Last week, it was made public that German curator Christina Lehnert will direct the 13th edition of the Gothenburg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA). Lehnert will present her curatorial concept at Röda Sten Konsthall in Gothenburg on 22 November, but she can already confirm that her biennial will reflect our “polarised” time through the theme of “alliances.” Multiple new, site-specific works will be created, and the 2025 edition of GIBCA will involve more institutions and co-producing parties than previous editions.
For the last two years, Lehnert has worked at Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, an institution for modern and contemporary art founded in 1909. Before that she spent four years at Portikus in Frankfurt, where she curated, among other things, a ‘game show’ with the American artist Pope. L (1955–2023), and the light installation Hum (2020) by the Canadian artist Hajra Waheed.
As curator of GIBCA, Lehnert wants to cater to the local community in Gothenburg. The artist list is yet to be revealed, but it seems clear that it will be internationally oriented, at least in regards to the five or six artists who will constitute the core of the show. In contrast to GIBCA 10 and 11 – a single curatorial project that took Sweden’s colonial history as point of departure – and GIBCA 12 which addressed the future, Lehnert vows to stay in the present and confront it head-on.
How would you describe your way of working as a curator?
I always work very closely with artists and focus mainly on contemporary art. Also, I’ve mainly collaborated with artists whose work engages with social or political discourse. Most of my exhibitions have emerged from an urgency, in the sense that they have engaged with pressing issues in society. For instance, they have explored freedom of speech, like the installation we did with Hajra Waheed at Portikus, or examined the notion of displacement as in Theresa Hak Kyung Cha [1951–1982] and Thuy-Han Nguyen-Chi’s [respective] work in my latest show in Baden-Baden.
Also, my way of curating is always linked to the space where I work and the artist I work with. For me, a biennial is a means to make the artist’s voice heard, and I believe this to be especially important in increasingly conservative times like ours. A biennial with the legacy of GIBCA can serve as a safe platform for artists to express themselves and discuss the difficult questions we face in today’s society. My role as curator is to provide this platform.
Which questions do you think are urgent at the moment? And how will that reflect in the upcoming biennale?
Our world is very polarised and tends to lack nuance or a middle ground. Media and a lot of other outlets in society are completely divided and dividing. I believe we deeply need spaces where we can speak freely about sensitive topics, and that artists need places where they can speak freely about what they think of the world. What I will set out to do with this biennial is to provide such a space. I want to create an arena where we can have discussions without dismissing one another.
Can you tell us something about your plans for GIBCA 13?
Next year’s biennial starts from the notion of alliances. Most artists work in alliances with other artists, if not through official collaboration, then through being a part of an artist community. I aim to use the biennale to foster these alliances, and have invited artists who engage with themes of community, union, and relationships. When looking at what’s happening in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe, the question of alliances has become highly political, and I want to further the discussion of which collisions we’re in, with whom we’re in solidarity. The biennial will explore alliances across various dimensions, from the public and political to the personal relationships between artists and between individuals.
Will there be mostly new works or loans?
I will work with a core group of artists with whom I’ll realise new work; there might be five to six new productions. These artists will also be part of the more interactive parts of the biennial. Hopefully, we will also present performances in direct relation to the places where the works are shown. For GIBCA 13, there will be more institutions and locations involved than ever before. For instance, the small city Skövde, which is almost halfway to Stockholm, will be part of the biennial – and I think it’s interesting to think about what you show in locations which are more than one hour away from the biennial’s core.
How will your biennial relate to previous editions of GIBCA? What do you take with you and what do you want to do differently?
I feel as if we’re living in extreme times. What I can do as a curator is to use the biennial to reflect the momentary urgencies. It’s good to imagine better futures and think ahead, but I really think, at the point where we’re at, it’s necessary to stay in the present, to think about what we need to do in this moment when there are so many extreme things happening. I’ve never before experienced times where art has been as endangered as it is right now, with exhibitions having to close and artists being cancelled. I hope GIBCA 2025 can become the platform where we subvert that.
The 13th edition of the Gothenburg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA) will run from 20 September–30 November, 2025.
