Lisa Rosendahl

For the 10th edition in 2019, Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA) will re-consider its format and extend beyond its implied temporality by inviting a curator to work with the two coming editions. GIBCA aims to offer artists a platform for long-term engagement with the local context and invites residents to foster and discover compelling artistic presentations.

Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA) is delighted to announce the appointment of Lisa Rosendahl as curator of its editions in 2019 and 2021.

– We are extremely happy that Lisa has accepted our invitation to curate two editions of GIBCA and shape this open-end project together with us. Throughout her curatorial practice, she has shown impressive determination to follow a thematic extendedly, devotion to the artistic processes, and interest in redefining art presentation formats. With strong knowledge of the Nordic art scene and an informed international perspective, Lisa’s work as a curator is characterized by a context specific approach. Her recent projects have focused on the industrial past and present of Sweden, exploring the history of Modernity in the region with a number of Swedish and international artists. For GIBCA, a biennial located in an industrial and port city, this collaboration brings an opportunity to reflect more closely on the local context, says Ioana Leca, Artistic Director of GIBCA.

– Lisa also shares connections with Röda Sten Konsthall, the independent organisation behind GIBCA. Between 2006-2008 Lisa was part of a curatorial group that contributed to shaping the artistic direction of our art centre. Now, after ten years focusing on internationalisation for both the konsthall and the biennial, we look forward to working together again. It is exciting to welcome Lisa back for this long-term collaboration and see where the next four years take us, says Mia Christersdotter Norman, Director of Röda Sten Konsthall, organiser of GIBCA.

Lisa Rosendahl (b. 1974, Malmö) is an independent curator and writer based in Berlin. As Curator at Public Art Agency Sweden from 2014-2017, Rosendahl initiated and curated the series Industrial Society in Transition commissioning context-specific works by artists such as Alexandra Pirici, Annika Eriksson, Raqs Media Collective, Sara Jordenö and Lisa Tan. Her curatorial research regarding the industrial past and present of Sweden includes also the exhibition The Society Machine – the Industrial Era from the Perspective of Art at Malmö Konstmuseum, 2016-2017. As Director of Iaspis, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s international programme for visual art architecture and design, 2011-2013, she developed international collaborations and ran the Stockholm-based artist residency as well as an extensive programme of discursive events. Previous positions include Director of BAC, Visby, 2008–2010, Associate Curator at Röda Sten Konsthall in Gothenburg, 2006-2008, Director of Exhibitions at Lisson Gallery in London, 2003-2006, and Acting Director at Electra Productions in London, 2006–2007. As freelancer, she has curated exhibitions at a.o. Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Kunsthall Charlottenborg in Copenhagen and INIVA in London. She writes and lectures extensively on contemporary art and was a co-editor of Work, Work, Work – an Anthology of Art and Labour (Sternberg Press). Recently appointed Associate Professor of Exhibition Studies at Oslo Arts Academy, Rosendahl is currently curating the exhibition Rivers of Emotion, Bodies of Ore to open at Kunsthall Trondheim in September 2018.

GIBCA is a contemporary art project in Gothenburg, Sweden, that with every edition, raises stark questions that deal with the complexity of our contemporary world and presents a diversity of artistic positions. The editions of the Gothenburg biennial in 2019 and 2021 mark important milestones for celebration and assessment – the 10th edition of the contemporary art biennial, and the 400-year-anniversary of the City of Gothenburg, respectively. Autonomous in topicality and presentation, the coming biennials will seek to shape tools for sustained engagement in the local context and to better serve artistic processes.

The biennial functions in the interrelated fields of research, artistic creation, and philosophical thought and for each edition invites internationally practicing curators to enter in a dialogue with the city of Gothenburg, its citizens, people interested in art and artists around the globe.

GIBCA 2019 will run from September 7th to November 17th and will take place at Röda Sten Konsthall and collaborative arenas throughout the city of Gothenburg.

GIBCA is organized by Röda Sten Konsthall and has been initiated by the Cultural Committee of the City of Gothenburg.