3rd General Assembly: Dates and Theme Announced

Photo courtesy of La Triennale di Milano

3rd General Assembly of the International Biennial Association
May 30 – June 2, 2016
Milan, Italy

The International Biennial Association is pleased to announce that its 3rd General Assembly will be held in Milan, Italy, coinciding with the 2016 Milan Triennale. Set to take place from May 30 – June 2, 2016, the four-day event will focus on biennial discourses, with the main theme of planning, design and the development of a global market. A public conference will be held featuring lectures, panels and round tables, all focusing on the central theme and expanding to include contemporary art, architecture and communication.

Theme, by La Triennale di Milano

The XXI century is the century of Biennials (and Triennials) around the world.

Every country, every big city has organized a Biennial dedicated to either contemporary art, visual arts, design, photography, architecture, cinema, performing arts, etc. The main rationale behind this was connecting culture to the current times. Starting though from the location, the territory, the local specific features which are always connected to history and traditions.

Part of the above mentioned Biennials allowed the cities that hosted them to develop. They managed in fact to equip themselves with cultural infrastructures such as museums, design centers, schools, theatres, etc, in order to make permanent all those activities that were supposed to last only throughout the duration of the Biennials themselves.

Interestingly though, in some other cases the process was the opposite. It was actually thanks to the pre-existing museums, theatres and schools, that the ambiance supported the conditions to host those temporary cultural happenings. In the latter case, the Biennial functioned as an international spot-light on the themes and topics of outmost importance for the local society, its culture and its values.

However, Biennials have always played a relevant role in modifying and influencing the cities themselves and the territories around them. They contributed to the social rooting of specific disciplines, influencing urban growth and development also from the economical perspective.

IBA’s III International Conference shall allow for measurements and evaluations of the positive outcomes that Biennials (and Triennials) have on the cities and countries where they are held.

Consequently, IBA is becoming more and more like a sort of UNESCO, a new BIE, an international organism able to validate the Biennials’ projects and to guarantee their thematic and organizational quality.

IBA could become an essential organization for the creation of an “International System” of those minimal yet fundamental rules and guidelines, necessary for an efficient and resilient Biennial.

Additionally, IBA could contribute to the creation of unitary and integrated projects, mirroring in each and every Biennial a common set of shared cultural values.

In times of warfare and international conflicts, it could function as a moratorium manifesto in order to avoid the devastation of cultural heritage and to safeguard the cultural goods undermined by armed conflicts.

On the other hand, the common goal could be realizing an exposition or a cultural structure taking place in a lively, vibrant and proactive reality, characterized though by scarcity of resources. This could be done through a participatory process able to involve the Biennials’ visitors in multiple ways, both from a socially inclusive perspective, as well as an economical one, considering for instance the new crowd-funding trends.

IBA’s III International Conference shall therefore have a relevant communicative impact. It could, in fact, launch a vibrant discussion open not only to experts and scholars, but also to all the strata of society, having ultimately a fundamental political effect.

For inquiries, please contact: info@biennialassociation.org.

The IBA’s 3rd General Assembly is co-organized by the IBA in collaboration with La Triennale di Milano.