Oslo Biennale Breaks the Mold with Five-Year Edition

Oslo has launched its first biennale, but with a twist: it will run for five years, from 2019 to 2024, challenging the traditional biennial format. Curators Eva González-Sancho Bodero and Per Gunnar Eeg-Tverbakk emphasize time as a core concept, allowing for extended production and presentation of public art. The biennale focuses on process over spectacle, with a small roster of artists given ample time and resources to create works that engage with Oslo's public spaces. Italian-Mexican artist Michelangelo Miccolis is the sole Italian participant. Norwegian artist Marianne Heier kicked off the biennale with a performance at Brera Academy in Milan, which will be restaged in Oslo. The biennale also includes a symposium series running through 2022, exploring topics like artistic production in a locality and new institutional ecologies. The event aims to rethink how art interacts with the city and its inhabitants, moving beyond the typical biennale model.