'How to build an art biennale' with WSA at the Tate Modern
As part of the Tate Exchange programme, Winchester School of Art will be taking over an entire floor of the Tate Modern in May for a week of exciting participatory events and workshops, titled 'How to Build an Art Biennale'.
How to Build an Art Biennale with Winchester School of Art
Level 5, Blavatnik Building, Tate Modern, London SE1 9TG
Dates: 8 - 13 May 2018
Times: 12pm - 6pm daily
Price: Free
The project builds upon a research collaboration with the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India, which led to the publication of India’s Biennale Effect (Routledge, India, 2017). International artists, alongside WSA academics and students, will create, debate and discuss the concept of art biennales.
Reflecting on the current Tate Exchange theme of ‘production’, Winchester School of Art draws inspiration from the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a ‘productionist’, artist-led biennale and the first of its kind in India. Staff and students will explore the production of art within social conditions examining what underlies the art biennale format, the framing of contemporary art, its labours, and viewership.
Working collaboratively across the key areas of the School’s BA Fine Art course – sculpture, painting, print-making and new media – four signature artworks have been created for Tate Exchange, each inspired by seminal works of art created during previous editions of the Kochi Biennale.
All events during the week are free to attend, and it is a great opportunity to see some of the talented works by our Fine Art students, as well as gain a true insight into art biennale and Winchester School of Art's collaboration with international artists.
Events Programme
Tuesday 8th May: Installing a Biennale
Join staff and students from Winchester School of Art and Bose Krishnamachari (founding director of Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India) as they collaborate to install large-scale artworks and establish the Biennale Office, an open space to learn about the diversity of biennale practices.
12 – 5pm, Installation
4.30pm, Discussion with Bose Krishnamachari
Wednesday 9th May: How to Biennale!
A knowledge exchange event for all those involved in and/or aspiring to be involved in the development of art events and exhibitions. Participants are invited to formulate materials for the book ‘How to Biennale! The Manual’, a useful and practical guide to making your own art events, conceived & edited by Shwetal A. Patel & Sunil Manghani.
12 – 4.30pm, How to Biennale! Limited spaces, click here to book.
4.30 - 5.30pm, Drinks Reception
Thursday 10th May: Working with Artists
A range of participatory activities scheduled on the floor, including calligraphy with Zhang Qiang; and art-making with the Print, Painting, and Sculpture studios of Winchester School of Art.
12 – 6pm, Activities throughout the day
Friday 11th May: Drawing together
Join in with a series of large-format calligraphy performances to co-produce artworks on silk scrolls, working with the Chinese calligraphy artist Zhang Qiang.
1 – 5pm, Zhang Qiang performances every half an hour
4.30pm, In Dialogue
Saturday 12th May: The Ideal Spectator: Open Auditions at Tate Modern
Auditions open for the position of spectator or even impostor artist! A participatory event devised and directed by Zuleikha Chaudhari, with the participation of Sudarshan Shetty. See also Robert E. D’Souza’s film installation and work from the National Art & Design Saturday Club.
12 – 6pm, Activities throughout the day
2- 4.30pm, Open Auditions with Zuleikha Chaudhari
5pm, Zuleikha Chaudhari & Sudarshan Shetty in dialogue
Sunday 13th May: Imagined Biennales
An open forum to present and debate ideas for the future of biennales and art events.
12 – 6pm, Activities throughout the day
2 - 4.30pm, Special Event: Imagined Biennales!
5pm, Live Broadcast: 2018 Kochi-Muziris Biennale curator Anita Dube in dialogue