TORONTO.- The Toronto Biennial of Art today announced that its second edition is being postponed in response to the current global pandemic. Originally scheduled for fall 2021, the Biennial will now take place March 26–June 5, 2022. The Biennial’s Board of Directors and Executive Director Patrizia Libralato, along with the Biennial team, decided to postpone the event for six months to help ensure the health and safety of participating artists, collaborators, partners, supporters, the public, and Biennial staff.
The artists invited to participate are developing projects that require many of them to travel to Toronto, undertake site visits months in advance, and manage on-site installations just prior to the opening of the event. These activities require their presence in the city. As travel and shipping continue to be disrupted by the pandemic, the ability of artists to realize their projects as conceived in a shortened time frame was at risk.
The Biennial was established as a celebration of the arts across the city of Toronto, engaging the public with free and accessible programming at a variety of venues and locations. By postponing the event, organizers will be better positioned to present a Biennial that truly reflects the vision and best efforts of all involved and to further build on the success of the 2019 edition. Timing for the third edition will shift to fall 2024, and continue thereafter every two years.
“Our inaugural Biennial in 2019 welcomed nearly 300,000 local and international visitors who discovered a range of artistic experiences deeply rooted in place. We aim to expand on that engagement in our 2022 edition and help contribute not only to economic recovery, but to the collective emotional recovery within the arts sector and the many communities we work within. Postponing our event until next spring enables us to develop a Biennial that everyone can attend and participate in safely,” said Patrizia Libralato. “We are profoundly grateful for the patience and resilience of our partners and sponsors who have pledged to continue their support of our vision for 2022 and are thrilled that the artists remain committed participants.”
“As a curatorial team, we are excited about the exhibition and programs underway for 2022 and look forward to our continued work with artists as they create site-specific projects that respond to Toronto’s complex cultural context and pressing issues of our times. Their commitment to sharing their ideas and energy as we move forward together will produce a new edition that sparks connections, inspires exchange, and reframes understandings of the city,” said Curator Candice Hopkins.
