The rise of small-scale art biennials and the question of what 'local' really means
Jenny Wu explores the rise of small-scale, locally-focused art biennials as a counterpoint to the dominance of large international art festivals. Through the case study of the inaugural Medina Triennial in upstate New York, the article examines the complexities of defining "local" in art, the tensions between community engagement and artistic ambition, and what it means to create meaningful cultural events outside major art capitals.
Key quotes
In the window of a café in Medina, New York, was a canvas on a brass easel depicting two hummingbirds kissing a floral arrangement, a framed gel-pen drawing of a dragon curled around a yin-yang symbol, a painted Christmas ornament.
Largescale international fests have dominated the artworld in recent decades. A series of new exhibitions attempt something more local, but what, Jenny Wu asks, does it mean to be a local in the first place?
The occasion: the opening of a popup exhibition devised by artist Amy Mayne, who'd painted the flowers, to coincide with that of the inaugural Medina Trienn
From the article
And what, Jenny Wu asks, does it mean to be a local in the first place?
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