The 11th edition of Liverpool Biennial, under the directorship of Fatoş Üstek will take place from 20 March – 6 June 2021. Titled The Stomach and the Port, the programme will be delivered as conceived initially but responsive to the new context – curated by Manuela Moscoso, with the artist list announced in November 2019.
In the past year, we have collectively experienced seismic societal changes – Fatoş Üstek
The Stomach and the Port explores notions of the body and ways of connecting with the world. The curatorial framework and artist list remain as announced last year in November 2019. The concepts that the 11th edition explores take on heightened sensitivity in the context of a pandemic and the global Black Lives Matter movement. Liverpool Biennial embraces the challenge of continuing to develop these ideas in a changed world, acknowledging these profound societal shifts, and artists’ responses to this altered reality.
Liverpool Biennial is continuing to monitor advice to ensure that this edition is delivered safely and with due care and attention to the needs of the artists, its staff and partners, as well as its local, national and international audiences.
Fatoş Üstek, Director of Liverpool Biennial, says: “It is with excitement that we are announcing our new dates, on the day which would have been the opening of the 11th edition of Liverpool Biennial.
“In the past year, we have collectively experienced seismic societal changes. The world has had to adapt to living, working and grieving through a pandemic. Lives and livelihoods have been impacted, in some cases permanently, and a world-wide recession is expected. Most recently, in light of the most significant racial justice movement of our lifetimes, we have been engaged with the urgent necessity to create equal, diverse and inclusive societies. These collective issues resonate strongly with our edition The Stomach and the Port, curated by Manuela Moscoso.
At Liverpool Biennial, we have paused our public-facing programme during the last few months, to reflect on and respond to the global transformation that we are going through. We are committed to delivering the 11th edition, in ways that are safe for our artists, partners, supporters and our audiences.”
“Our ways of being in the world, and the ways we relate to each other are being dramatically reshaped by the effects of COVID-19. At the same time, the world is marked by the Black Lives Matter movement, a call for social justice, and demand for anti-racist action. Both coinciding is far from a coincidence. They have their roots in a longstanding economy of extraction: nature, gendered bodies and racialised bodies are seen as commodifiable and disposable. – Manuela Moscoso, Curator of the 11th edition of Liverpool Biennial
“The artists and thinkers collaborating on the 11th edition of Liverpool Biennial committedly question the rigid categories defined and perpetuated by colonial capitalism through their practices. I feel incredibly fortunate to work with and learn from them, and to be able to continue to do so into 2021.
Their practices embrace kinship, collectivism and bodily experience. This Biennial edition remains rooted in a commitment to decolonise our thought processes and our knowledge of the world. I believe this demands a long process of re-calibration of the senses, requires an acceptance of vulnerability and the recognition of our privileges and prejudices. It must be more than a reflection: it needs to become a practice in all aspects of our life.”
The list of participating artists:
Larry Achiampong (U.K./Ghana), Black Obsidian Sound System (B.O.S.S.), Erick Beltrán (Mexico), Diego Bianchi (Argentina), Alice Channer (U.K.), Judy Chicago (U.S.A.), Ithell Colquhuon (U.K.), Christopher Cozier (Trinidad & Tobago), Yael Davids (Jerusalem/Netherlands), Ines Doujak (Austria) & John Barker (U.K.), Dr. Lakra (Mexico), Jadé Fadojutimi (U.K.), Jes Fan (Hong Kong/Canada), Lamin Fofana (Sierra Leone/U.S.A.), Ebony G. Patterson (Jamaica), Sonia Gomes (Brazil), Ane Graff (Norway), Ayesha Hameed (U.K./Canada), Camille Henrot (France), Nicholas Hlobo (South Africa), Laura Huertas Millán (Colombia), Sohrab Hura (India), Invernomuto (Italy) & Jim C. Nedd (Italy), Rashid Johnson (U.S.A.), KeKeÇa (Turkey), Jutta Koether (Germany), lastyearzinterestingnegroisdead (U.K.), Ligia Lewis (U.S.A./Dominican Republic), Linder (U.K.), Luo Jr‐shin (Taiwan), Jorge Menna Barreto (Brazil), Haroon Mirza (U.K.), Neo Muyanga (South Africa), Pedro Neves Marques (Portugal), Roland Persson (Sweden), Anu Põder (Estonia), Reto Pulfer(Switzerland/Germany), André Romão (Portugal), Kathleen Ryan (U.S.A.), Zineb Sedira (France), Xaviera Simmons (U.S.A.), Teresa Solar (Spain), Daniel Steegmann Mangrané (Spain/Brazil), Jenna Sutela (Finland), UBERMORGEN (Austria/U.S.A.), Leonardo Impett (U.K./Italy) and Joasia Krysa (Poland), Luisa Ungar (Colombia/Austria), Alberta Whittle (Barbados), Zheng Bo (China), David Zink Yi (Peru/Germany)
Liverpool Biennial 2021: The Stomach and the Port takes place 20 March – 6 June 2021
Liverpool Biennial is the oldest and largest festival of contemporary visual art in the U.K. Since its inception in 1998, the Biennial has become renowned in the international contemporary art world, bringing together a wide array of international voices and artistic practices. Taking place every two years, Liverpool Biennial activates public institutions, historic sites and extraordinary locations across Liverpool, ensuring significant commissions in the public realm. Pioneering an innovative approach underpinned by a year-round programme of research, education, residencies, projects and commissions, each biennial edition introduces renewed thinking and scale of production. Having commissioned over 340 new artworks and presented work by over 480 celebrated artists from around the world, the Biennial is built on a longstanding commitment to connecting international artists with local practitioners, communities and the general public.
Fatoş Üstek (b.1980, Turkey) is Director of Liverpool Biennial. She is on the jury the Turner Prize Bursaries 2020, Scotland in Venice 2021, and Dutch Pavilion 2021. She served as an external member of the acquisitions committee for the Arts Council Collection (2018-2020). She is the curator of Do Ho Suh’s largest U.K. commission (2018-2020) by Art Night and Sculpture in the City, formerly acted as Director and Chief Curator of D.R.A.F. (David Roberts Art Foundation); curator of Art Night 2017, East London and fig-2 50 projects in 50 weeks (2015), I.C.A. Studio, London; and associate curator for the 10th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju (2014). She is founding member of the Association of Women in the Arts (A.W.I.T.A.); trustee of Art Night; member of the International Association of Art Critics (A.I.C.A.) U.K.; and an Independent Curators International (I.C.I.) alumni. She lectures and publishes internationally.
Manuela Moscoso (b.1978, Ecuador) joined the Biennial from Tamayo Museo in Mexico City, where she was the Senior Curator. She is part of Zarigüeya, a programme that activates relations between contemporary art and the pre-Columbian collection of the Museo de Arte Precolombino Casa del Alabado, Ecuador. Moscoso was the adjunct curator of the 12th Cuenca Biennial and the co-curator of the Queens International 2011 biennial. In 2012 she was appointed co-director of Capacete, a residency programme based in Brazil where she also co-ran the curatorial programme Typewriter. Moscoso has collaborated with CA2M, Di Tella, M.A.M. Medellin, Museo de Rio, RedCat and Fundació Miró among other institutions.