Contemporary Art in Context is a program intended to ground the art of today in art history. The fifth course, comprised of three lectures, will compare and contrast the history and roles of the biennial phenomenon in today’s art world, in relation to SITE’s own founding mission.

In keeping with this year’s informal theme of examining SITE’s place in the global art community, and tracing the birth of the biennial tradition, this course will consider four of the most significant biennial exhibitions around the world. Presenters will take into account the differences in mission and history of each biennial, in an effort to contextualize and differentiate SITE’s own biennial within this exhibition format.