Biennial Foundation is initiated by Marieke van Hal. Marieke van Hal worked for many years in the field of international biennials,
– as General Manager of Manifesta Foundation (2001-2006), Director of the 1st Athens Biennial (2007), and co-editor of The Biennial Reader, An Anthology on Large-Scale Perennial Exhibitions of Contemporary Art (Hatje Cantz, Bergen Kunsthall, 2010).
She has earlier conceptualized the European Biennial Network (EBN) supported by the European Commission (2007-2009), and she is a research graduate in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art, London (2011).
Drawing from her experiences Marieke van Hal founded Biennial Foundation with a belief that the collective knowledge and networking activities related to biennials can be best handled by an independent organisation, reaching beyond the borders of Europe.