Previous Exhibitions

The inaugural Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale-Open Spaces Project 2005-2007 included twenty-four public works of art created by nineteen remarkable contemporary artists from eleven countries. From September 2005 to April 2007, these pieces captured the attention of millions of viewers as they walked, biked, drove, boated, and jogged around neighbourhood communities and urban beaches of Vancouver. The Vancouver Sculpture Biennale realized the vision and goals of its founding governing and curatorial boards. In a successful example of public-private partnerships, the City of Vancouver Park Board and the Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale created a cultural arts event that was the first of its kind in the world. Accessible 24/7 and free to the over twenty million viewers that viewed twenty-four installations over eighteen months, the Biennale also implemented sixteen community-based interactive programs (several with a national and worldwide reach) including: interactive cell phone self-guided tour; K-12 interactive multi-disciplinary educational curriculum; Post-secondary, college and university video and multi-media competitions; Community and intra-school photo competitions; People’s Choice legacy selection and voting campaign; Weekly multi-media six month awareness campaign; Interactive web site; Art You Can Feel award-winning guerilla street campaign; American Lecture Series; Lifetime-Achievement Award; Black tie Gala and Auction with Christie’s; Curatorial Legacy-Gifting program; Regional intra-school Biennale Great Race; Self guided walking and cycling map tour; and Transit shelters and billboard campaign. 

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The 2009–2011 Vancouver Biennale featured major works from 5 continents with the focus on Asia. By the end of the 2009-2011 biennial, ten lectures by 6 artists took place including one by Landscape Architect, Charles Jencks.  

This Biennale had the theme of In-transit-ion and expanded beyond monumental sculpture installations in parks, bike lanes and urban plazas, to include New Media and Performance Installations on the new Canada Line rapid transit system. Works included Dennis Oppenheim’s Engagment (USA), Jaume Plensa‘s We (Spain), Magdalena Abakanowicz’s Walking Figures (Poland) from the City of San Diego, Michel Goulet’s Echoes (Canada), Sorel Etrog’s King and Queen (Canada), John Clement’s Jasper (USA) and Bernar Venet’s 217.5 Arcs x 13 (France).  

Open Borders / Crossroads Vancouver

The 3rd Vancouver Biennale exhibition began Spring 2014. We expanded to new cities, broadening our program to include a wider range of artistic disciplines, and inviting an unprecedented mix of famous and emerging artists from around the world to participate in a two-year celebration of great contemporary art, freely accessible to people where they live, work, play and transit. The mandate of the Vancouver Biennale is to exhibit great art in public space and use it as a catalyst for learning and social action. 

The curatorial theme of the exhibition was Open Borders / Crossroads Vancouver. Unique in the world for its natural beauty, Vancouver became the international hub where artists from all nations, cultural backgrounds, political histories and artistic disciplines gathered to celebrate art in public space. Together we inspired creativity, transformed thinking and found our interconnectedness as global citizens through art. 

The 2014 – 2016 Vancouver Biennale featured diverse works by both breakthrough and established artists, in keeping with the theme Open Borders / Crossroads Vancouver. Participants included globally-recognized figures ranging from Ai Weiwei, Vik Muniz to OSGEMEOS. 

Press Coverage for the 2014 / 2016 Exhibition

Vancouver Sun: Art and Soul
Vancouver Sun: International luminaries flock to third Vancouver Biennale of public art
Georgia Straight: Top 10 standout arts events of 2014
The Huffington Post: 17 Pieces That Wouldn’t Belong Anywhere Else
National Gallery of Canada: Crossing Borders at the 2014–2016 Vancouver Biennale
Biennial Foundation: The 3rd Vancouver Biennale Exhibition Opens
Flare Localist: The Art Scene Is Booming
NorthShore News: North Shore News Readers’ Choice 2015 winner!
Where Magazine: Alfresco Art
Where Magazine: The Best 10 New Attractions in Canada
Travel2Next: 10 Things To Do In Vancouver
Vancouver Art Attack: Vancouver’s Public Art Museum 

Curatorial Team

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Barrie Mowatt, our international team includes some of the most influential and dynamic curators and scholars working in contemporary art.

 

  • Barrie Mowatt

    Artistic Director

  • Zheng Shengtian

    Senior Curator (Asia) Open Air Museum

  • Marcello Dantas

    Senior Curator (Latin and South America) Open Air Museum

  • Rakhi Sarkar

    Curatorial Advisor, Open Air Museum and Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Luis Camillo Osario

    Curatorial Advisor, Open Air Museum

  • Jose Roca

    Curatorial Advisor, Open Air Museum and Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Marc Pottier

    Curatorial Advisor, Open Air Museum

  • Hans Ulrich Obrist

    Curatorial Advisor, Open Air Museum

  • Steve Nash

    Curatorial Advisor, Open Air Museum

  • Adriano Pedrosa

    Curatorial Advisor, Open Air Museum

  • Sarah Fillmore

    Curatorial Advisor, Open Air Museum and Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Mahnaz Fancy

    Curatorial Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Aissa H. Deebi

    Curatorial Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Ilko Davidov

    Curator, Biennale CineFest

  • Ted Grouya

    Curator, Biennale CineFest

  • Marek Hovorka

    Curator, Biennale CineFest

  • Inti Codera

    Curator, Biennale CineFest

  • Rene Rozon

    Curator, Biennale CineFest

  • Andre Vaillancourt

    Curator, Biennale CineFest

  • Helmut Batista

    Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Alexandre Gabriel

    Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Guilherme Wisnik

    Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Ana Paula Cohen

    Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Dieter Rolstraete

    Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Bruce Johnson

    Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Paul Walde

    Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Richard Ingleby

    Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Toby Webster

    Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Pooja Sood

    Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Bose Krishnamachari

    Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies

  • Basma El Husseiny

    Advisor, Biennale International Artist Residencies