forms of the surrounding futures mark the twelfth edition of Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, GIBCA. On September 16 the exhibitions will open, accompanied by a performance program which runs until one o’clock in the morning.  

OPENING SEPTEMBER 16 

11am Official opening of the exhibitions at all arenas:
Röda Sten Konsthall, Göteborgs Konsthall, Gothenburg City Library, Hammarkullen Konsthall 

ARTISTS
Sophia Al-Maria / Adam Christensen / Joana da Conceição / Niko Hallikainen / Rodrigo Hernández / Sky Hopinka / Maria Jerez / Agnė Jokšė / Kem / Tarik Kiswanson / Yong Xiang Li / Yarema Malashchuk & Roman Khimei / Guadalupe Maravilla / Esse McChesney / Sandra Mujinga / Rasmus Myrup / Ania Nowak / Outi Pieski / Luiz Roque / Prem Sahib / P. Staff / Iris Touliatou / Ana Vaz / Osías Yanov /

Exhibition opening hours 16 september:
Röda Sten Konsthall: 11am-6.30pm
Göteborgs Konsthall: 11am-5pm 
Gothenburg City Library: 10am-18pm 
Hammarkullen Konsthall: 00-00am 

GÖTEBORGS KONSTHALL (please note all activities are outdoors)
3pm Welcome Speech

a calling
3.15pm To the Aching Parts! (Manifesto), Ania Nowak
3.45pm Soft boiled eggs and dried fish, Adam Christensen 

RÖDA STEN KONSTHALL
5pm Opening Ceremony

Speeches by representatives from GIBCA and Röda Sten Konsthall, as well as by the Swedish actor, writer and artist Saga Becker, who have the honor of opening this year’s biennial.  

a celebration
5.45pm Lezbynai, Agnė Jokšė
6.15pm Je te vous présente, Rasmus Myrup
6.45pm Mystery Machine, Niko Hallikainen
7.30pm Electric Dream, Joana da Conceição
8pm–01am Dragana Bar, Kem 

The performance program expands the exhibition displays, queering the stability of the biennial format by playing with ephemeral and durational rhythms of presentation. Because of its bodily, celebratory and intensified features, performance programs design places of communal experimentation, instances of possibility where social formations can emerge and be rehearsed in shared manners. 

The opening performance program is organised in two successive moments: day-time and night-time. The day program, a calling, serves as a welcome device, introducing key narratives of the biennial and concentrating attention towards a ceremonial and liminal moment of the opening-as-event. The nocturnal program a celebration is a social gathering. It echoes the night as a haven of various others and manifests the biennial’s celebratory embrace towards the unknown.

“I’m a strong believer that either your politics is liberating and that gives you joy, or there’s something wrong with them.” – Silvia Federici