For the Time Being

The 10th edition of the Alberta Biennial grew from an innovative experience. Not only did the curators travel extensively across the province in search of creative talent, they brought the 24 selected artists together before the event for a series of workshops to facilitate an open conversation on the status and impact of biennials. Presented by both the Art Gallery of Alberta and Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity's Walter Phillips Gallery, the diverse works reveal common threads relating to interstitiality and site as well as a preoccupation with language that reflects the way in which artists see reverberations within larger discourses in their communities. The authors discuss the Alberta Biennial specifically, as well as the role played by biennials around the world today. Exhibition: Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada (27.05.-10.09.2017) / Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, Banff, Canada (24.06.-10.09.2017).