Belgrade Biennial 2021: The Dreamers
The October Salon, the most important contemporary art event in the Western Balkans, has been officially rebranded as the Belgrade Biennial for its 58th edition, running until August 22, 2021. The shift from its traditional October 20 opening—tied to Belgrade's liberation day in WWII—to a summer launch sparked controversy among local intellectuals, who saw it as a forced decontextualization. Curated by Italians Ilaria Marotta and Andrea Baccin, founders of CURA., the biennial features 64 international artists and collectives with 160 works under the concept "THE DREAMERS." The theme explores the deceptive nature of reality and the space of dreams, drawing on Jean Baudrillard's hyperreality and The Matrix. Venues include the Museum of the City of Belgrade (Resavska), KCB Art Gallery, and public spaces like Terazije Square, Branko's Bridge, and Trg Republike. Notable works include Pierre Huyghe's sculpture created in collaboration with the Walker Art Center, and permanent installations by Aleksandra Domanović and Cyprien Gaillard. The catalog, edited by KCB and Cura Books, features texts by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Emanuele Coccia, and others, plus a dream section inspired by Obrist and Francesco Bonami's 1999 book. The graphic identity was designed by CURA. with Giandomenico Carpentieri, and limited editions were produced with König Souvenir.
Key facts
- The October Salon rebranded as Belgrade Biennial for its 58th edition.
- The biennial runs until August 22, 2021.
- Curated by Ilaria Marotta and Andrea Baccin of CURA.
- 64 international artists and collectives with 160 works participate.
- Theme is 'THE DREAMERS', exploring reality and dreams.
- Venues include Museum of the City of Belgrade, KCB Art Gallery, and public spaces.
- Pierre Huyghe created a sculpture for the event in collaboration with Walker Art Center.
- Catalog includes texts by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Emanuele Coccia, and others.
Entities
Artists
- Ilaria Marotta
- Andrea Baccin
- Aleksandar Ilić
- Maja Kolarić
- Radovan Jokić
- Anda Rottenberg
- Darka Radosavljević
- Nebojša Vilić
- René Block
- Johan Pousette
- Celia Prado
- Alenka Gregorič
- Galit Eilat
- David Elliott
- Red Mined
- Nicolaus Schafhausen
- Danielle Kvaran
- Gunnar Kvaran
- John Rafman
- Vuk Ćuk
- Marija Avramović
- Sam Twidale
- Igor Simić
- Matt Copson
- Dora Budor
- Nicolas Deshayes
- Max Hooper Schneider
- Guan Xiao
- Pierre Huyghe
- Aleksandra Domanović
- Cyprien Gaillard
- Than Hussein Clark
- Alex Da Corte
- Hans Ulrich Obrist
- Mahfuz Sultan
- Melanie Chan
- Giulia Bini
- Ben Vickers
- Anthony Huberman
- Tarek Elhaik
- Matthew Spellberg
- Emanuele Coccia
- Vladimir Kulić
- Sanja Bojanić
- Fredi Fischli
- Niels Olsene
- Saša Ilić
- Ian Cheng
- Costanza Paissan
- Francesco Bonami
- Giandomenico Carpentieri
- Dan Solbach
- Massimo Adario
- Jean Baudrillard
- Jean-Marie Appriou
- Trisha Baga
- Davide Balula
- Neïl Beloufa
- Will Benedict
- James Bridle
- Elaine Cameron-Weir
- Claudia Comte
- Sanja Ćopić
- Simon Denny
- DIS (Lauren Boyle, Solomon Chase, Marco Roso, David Toro)
- David Douard
- Cécile B. Evans
- Cao Fei
- Nenad Gajić
- Camille Henrot
- David Horvitz
- Marguerite Humeau
- Invernomuto (Simone Bertuzzi e Simone Trabucchi)
- Alex Israel
- Melike Kara
- Nadežda Kirćanski
- Josh Kline
- Oliver Laric
- Mark Leckey
- Hannah Levy
- Hana Miletić
- Ebecho Muslimova
- Katja Novitskova
- Wong Ping
- Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo)
- Sonja Radaković
- Jon Rafman
- Anri Sala
- Bojan Šarčević
- Augustas Serapinas
- Marianna Simnett
- Emily Mae Smith
- Colin Snapp
- Daniel Steegmann Mangrané
- Diamond Stingily
- Nora Turato
- Nico Vascellari
- Jordan Wolfson
- Mauro Hertig
- Alexis Zavialoff
Institutions
- CURA.
- Museum of the City of Belgrade
- Cultural Center of Belgrade
- Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade
- Ministry of Culture of Serbia
- Museum of Yugoslavia
- KCB Art Gallery
- Walker Art Center
- Cura Books
- König Souvenir
- Artribune
- October Salon
- Belgrade Biennale
- Culture Centre of Belgrade (KCB)
- Belgrade City Museum
- Movie Theater of the Cultural Center of Belgrade
- BIGZ building
- Radio Belgrade
- Motto Distribution
- Cura.Books
- Galerie Chantal Crousel
Locations
- Belgrade
- Serbia
- Western Balkans
- Museum of the City of Belgrade
- Resavska
- KCB Art Gallery
- Museum of Yugoslavia
- Terazije Square
- Branko's Bridge
- Trg Republike
- Belgrade Dance Institute
- Paris
- Minneapolis
- Rome
- Venice