Konstfrämjandet Norrbotten is looking for one or more artistic directors for the Luleå Biennial 2024, to curate and manage the upcoming biennial, which will have the overarching theme architecture and art.
About the Luleå Biennial
The first edition of the Luleå Biennial, which is the oldest biennial in Scandinavia, was held in 1991. The biennial was dormant from 2013 to 2018, when Konstfrämjandet took over its operation.
Konstfrämjandet Norrbotten’s ambition is to create a biennial that emphasises long-term sustainability by sparking engagement and encouraging creative participation. The biennial invites locally and internationally based practitioners from a wide range of artistic fields and expressions to form an assembly point in Norrbotten.
Norrbotten, which has a rich and diverse cultural history, is currently facing a fundamental shift, in which large-scale social processes have made matters related to culture, art, and public spaces more urgent than ever before. The Luleå Biennial seeks to address these issues in the pursuit of its goal of exhibiting world-class contemporary art in several locations within the region. The inclusion of other forms of expression besides contemporary art represents a new phase in the biennial’s ongoing evolution. The 2022 edition of the biennial focuses on crafts, and highlights a diverse array of traditions and practices, including duodji, handicraft, and arts and crafts. In 2024, the biennial will examine the relationship between architecture and contemporary art, in order to highlight related aspects of social life in both the public sphere and the home, as well as architecture as artistic expression. The ambition will be to address phenomena that have already shaped the region, such as nomadism, climate change, conditions in sparsely populated areas, and the impact of industry, while also introducing new ideas and forming links to other places.
About the Role
Applications are welcomed from individuals and groups with prior experience of managing large-scale projects and a particular interest in bringing contemporary art and architecture together. Applicants are expected to demonstrate a good familiarity with the conditions in the region, and express their vision for how these will be accounted for through the curation of a biennial emphasising contemporary art and architecture. Past reference projects demonstrating an unconventional approach to exhibitions and art and architecture theory will be given particular consideration. Konstfrämjandet is a non-profit organisation that is reliant on project funding, and the artistic director is expected to take an active role in both acquiring funding and recruiting the team that will produce the biennial together.
Recurring partners in Norrbotten include Norrbottens museum, Luleå konsthall, Galleri Syster, Havremagasinet Länskonsthall Boden, KKV Luleå, the Norrbotten region, and Luleå municipality. Further local and international collaborations are to be developed in consultation with Konstfrämjandet. Part of the role involves finding innovative ways for the biennial to occupy spaces outside of the galleries, on both temporary and long-term bases.
This edition of the Luleå Biennial, which is themed around architecture and art, will take place during the summer of 2024. Once the artistic director has been appointed in January 2023, preparations for the biennial will begin. Research trips, concept development, and budgeting will all take place during the spring of 2023. During the following autumn, a detailed exhibition plan and programme will be produced, and longer projects and residencies will begin. Text materials and a plan for mediation are to be finalised before the opening of the biennial in 2024.
The production budget for the Luleå Biennial 2024 depends on the project funding that is granted. At a minimum, 1,000,000 SEK (VAT inclusive) will be available, and past editions of the biennial have had an overall budget of around 4,000,000 SEK. Renumeration for the artistic director: 250 000 SEK (VAT inclusive).
Deadline 20 December 2022
*Caption: Herculéennes by Laurent Reynes, Luleå Biennial 2003. Photo: Dan Lestander
