After a 12-year pause, the Alexandria Biennale will return with its 27th edition next September, restoring one of Egypt’s marquee art events to global calendars.
Curated by artist Moataz Nasr, the exhibition is titled “This Too Shall Pass,” and will gather 55 artists hailing from across the Mediterranean for its main program.
“If you want to return, you have to do it to a high standard,” Nasr told the Art Newspaper. “The art scene in Egypt is like a lake that has been still for a long time, with no oxygen able to reach the bottom. We want to throw a big stone into the lake and make waves. It is a time for change.”
The Alexanderia Biennale was established in 1955 under former Gamal Abdel Nasser and provided a stage for regional talent who, at that time, were in pursuit of an artistic tradition intertwined with their national identities. Participation in its early iterations was largely limited to artists from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.
The event was suspended in 2011, amid the turmoil of the Egyptian revolution. It briefly reopened in 2014 in the Egyptian coastal city, but was shuttered again due to financial troubles and the ongoing political and social instability surrounding the ousting of Hosni Mubarak.
Nasr, who represented Egypt at the 2017 Venice Biennale, told the Art Newspaper that the 2027 edition will maintain its founding spirit of regional solidarity but will be open in some capacity to artists from other countries. The main exhibition will be complemented by smaller exhibitions in Alexandria museums focused on emerging Egyptian artists.
Alexandria was the cultural and commercial capital of the ancient Mediterranean, and Nasr’s programming is in dialogue with that history, with planned venues including the Roman amphitheater, the Alexandria Library, and the Qaitbay Citadel.
