An exhibition about dreams: the 58th Belgrade Biennial kicks off this summer

The 58th edition of the Belgrade Biennial will be held this summer: from June 4 to August 22, 2021, theOctober Salon (this is the official name of the event founded in the Serbian capital in 1960), postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will welcome the public by showing the works of 64 participating artists. This year’s edition is titled The Dreamers and is curated by two Italians, Ilaria Marotta and Andrea Baccin. The Dream ers intends to investigate the space of dreams as a metaphorical space of freedom capable of reinterpreting categories, rules and roles, and the most common certainties. Through the gaze of dreamers, the exhibition investigates the complexity of today’s world and “the ability to create Worlds (now more than ever) not just inherit and live within existing ones” (Ian Cheng).

Tracing the fundamental role of dreams in defining the most authentic spirit of human beings in every age and culture, the exhibition defines the dream world as a timeless and universal space, capable of transcending barriers of culture, gender, religion, expression and language. The largest part of the exhibition (which has more than 140 works including 40 new productions, 20 public interventions and several works made site-specific) is hosted at the Museum of Yugoslavia with its surrounding park, complemented by the galleries of the Cultural Centre of Belgrade and the Film Program presented at the Movie Theatre.

“In a slippage of planes, times and spaces,” the curators write, "The Dreamers embodies the presence of different worlds that like dreams proceed by free associations and fragments, in a bouncing of images and references between dreamed dimension, imagination, dreamlike projection, virtual sphere and existing reality."

The Dreamers is enriched by a Reading Room that includes an extensive archive of research, books and films indicated by the artists, and some new editorial productions created especially for the occasion; in addition, a bookstore curated by Alexis Zavialoff, founder of Motto Distribution, presents a selection of titles including magazines, artists’ books, essays and catalogs. Complementing The Dreamers are a program of performances and interventions made in public and private places in the city, such as the brutalist BIGZ building, the pedestrian underpass at Terazije Square, Branko’s Bridge, the pedestrian street of Trg Republike, the DIM club, as well as other places identified for site-specific interventions, including an installation by Cyprien Gaillard, which the artist donated to the city and will remain permanently.

The catalog, published in a Serbian and English double edition by the Cultural Center of Belgrade in collaboration with CURA.BOOKS, contains texts by Ilaria Marotta and Andrea Baccin and contributions by curators, researchers and philosophers, including: Mahfuz Sultan, Melanie Chan, Giulia Bini, Ben Vickers, Anthony Huberman, Tarek Elhaik, Matthew Spellberg, Emanuele Coccia, Hans Ulrich Obrist and others, as well as a written contribution by Ian Cheng. The volume is enriched by an extensive iconographic atlas of works with entries by Costanza Paissan and an original section devoted to artists’ dreams inspired by the book Sogni/Dreams edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Francesco Bonami in 1999, which includes previously unpublished textual and visual contributions and a rich apparatus of bibliographical and film references by the artists. The graphic identity, redesigned for this revamped edition of the Biennale, was created by CURA. in collaboration with Giandomenico Carpentieri, while the editorial project was entrusted to Dan Solbach; an unprecedented limited edition production was activated with König Souvenir; while the installations were handled by Massimo Adario’s Roman studio.

Following are the participating artists: Jean-Marie Appriou, 1986; Marija Avramović and Sam Twidale, 1989/1988; Trisha Baga, 1985; Davide Balula, 1978; Cecilia Bengolea, 1979; Will Benedict, 1978; James Bridle, 1980; Dora Budor, 1984; Elaine Cameron-Weir, 1985; Ian Cheng, 1984; Claudia Comte, 1983; Sanja Ćopić, 1992; Matt Copson, 1992; Vuk Ćosić, 1966; Vuk Ćuk, 1987; Alex Da Corte, 1980; Jeremy Deller and Cecilia Bengolea, 1966/1979; Simon Denny, 1982; Nicolas Deshayes, 1983; DIS (Lauren Boyle, Solomon Chase, Marco Roso, David Toro), 2010; Aleksandra Domanović, 1981; David Douard, 1983; Cécile B. Evans, 1983; Cao Fei, 1978; Cyprien Gaillard, 1980; Nenad Gajić, 1982; Camille Henrot, 1978; David Horvitz, 1974; Klára Hosnedlová, 1990; Marguerite Humeau, 1986; Than Hussein Clark, 1981; Pierre Huyghe, 1962; Invernomuto (Simone Bertuzzi and Simone Trabucchi), 2003; Alex Israel, 1982; Melike Kara, 1985; Nadežda Kirćanski, 1992; Josh Kline, 1979; Oliver Laric, 1981; Mark Leckey, 1964; Hannah Levy, 1991; Hana Miletić, 1982; Ebecho Muslimova, 1984; Katja Novitskova, 1984; Precious Okoyomon, 1993; Wong Ping, 1984; Sonja Radaković, 1989; Jon Rafman, 1981; Anri Sala, 1974; Bojan Šarčević, 1974; Max Hooper Schneider, 1982; Augustas Serapinas, 1990; Igor Simić, 1988; Marianna Simnett, 1986; Emily Mae Smith, 1979; Colin Snapp with Mauro Hertig, 1982/1989; Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, 1977; Diamond Stingily, 1990; Jenna Sutela, 1983; Nora Turato, 1991; Nico Vascellari, 1976; Jordan Wolfson, 1980; Guan Xiao, 1983.

An exhibition about dreams: the 58th Belgrade Biennial kicks off this summer

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