The Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA) has announced the details for the upcoming 2025 edition which will take place from 20 September to 30 November 2025 in various venues across the city.
The thirteenth edition of the Swedish biennial will be curated by Christina Lehnert, curator at the Kunsthalle Baden-Baden since 2022, organised by Röda Konsthall and directed by Mia Christersdotter Norman with artistic director Iona Leca.
The title, a hand that is all our hands combined, is taken from the poem Personal Effects (2016) by Solmaz Sharif, which expresses a sense of collective responsibility beyond artificial ideas of political and geographical divisions. The upcoming edition also departs from the traditional thematic curatorial framework and instead becomes a shared forum and a space for solidarity in the face of the divisive current state of the world.
The participating artists, including Noor Abed, Basma al-Sharif, Lydia Ourahmane, among others, serve as active witnesses of the expanding atmosphere of silencing in Europe, and the growing effort to pit communities and people against each other to undermine solidarity between groups.
GIBCA was founded in 2001 and is an international art event that fosters dialogue on current topics of collective concern at the local, national and international level. Each edition the biennial also hosts city-wide programming across Gothenburg, which sees multiple art institutions, independent initiatives and public programming take place.
Participating artists:
Noor Abed
Basma al-Sharif
Patricia L. Boyd
Simnikiwe Buhlungu
Raven Chacon
Moki Cherry
Siri Derkert
Hans Haacke
Hanni Kamaly
Rosalind Nashashibi
Thuy-Han Nguyen-Chi & Dalena Tran & Andrew Yong Hoon Lee
Christian Nyampeta
Lydia Ourahmane
Olivia Plender
Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo)
Lala Rukh
Georgia Sagri
Helena Uambembe
and at the invitation of Jonelle Twum/Black Archives Sweden, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Tiago Mena Abrantes and Pamela Z
