Toronto Biennial of Art

The Shoreline Dilemma, the inaugural edition of the Toronto Biennial of Art (the Biennial), launched on Saturday, September 21, 2019, with free public access to more than 15 exhibition sites and an array of special programming. The Exhibition, including more than 20 new commissions, is presented throughout the 72-day event and remains on view until December 1, 2019. 

Curated by Candice Hopkins and Tairone Bastien, The Shoreline Dilemma explores the implications of Toronto’s ever-changing shoreline—evidence of an increasingly anthropocentric world—in the context of a central question: What does it mean to be in relation? More than 90 local and international participants have responded to and expanded on this question with over 100 artworks and programs.

Biennial participants hail from over 40 places of origin, including Brazil, France, Germany, Guatemala, Iran, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States as well as Nunavut and Indigenous communities in Canada, Colombia, Mexico, and Aotearoa | New Zealand. Exhibitions and Programs will take place across Toronto, with the majority occurring at the two main Exhibition venues—259 Lake Shore Boulevard East in Toronto’s downtown and the Small Arms Inspection Building in nearby Mississauga.

Taking up experiential and artist-led approaches, the Toronto Biennial of Art Programs explore issues, practices, and methodologies related to The Shoreline Dilemma. Led by Ilana Shamoon and co-curated by Clare Butcher and Myung-Sun Kim, the five programming streams—Co-Relations, Currents, Storytelling, Tools for Learning, and the Toronto Biennial of Art Residency—activate the two main Exhibition sites and also connect with projects around the city. Through storytelling, conversations, performative interventions, workshops, and readings, Programs invites visitors to gather and learn together in responsive and engaging formats along the water’s edge and at site-specific locations throughout the city as well as online. 

Between Biennial editions, Programs nurtures further collaborations and relationships to advance ongoing projects and partnerships into 2020 and 2021.

About the Toronto Biennial of Art

The Toronto Biennial of Art (the Biennial) is a new international contemporary visual arts event that is as culturally connected and diverse as Toronto itself. For 10 weeks every two years, the city will be transformed by exhibitions, talks, and performances that reflect the local context while engaging with the world’s most pressing issues of our time. In an effort to make contemporary art available to everyone, the Biennial’s free, citywide programming aims to inspire people, bridge communities, and contribute to global conversations from a variety of perspectives.

For more information on Biennial exhibition, programs and events, please visit: torontobiennial.org, @torontobiennial, and #TObiennial19 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

TBA Donors and Supporters 

The Toronto Biennial of Art is grateful to all contributing donors for their generous support. Major funders include: Founding Signature Patron – The Pierre Lassonde Family Foundation; Founding Premier Patron – TD Bank Group; Founding Innovators – Canadian Malartic, Castlepoint Numa, CIBC, The Michael and Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation, Polar Foundation, RBC Foundation, Scotiabank, St. Joseph Communications, Teknion, Waterfront Toronto; Founding Visionaries – Miranda Hubbs, Michelle Koerner & Kevin Doyle, Lisa & Mathew Melchior, Menkes Developments, Theresa & Seth Mersky, Newpoint Developments, and Partners in Art. PARTISANS, in collaboration with LMDG, is the architectural team and exhibition designers that helped transform an old Volvo dealership at 259 Lake Shore Boulevard E into galleries and headquarters for the Biennial. View the full list of donors at torontobiennial.org.

Media Contacts

For additional information, Libby Mark or Heather Meltzer at Bow Bridge Communications, LLC, Toronto: +1 647-544-8441, New York City, +1 347-460-5566; info@bow-bridge.com.