The third edition of the Biennale Matter of Art will take place from 14 June to 29 September 2024, in the Grand Hall of the National Gallery Prague, the Lidice Gallery, and other venues. Curated by Katalin Erdődi and Aleksei Borisionok, the project will also feature a new bilingual publication comprising theoretical texts and artistic contributions. Admission to the biennale as well as the accompanying public program will be free of charge. The biennale is organized by the initiative tranzit.cz in cooperation with the National Gallery Prague and the Lidice Art Collection.
Erdődi and Borisionok graft their interests in rural change as social change and the legacies and futures of workers’ movements. They focus on forgotten stories of social unrest and underrepresented experiences of sociopolitical transformation in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. Bringing together diverse artistic and discursive contributions, the curators look for resonances between historical struggles and the contemporary moment. The Biennale Matter of Art marks a first-time collaboration between Erdődi and Borisionok, who are both based in Vienna.
“Inspired by the technique of grafting, we ask ourselves how we can graft solidarities across the rural-urban divide, from the factories to the fields. Instead of letting our differences separate us, how can we create new alliances and grow stronger together? This is exactly what grafting does. It is a technique used in agriculture and medicine to join different plant parts as well as animal or human tissue so that they can grow together and become stronger. It shows us the possibility for transformation in surprising and unexpected ways, not restricted to fixed identities. We can initiate grafting, but we cannot control whether it succeeds or fails. We believe that we also need to acknowledge failure as part of our struggles for change.”
– Aleksei Borisionok and Katalin Erdődi
Participating artists
Kateryna Aliinyk, Zbyněk Baladrán, björnsonova, cosa.cz Cultural Cooperative (Markéta Mráčková, Barbora Šimonová) with Viktor Vejvoda, DAVRA research group (Madina Joldybek, Zumrad Mirzalieva, Saodat Ismailova), Martina Drozd Smutná, Giorgi Gago Gagoshidze, Asunción Molinos Gordo, Uladzimir Hramovich, Adelita Husni-Bey, Nikita Kadan, Kateřina Konvalinová & Judita Levitnerová, Kateryna Lysovenko, Pınar Öğrenci, Natalie Perkof, Marta Popivoda, Alicja Rogalska, Elske Rosenfeld, Zorka Ságlová, Antje Schiffers, Olia Sosnovskaya, Petr Štembera, The Randomroutines (Tamás Kaszás & Krisztián Kristóf), Dominika Trapp, Tomáš Uhnák with Asia Dér / Tamás Kaszás / Asunción Molinos Gordo
Opening weekend
The opening night on 13 June at the National Gallery Prague in the Trade Fair Palace will commence with Antje Schiffers’s performance Myvillages’ International Schnaps Bar. Founded by artist Dominika Trapp, the Hungarian conceptual music project Peasants in Atmosphere will join forces with the women’s folklore ensemble Lada for an experimental concert performance. Post-critical design studio The Rodina will present their performative take on the biennale’s visual identity.
On Friday, 14 June, the program will continue at the Trade Fair Palace with divination and card reading by björnsonova and a new performance by artist and writer Kateryna Aliinyk in the exhibition space. Elsewhere in the building, artist, researcher, and writer Olia Sosnovskaya will perform together with artist, author, and cultural worker Elske Rosenfeld. Curatorial guided tours featuring artist talks with the exhibiting artists are scheduled for both the 14 and 15 June.
The afternoon of 15 June will be dedicated to the opening of the second biennale venue at the Lidice Gallery and will include a guided tour by artist and curator Nikita Kadan, a screening of the film The Lemberg Machine by Dana Kavelina, and further artist talks.
Artists participating in Nikita Kadan’s curatorial intervention in the Lidice Art Collection
Kateryna Aliinyk, Michael Ayrton, Lia Baraldi Cucconi, Yevgenia Belorusets, Jean Effel, Guido Di Fidio, Yaroslav Futymsky, Hans Grundig, Renato Guttuso, Tatiana Yablonskaya, Dana Kavelina with Olha Marusyn, Anna Kindynnis, George Kotsonis, Hildo Krop, Yuri Leiderman, Axl Leskoschek, Kateryna Lysovenko, Mirano Marizza, Margaryta Polovynko, Anton Saienko, Ilya Todurkin
The full public program comprises more than 50 events and will be announced in May. Subscribe to the biennale newsletter and stay up to date.
Biennale Matter of Art 2024
14 June – 29 September 2024
Curators/editors: Katalin Erdődi and Aleksei Borisionok
Venues
National Gallery Prague – Trade Fair Palace
Dukelských Hrdinů 47
170 00 Praha 7-Holešovice
Opening weekend program: 13 June, 7 – 10 pm; 14 June, 3 – 9:30 pm
Lidice Gallery
Tokajická 152
273 54 Lidice
Opening weekend program: 15 June, 3 – 5 pm
The main partner of tranzit.cz is the ERSTE Foundation. The biennale is part of the project Art Space Unlimited, which is co-funded by the European Union. The artistic and curatorial residencies and public program are funded by the European Union—NextGenerationEU.
Cover picture: Kateryna Lysovenko at an artist residency in Prague, August 2023. Photo: Tereza Havlínková
