ABSTRACT
The biennales examined in Curating in a Time of Ecological Crisis reveal how biennales can make a constructive contribution to debates and attitudes around a more environmentally sustainable future inhabitation of Earth. The book draws on case studies from very different parts of the world. It shows how some biennales foreshadowed in their response to an existential problem such as climate change the collaborative and community-based strategies implemented during the sudden readjustment of human life necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The notion of curatorial “care” is redefined by the biennales discussed here: in addition to their customary roles as protectors of artworks and advocates for artists, increasingly curators’ duty of care is directed to environmental matters. Finally, the book argues that biennales have the capacity to advance their organisation’s key ecological aims by building on the research and knowledge accumulated over multiple editions.
