When Art discusses, rearranges, deconstructs and transforms theory,

When Art includes ideas that cannot be reconciled with the socio-political scene,

When Art reacts to the levelling plethora of theories,

When Art is called on to classify theory and not to be classified by it,

it then invites all theorists to take a break and enjoy what is taking place in the miraculous space between two eras, in the whirl of doubts, between theory and its revision  

- because Art is Praxis.  

Welcome to the website of the Thessaloniki Contemporary Art Biennale!

From 24 May to 27 September 2009 the State Museum of Contemporary Art shall be holding the 2nd Contemporary Art Biennale under the general title “PRAXIS – art in times of uncertainty”. Gabriela Salgado, Bisi Silva and Syrago Tsiara shall be the curators of the main programme. The main ideological text on which the 2nd Biennale is based is Terry Eagleton’s book After Theory.  

The Thessaloniki Contemporary Art Biennale is being held with the support of the Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with many cultural organisations of Thessaloniki.  

The following parameters shape the identity of the Thessaloniki Contemporary Art Biennale:  

- It sees Thessaloniki as a city in which contemporary culture is developing at a strong pace. The fact that it is far from the European centres of art distribution (large sponsors, companies and private persons who invest in contemporary art) essentially gives it the freedom to encourage and attract new avant-garde ideas and eventually contribute to the actual development of art, not to its recycling.

- It makes public – on the European art scene – art works that offer new aesthetic proposals that are both bold and daring with the intention of boosting aesthetic and social dialogue.

- It aims at communication between artists from different geographic points and presents the work of artists who have difficult access to areas with intense artistic life on the European art scene, seeking to act as a stepping stone that will bring artists closer to Europe.

- It focuses on international current affairs, global restructuring and crises that affect man and his natural environment.

- It forms ties with existing art institutions in Europe and elsewhere, with the aim of encouraging further artistic exchanges.

- It places Greek artists in an interesting field of aesthetic dialogue, with boundaries that are broader than Europe’s.
 

Maria Tsantsanoglou
Director of the 2nd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art