Hou Hanru on Curating the 10th Lyon Biennale: The Spectacle of the Everyday
In the spring of 2009, Hou Hanru took over as curator for the 10th Lyon Biennale following Catherine David's exit, managing to organize the event within a mere six months. Running from September 16, 2009, to January 3, 2010, the exhibition, titled "The Spectacle of the Everyday," was hosted at locations such as the Musée d'art contemporain and La Sucrière. With the goal of creating a "breach in the system of spectacle," Hou aimed to shed light on the "excluded and silent majority." The biennale showcased approximately sixty artists, including notable figures like Adel Abdessemed, Agnès Varda, and Shilpa Gupta, organized into four thematic sections. The Projet Veduta, spearheaded by Abdelkader Damani, featured artists like Eko Nugroho, with Hou drawing inspiration from thinkers such as Michel de Certeau to suit the European context.
Key facts
- Hou Hanru replaced Catherine David as curator of the 10th Lyon Biennale in spring 2009.
- The biennale was titled 'The Spectacle of the Everyday' and ran from September 16, 2009, to January 3, 2010.
- Venues included La Sucrière, Musée d'art contemporain, Fondation Bullukian, and Entrepôt Bichat.
- The biennale had four thematic sections: 'The Magic of Things,' 'In Praise of Drift,' 'Another World is Possible,' and 'Let's Live Together.'
- About sixty artists were invited, including Adel Abdessemed, Pedro Reyes, Sylvie Blocher, and Huang Yong Ping.
- Projet Veduta, directed by Abdelkader Damani, involved residencies by Eko Nugroho, Bik Van der Pol, and Robert Milin.
- Hou Hanru aimed to create a 'breach in the system of spectacle' to give visibility to the marginalized.
- The biennale drew on theories by Michel de Certeau, Arjun Appadurai, Giorgio Agamben, and Antonio Negri.
Entities
Artists
- Hou Hanru
- Catherine David
- Damien Sausset
- Adel Abdessemed
- Pedro Reyes
- Sylvie Blocher
- Fikret Atay
- Sophie Dejode
- Bertrand Lacombe
- Latifa Echakhch
- HeHe
- Robert Milin
- Agnès Varda
- Huang Yong Ping
- Société Réaliste
- Mark Lewis
- Sarah Sze
- Jimmie Durham
- Shilpa Gupta
- Abdelkader Damani
- Eko Nugroho
- Bik Van der Pol
- Sarkis
- Michel de Certeau
- Arjun Appadurai
- Giorgio Agamben
- Antonio Negri
Institutions
- Lyon Biennale
- La Sucrière
- Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon
- Fondation Bullukian
- Entrepôt Bichat
- Shanghai Biennale
- Gwangju Biennale
- Istanbul Biennial
- artpress
Locations
- Lyon
- France
- Shanghai
- China
- Gwangju
- South Korea
- Istanbul
- Turkey
Sources
- artpress —