Description
Book SynopsisThrough its examination of five quite different art events in cities across Europe,
Contemporary Art Biennials in Europe offers a compelling exploration of how public art takes place in the modern city. Roughly tracing a central horizontal trajectory from the western to the eastern edges of the continent, Nicolas Whybrow considers the Folkestone Triennial in the UK, Sculpture Projects Münster in Germany, the Venice Biennale in Italy, Belgrade's Mikser Festival in Serbia and the Istanbul Biennial in Turkey.Writing within the context of a thirty-year international biennial boom', Whybrow interrogates the extent to which biennial events and their artworks seek to engage with the socio-cultural and political complexity of cities, in particular the
work that is involved in this relationship. With its focus on Europe, he also tells a composite story of continental difference at a moment of high tension, centering on issues of migration, political populism and uncertainty around
Trade ReviewThe next instalment of Whybrow’s innovative and hugely important work on art, performance and the city. He adopts an alternative approach to biennial culture in Europe and seeks to show how the artworks in these ‘events’ have the possibility of producing a sense of location for the city dwellers who encounter and ‘use’ them as aesthetic compasses. The book is original, stylish, and innovative. There is a real sense that the author is an expert in this field and he wears his knowledge with elegance and grace. -- Professor Carl Lavery, University of Glasgow, UK
Table of ContentsList of figures Acknowledgements Introduction: European Biennials, Complex Cities, and the
Work of Art 1. Folkestone Turned: of Fault-lines and Fairy-tales 2. Sculpture Trials, Sculpture Tales: Münster’s ‘Rupture Projects’ and the Time of Art 3. ‘Viva Venezia Viva’: Treasures from the Wreck of the ‘Unbelievable City’ 4. Belgrade Conversations:
Mikser, its Festival and the City’s ‘descent to its rivers’,
Nicolas Whybrow with Marko Jobst and Marijana Cvetkovic 5. Neighbourhood Watch: Building and Dwelling in Istanbul Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
