SITE Santa Fe Names Artists for Its 13th International Biennial
SITE Santa Fe, the contemporary art institution in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has announced the theme and artist list for its 13th International Biennial, a large exhibition held every two years. The show is called "There Are Other Worlds," and it opens in June.
The exhibition is curated by Ekow Eshun. According to ArtNews, more than 40 artists will take part. Names on the list include John Akomfrah, Frank Bowling, Olafur Eliasson, Jeffrey Gibson and Nan Goldin.
Five artists will make new works for the show: Edgar Arceneaux, Firelei Báez, Raven Chacon, Lotus L. Kang and Cauleen Smith. Works made for a particular exhibition in this way are called commissions, meaning the artist is asked to create something new for that event.
The work will be spread across three sections, titled "Worlds Beyond," "World in Common" and "Worlds Alive." Most of it will be shown at SITE Santa Fe's own building, with the rest placed at other venues across the city.
That city-wide approach follows the previous edition. The 12th biennial, "Once Within a Time," was curated by Cecilia Alemani and reached beyond SITE Santa Fe's galleries to partner institutions and unusual spaces around Santa Fe. Its ideas drew on characters with ties to the city and to New Mexico, according to SITE Santa Fe.
SITE has also presented a separate project, "Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination since 1969." Candice Hopkins curated it. The project takes its starting points from the 1969 occupation of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay by the Indians of All Tribes, and from a 1969 written treatise produced at the Institute of American Indian Arts, first published in Santa Fe. SITE describes the project as a homecoming, following earlier showings in the northeastern United States and Canada.
For visitors, the practical picture is simple. The biennial is free to walk into across its venues, and people who want to plan a trip can expect the exhibition to spread across the city rather than fill one building. Anyone wanting the full list of artists and venues can find it on SITE Santa Fe's website.
