Considering the fact that almost every biennial is looking for a new configuration, a new shape and that the curatorial programs and discourses tend to replace the artistic ones, the  5th edition of Young Artits Biennial will combine these two ideas.

This event will overlap, interlace, will have a different approach to all these discourses related to a phenomena which is becoming increasingly spread at global level: the Biennial. Each artist and each curator have their own perception regarding the structure of a biennial and we are interested to see how all these different approaches form the layers of a single event.

“Overlapping Biennial” is going to be mostly a virtual event where the only connection between reality and the virtual world will be made through a totally neutral visual representation (a matrix barcode – QR code).

Each “QR code” will represent an artwork (which will be accessed individually through a hyperlink). These codes will be placed in different physical locations in Bucharest, both indoor (bookshops, libraries, cultural centers, museums, galleries etc.) and outdoor (in the Bucharest urban environment) so that each individual can scan it with his phone and become a visitor of the Biennial. This way, visitors don’t have a direct perception of the artworks in the physical space, but have an indirect contact through a virtual means. At the same time, they will be able either to save this information on their phones or email it to see it later – so basically “taking the original artwork with them”.

The QR codes are becoming increasingly spread in museums and art galleries all over the world, as a means of information attached to the artworks. Considering the contemporary age of communication, everything tends to become co-creation, sharing and linking information. The organizers of “Overlapping Biennial” take this to the next level in “Overlapping Biennial” where visual art is seen as visual information, replacing the traditional perception with a code of information. The interactive experience between the viewer and the artwork itself becomes a link at the border between reality and virtual.

“Overlapping Biennial” will have around 10 curators from all over the world. They will be invited by 2META Group (who came up with this curatorial concept – considering their constant preoccupation of META-art).  Each curator will propose a number of artists as long as he doesn’t exceed a number MB (megabytes) given to him. In these limits they may propose artists with different visual representations (video, text, image, photography, sound etc.) The voices and discourses of each curator will overlap, forming the core of the future Biennial.

Curators

• 2META – RO
• Lea Rasovszky, Silvia Saitoc & Matei Sâmihăian – RO
• Branko Franceschi – HR
• Judit Angel – HU
• Calin Dan – RO/NL
• Ami Barak – RO/FR
• Hanna Alkema – FR
• Mirjana Peitler – AU/SRB
• Hilde de Bruijn – NL
• Magdalen Chua – GB
• Maria Vassileva – BG