art across the GTA until June 5, 2022.
For 10 weeks every two years, local, national, and international Biennial artists transform the city and its partner regions with artworks, talks, and performances that reflect the local context and the Biennial’s commitment to inspire individuals, bridge communities, contribute to global conversations, and amplify calls to action.
The Mata Aho Collective – Kaokao #1 at Arsenal Contemporary Art, is created from some 200 metres of reflective tape, sewn together into a tukutuku lattice pattern.
Conceived as a two-part biennial, the inaugural Toronto Biennial of Art was launched in 2019. Titled The Shoreline Dilemma, it traced the various interconnected narratives and ecologies of the ever-changing shoreline of Lake Ontario — a rapidly changing, symbolically rich, and historically charged location. Drawing nearly 300,000 visitors to 15 venues in Toronto, Mississauga and the surrounding GTA, it was a popular and critical success, establishing a legacy of free and accessible contemporary arts programming.
Nadia Belerique – Holdings at 72 Perth, each barrel becomes a frame or vessel for compositions of liquids, photographs, and object assemblages outfitted with lens-like stained-glass coverings.
This year, the event sites move inland, following the tributaries, above ground and hidden, which shape this place. Most exhibitions and programs are held at the Biennial’s two main exhibition venues—72 Perth Avenue in the Junction neighbourhood and the Small Arms Inspection Building in nearby Mississauga. Other programming sites include 5 Lower Jarvis Street, Arsenal Contemporary Art, Colborne Lodge, Fort York National Historic Site, Toronto History Museums, High Park, Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA) and Textile Museum of Canada. Wherever possible, access to the Biennial is free and open to visitors of all ages.
Paul Pfeiffer – Incarnator at 72 Perth is a multimedia body of work that explores the belief systems surrounding the encarnadores, sculptors revered in the Philippines for their ability to create uncanny life-like representations of Catholic icons.
More than 70 Canadian and international participants from more than 18 places of origin are featured, including Argentina, England, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, South Africa and Zimbabwe, as well as Indigenous communities in Canada, Colombia, New Zealand, Norway and the United States. Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Nadia Belerique, Judy Chicago, Jeffrey Gibson, Jatiwangi art Factory (JaF), Brian Jungen, Jumana Manna, Eduardo Navarro, Paul Pfeiffer, and Buhlebezwe Siwani are among the participating artists.
For more information on programs, workshops, artist talks and the full list of venues and artwork, visit: torontobiennial.org, @torontobiennial, and #TOBiennial22 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
(All images: © Boucher-Harris.com)
