Institutional

The first Performance Biennale was a private initiative that took place in Argentina between april 27th and june 7th 2015. Its main purpose was to celebrate this fascinating yet difficult to label form of art, and provide it with more visibility.

”Performance art”, ”action art” or ”live art”; this artistic expression escapes all rigid, or simplistic definitions. To come closer to its essence, performance may be conceived as an interdisciplinary, organic expression, and as such, one that is in permanent mutation. The liminality, expansion, eccentricity of performance allows the artist’s body to appear in its full potential, poetic and revolutionary.

In Argentina and the world, this aesthetic practice became highly popular in the 60s and 70s, and regained momentum in the 90s. The omnipresence of performance in galleries, museums, stages and festivals throughout the world in the past 10 years triggered the idea of a first Performance Biennale in 2015.

This first experience exceeded all expectations: 43 days and 19 venues in Buenos Aires, San Juan and Mar del Plata, more than 100 artists -local and international- and about twenty institutions and curators, who presented 25 projects, out of which 15 were making their debut. More than 220 thousand participants enjoyed this one-of-a-kind event.

The Performance Biennale disrupted the local context with a promise of continuity, allowing an envisioning of the future and joining the constellation of international biennials.

As a reflection of the plurality and transversality of this artistic form of expression, the Performance Biennale works together and engages in dialogue with different institutions -both public and private- such as museums, cultural centers, universities, and art centers in the cities where it is held. The purpose of these activities is to define a topography with different focal points, dynamizing and democratizing the experience.

The second Performance Biennale will take place between may 13th and june 7th 2017, and will feature structural and conceptual novelties.

This year, we have extended the invitation to artists-curators to join our team from their own personal perspective, to conduct research and select works and artists, and to follow-up on them until their performance.

The BP17 will showcase live performances, seminars, conferences and public meetings with guest artists. All of these activities will take place in different venues, creating a network of simultaneous spaces for exhibit and reflection.

BP.17 is on its way.