May 19–21, 2023
The fifth edition of the Art Encounters Biennial, My Rhino is Not a Myth (May 19–July 16, 2023), embraces the confluence of art, science, and fiction, exploring their potential to recover reality as a web of complex processes and multiple timelines.
The event, curated by Adrian Notz alongside a curatorial sounding board, brings together scientists, curators, and artists to create connections between hyper-digital realities, the modernist avant-garde, and the world of contemporary art. Situated between scientific research and imaginative speculation, the Biennial addresses stories of the unknown and the overseen, contemplating utopian and dystopian narratives of technological development, ecological urgencies, and societal changes.
Embedded in the current context of the city and exploring Timișoara’s ambition to become a hub of technological and innovative transfers, the Art Encounters Biennial 2023 invites to an exciting opening weekend (May 19–21) with special guests, engaging talks, performances, screenings, and artistic events in the public space.
Visitors will have the opportunity to participate in guided tours with the guest artists and the Biennial’s team of curators, immersive art experiences with Auronda Scalera and Alfredo Cramerotti, a performance by Arantxa Etcheverria, a concert by “Cyclops” (Carlos Amorales, Enrique Arriaga, and Philippe Eustachon) feat. Janiv Oron, and Farah Mulla, a series of tram tours that transform public transport in an exhibition site, showing the renowned installation-work by Carlos Amorales, Black Cloud. The weekend will continue with an informal picnic & discussions with the artists and organizers, walks, and presentations at the artist-run spaces in Timișoara (Avantpost, Balamuc, Baraka, Lapsus, Nava C2, Simultan), as well as the launch of the current edition of Art Encounters Biennial’s catalog at the “La Două Bufnițe” bookstore.
Friday, May 19: In the preamble to the official opening, there will be a press conference, followed by a preview with guided tours by artists and curators for media representatives. Carlos Amorales presents his Black Cloud ongoing series in a special tram tour for the Biennial. The installation is inspired by the annual migration of monarch butterflies from Canada to Mexico. Though it is usually presented in museum halls, the confinement of the tram space adds to the poetic yet ominous charge of the famous work.
In the afternoon, the Biennial will officially open at the local Garrison in the heart of the city. Known today as the Timișoara Garrison Command, the former military building becomes a space of shared conversations during the Biennial. More guided tours will follow this main event throughout the city, other events at one of the complementary platform’s artist-run spaces (Balamuc), and a cocktail party at the French Institute in Timișoara.
Saturday, May 20: Saturday welcomes its guests with guided tours by artists and curators, as well as a tram trip through the city. The conference, in the presence of Alfredo Cramerotti and Auronda Scalera, co-directors of IAM–Infinity Art Museum and of Multiplicity, presents the role of advanced technologies in art and the convergence of digital and contemporary art know-how. Later in the afternoon, the program features a performance by Arantxa Etcheverria, collateral events in artist-run spaces (Lapsus, Avantpost, Simultan), and an opening party for the general public.
Sunday, May 21: The program starts with an informal picnic with artists and guests, continuous tram tours and events within the complementary platform (with the artist-run spaces Baraka, Nava C2), the launch of the catalog of this Biennial at “La Două Bufnițe” bookstore in a memorable evening in the presence of distinguished guests.
For the first time in its history, the Biennial proposes a satellite extension at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest consisting of Carlos Amorales’ Black Cloud.
Press contacts
Oana Chirilă, The Art Encounters Foundation (Timișoara), oana.chirila [at] artencounters.ro / T +40722 674 353
Maria Besnea, Dăescu Borțun Olteanu (Bucharest), maria.besnea [at] dbopeople.ro / T +40723 256 279
