Toronto Biennial Announces Preliminary List of Artists, Partners, and Sponsors

The Toronto Biennial of Art announced its initial selection of Canadian and international artists for its third edition, on view September 21 to December 1, 2024. Dominique Fontaine and Miguel A. López are the curators of this free, 72-day event held at venues across the city.

Commissioned and invited artists participating in TBA 2024 exhibitions thus far include: Dineo Seshee Bopape, Sonia Boyce, Charles Campbell, Raven Chacon, Naomi Rincón Gallardo, Maria Hupfield, Rudy Loewe, Tessa Mars, Pamila Matharu, Citra Sasmita, Karen Tam, Ahmed Umar, and Cecilia Vicuña.

Additional participants will be announced in spring 2024 along with details of the Biennial’s extensive Public and Learning Programs as well as its creative partnerships.

“We are honoured to announce our preliminary list of participating Biennial artists—with more to come—and share a glimpse into the curatorial process and direction for the 2024 exhibition,” said TBA Founder and Executive Director Patrizia Libralato. “Our curators Dominique Fontaine and Miguel A. López are approaching their work with rigour and deep listening as they centre artists and their voices in all aspects of their research. This approach will ensure that the 2024 Biennial is relevant, impactful, and accessible for all."

“We remain committed to supporting artists from across Canada and beyond as they realize new commissions and showcase existing works. In these increasingly complex times, the Biennial will respond to local and global experiences through the unique visions of artists. Our team is eager to share these perspectives as we welcome audiences to the Biennial in fall 2024. We’re especially grateful to our partners and supporters who continue to champion art and artists and allow us to once again bring ten weeks of free art experiences and programming to Toronto,” said Libralato.

When speaking about the curatorial process, Fontaine and López said, “The 2024 Biennial aims to showcase the ways artists from different localities respond to the impact of the aftermath of colonialism on everyday life. Taking our cues from artists, we have been inspired and guided by their practices when thinking about the Biennial’s structure. This includes the development of a preliminary list of key directives drawn from the artists’ creative labour, such as ‘Joy,’ ‘Home,’ and ‘Solace.’ The exhibition aims to create a collective dialogue around urgent issues of our times: environmental destruction, sovereignty, self-representation, belonging, collective memory, ancestral knowledge, migrant diasporas, queer futurity, and how art can participate in the process of restoring disrupted social bonds.”

Similar to the publication "Water, Kinship, Belief" created for the 2019 and 2022 Biennial exhibitions, the 2024 Biennial will be accompanied by a new publication. Structured around conversations between artists, curators, and other contributors, these discussions highlight the connections and common struggles that appear across the artistic practices featured within the Biennial.

Preliminary List of Venues and Exhibition Partners

Building creative partnerships through collaborative installations, exhibitions, and programming across Toronto and beyond is integral to the Biennial’s core activities. The 2024 Biennial will work with established art institutions, artist-run centres, arts organizations, community organizations, educational institutions, and repurposed spaces.

Exhibition and Programming Partners include the Art Gallery of Ontario, C Magazine, Gallery TPW, OCAD University, PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art, Textile Museum of Canada, The Image Centre (Toronto Metropolitan University), The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto District School Board, Toronto Sculpture Garden, Toronto Union, and the Urban Indigenous Education Centre. Additional partners will be announced in the coming months.

TBA Founders and Funders

The Toronto Biennial of Art is grateful to all contributing donors for their generous support. Major funders to date include Cadillac Fairview, Chromatic Developments, Hatch, Max Mara, Michael & Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation, Michelle Koerner Family Foundation, Power Corporation, Alfredo & Moira Romano, Sabourin Family Foundation, TD Bank Group, Woodbridge Investments Corporation, Women Leading Initiative, the Zeidler family, and our many generous individual donors, including our Founding supporters. TBA is also grateful for our government supporters: Canada Council for the Arts and the City of Toronto.

TBA appreciates the support of travel partners and hosts of the curatorial research process. These supporters include Artspeak Gallery, Vancouver; Frame Contemporary Art Finland, Helsinki; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Jan van Eyck Academy, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Office of Contemporary Art Norway, Oslo; PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montréal; Remai Modern, Saskatoon; and The Polygon Gallery, Vancouver.

https://torontobiennial.org