Charles Esche on the 1989 Bienal de La Habana and the Birth of Biennial Culture
In his 2011 essay for Afterall's Exhibition Histories series, Charles Esche discusses the significance of the third Bienal de La Habana (1989) in the context of contemporary art worldwide. He posits that this event, along with 'Magiciens de la Terre' in Paris and 'The Other Story' in London, was a response to the geopolitical changes of 1989, including Tiananmen Square, the collapse of Eastern European communism, and the advent of the World Wide Web. Unlike its French and British counterparts, the Cuban biennial engaged marginalized art communities rooted in international socialism. Esche also examines the influence of this curatorial approach on biennials in Istanbul (1992), Dakar (1992), critiques the rise of biennials, and connects the 2011 Arab uprisings to emerging activist global audiences.
Key facts
- The third Bienal de La Habana opened on 1 November 1989, eight days before the Berlin Wall fell.
- The exhibition was curated by a team at Centro Wifredo Lam led by Llilian Llanes Godoy and Gerardo Mosquera.
- 1989 also saw 'Magiciens de la Terre' at Centre Pompidou and Grande Halle de la Villette, curated by Jean-Hubert Martin.
- 'The Other Story' at Hayward Gallery, London, was curated by Rasheed Araeen.
- Dak'Art began in 1992, focusing on African art, initially with national pavilions.
- The Istanbul Biennial's third edition in 1992, curated by Vasif Kortun, abandoned national pavilions for a singular curatorial vision.
- Documenta 11 in 2002, directed by Okwui Enwezor, assumed global inclusion as necessary.
- By 1998, the Bienal de São Paulo had adopted curatorial authorship under Paulo Herkenhoff.
- Esche notes that by the end of the first decade of the 2000s, a biennial opened somewhere in the world every fortnight.
- The essay was published in 2011, referencing the Arab Spring uprisings in early 2011.
Entities
Artists
- Charles Esche
- Llilian Llanes Godoy
- Gerardo Mosquera
- Jean-Hubert Martin
- Rasheed Araeen
- Jan Hoet
- Catherine David
- Okwui Enwezor
- Roger Buergel
- Harald Szeemann
- Vasif Kortun
- René Block
- Rosa Martínez
- Paulo Herkenhoff
- Francis Fukuyama
- Tim Berners-Lee
- Rachel Weiss
- Mirko Lauer
- Geeta Kapur
- Coco Fusco
- Luis Camnitzer
Institutions
- Afterall
- Centro Wifredo Lam
- Centre Georges Pompidou
- Grande Halle de la Villette
- Hayward Gallery
- Venice Biennale
- Bienal de São Paulo
- Documenta
- Istanbul Biennial
- Dak'Art
- Sharjah Biennial
- Johannesburg Biennial
- Gwangju Biennale
- Manifesta
- CERN
- The National Interest
Locations
- Havana
- Cuba
- Paris
- France
- London
- United Kingdom
- Kassel
- Germany
- Istanbul
- Turkey
- Dakar
- Senegal
- Sharjah
- United Arab Emirates
- Johannesburg
- South Africa
- Gwangju
- Republic of Korea
- Rotterdam
- Netherlands
- Ljubljana
- Slovenia
- São Paulo
- Brazil
- Venice
- Italy
- Eastern Europe
- Asia
- Africa
- Arab world
- North Africa
- West Asia
Sources
- Afterall —