Montreal Biennale Cancels 2018 Edition Amid Financial Crisis; Creative China Festival Launches in US

The Biennale de Montréal has canceled its 2018 edition due to a $160,000 deficit, despite critical and public success in 2016. Board president Cédric Bisson attributed financial troubles to former artistic director Sylvie Fortin and her team, who oversaw the 2016 edition titled 'The Great Balcony'. The biennial, formed in 2013 from two smaller events, had quietly sought a new director last spring but failed to meet fundraising goals. Artists and suppliers remain unpaid seven months after the event ended in January 2017. According to Robert Everett-Green in The Globe and Mail, even the 2020 edition is uncertain, and public funders have distanced themselves pending debt resolution. Meanwhile, in China, the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation (BCAF), the only Chinese public foundation dedicated to artistic and humanistic research, has launched the Creative China Festival. Despite its name, the festival will take place in the United States, with stops in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles, aiming to introduce Chinese culture to American audiences. The first edition runs from September 7 to November 24, 2017, featuring six sections including talks, screenings, exhibitions, residencies, art, design, and performing arts, supported by a network of institutions such as Asia Contemporary Art Week and Columbia University.