A Critical Response: the Montreal Biennale 2014

The global rise of biennales is a well-documented phenomenon in the art world. Its origins, its documented rise to prominence in the public arena, and the discussions concerning issues of authority can readily be found online, in journals and publications. I would like to touch on the radical transformation that took place when the Montreal Biennale became a non-profit entity after its 7th edition in 2011.
 
It is no surprise that Canada's robust cultural centre Montreal, a well funded festival town, became one of the early adopters in Canada to provide the public with contemporary art works by means of a biennale. The Montreal Biennale was first formed, and administered by the Centre International d'art Contemporain de Montreal (CIAC) under the direction of founding member and Executive Director Claude Gosselin.
 
Seven editions were produced under the CIAC banner, with each edition presented in a different location, under a different theme, and highlighting a mix of national and international artists from different generations. In an interview with MKOS, an online publication that covers trends in global art markets, Gosselin announces that the 2011 biennale (the 7th edition) will be the last one that he directs and organizes. Because the CIAC didn't have a permanent home for the Montreal Biennale, each year it used a large portion of its funding to bring each venue up to exhibition standards. (Sorenson)
 
Some would argue that change was due, because of the likelihood that the CIAC would have lost its funding to organize the 8th edition. CIAC needed a partner with a permanent exhibition space. Others would argue that a transformation was needed because the previous editions were lacking in luster, too regional and incapable of mobilizing the community. I would argue that the transformation that eventually took place was evidence of the impact of market forces on cultural brokering and a strategic move by the board of the Musee d'art Contemporain de Montreal (MACM) -  which is a government funded corporation - to position itself on a global stage, by means of imperialist values.  
 
Choreographing a Capitalist Culture
 
Sometime after the 7th edition, the Montreal Biennale became a nonprofit entity with a brand new image, and its own board of commissioners. With this transformation came a new monogram; the BNL MTL. The branding of the BNL MTL was the first step in identifying the Montreal Biennale from other biennales and a step towards capitalist tendencies. The second step was the partnership between the BNL MTL and the MACM.
 
As early as spring 2012, head of the MACM board Alexandre Taillefer, and head of the BNL MTL board, Cedric Bisson, discussed merging and co-producing future editions of the Montreal Biennale. Both Taillefer and Bisson come from capitalist backgrounds. Taillefer is an entrepreneur who made his money in tech start-ups, is a managing partner of a growth capital fund, and has appeared as a judge in the Quebec version of Dragon's Den. Bisson is well-known as a money manager and Partner at Teralys Capital.
 
What was once a small group of commissioners in the CIAC office, responsible for organizing and presenting editions of the Montreal Biennale, is now a group of stakeholders consisting of thirteen commissioners and trustees on the MACM and BNL MTL boards. It's interesting to note that neither the MACM nor the BNL MTL board has a CIAC representative sitting at its table. This speaks of a clean departure to past allegiances and the possibility of future alliances in private interest.
 
Since works of art are not bought and sold at biennales, and biennales are usually organized by nonprofit organizations that strive to function outside of art market forces, it is not unreasonable to assume private partnerships are crucial to the success of these large-scale events. Though, a curious thing happens when capitalism and culture come together. The question of mergers between capitalist values and cultural brokering becomes a question of degrees. When does a partnership between capitalist interests and cultural heritage ideals, visible on a global stage, enter the house of imperialist ideology.     
 
Curating the Future
 
In 2013, with much anticipation towards seeing the local art world of Montreal on a global stage, the BNL MTL welcomed the addition of a new Executive and Artistic Director Sylvie Fortin.  Hired to provide vision, strategic development and positioning for future editions of the BNL MTL, Fortin found herself with no funding to start, but very quickly established 3.6 million in funding from private sources. (Everett-Green)
 
Eventually two members from the MACM curatorial team, Lesley Johnstone and Mark Lanctôt, joined Fortin, Gregory Burke, and Peggy Gale to round out a total of four curators that would work together in selecting artists, deciding on the placement of work at different venues, the layout and design of the exhibition, and the selection of speakers to include in the educational programming. As a curatorial team, they would decide which works were 'translatable', and grant them an 'afterlife'. (Lind p.12)
 
In the Ten Fundamental Questions of Curating, Elena Filipovic answers the question, "What is an Exhibition?" by suggesting first and foremost an exhibition is not neutral and that it is a backdrop from which ideology is projected. How can we examine the BNL MTL 2014 within this context? On the BNL MTL website, L'avenir (looking forward) has been articulated as 'the relationship of contemporary art practices to speculation, futurity and its history'. In an interview with Art Review, curator Gregory Burke describes the works in L'avenir (looking forward) addressing a number of issues. (Darblay) One of them being the future of art and the commodification of art. Another is the idea of temporal, non-objective or situational possibilities in art. For example, Mathew Buckingham sets the stage for situational possibilities with film and objects activated through participation. 
 
In these two examples provided by Burke, we are presented with an interesting backdrop to which the range of possibilities and complexities are made visible, in relation to private and public funding, and biennales in general. Burke suggests that "funding is a very complex issue: money is rarely, if ever, free from exploitation, whether it comes from the public purse or not." (Darblay)
 
 
Framing Ideology on a Global Stage 
 
Without a doubt the vision and international experience Fortin brings to the Montreal Biennale, in partnership with her team of 4 Canadian curators, produced a biennale that was international in scope. With 23 new works commissioned from the 150 works shown, and 50 artists and collectives (25 from Canada), represented by 22 countries, the BNL MTL showcased experimental, well-defined ideas from Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

Fortin's reputation worked in favor of the MACM and BNL MTL boards' aspirations to position Montreal on a global stage and earn Montreal international attention. In an interview with Canadian Art, Taillefer states, "I like to work with people who share my passion and understand that my interest is, above all, the contemporary art scene in Montreal." (Sandals) Additionally, Taillefer has gone on record stating that he wants to see Montreal on the global stage, to position the Montreal Biennale as one of the must-see, global biennales in ten years time. (Everett-Green) What are we to make of this desire to present local art  on a global stage? If we are to take into account Pamela M. Lee's critical essay, Boundary Issues: the Art World Under the Sign of Globalism, cultural brokering and performing on a global stage is little more than 'geopolitical anxiety' played out in 'turf wars'.
 
To raise the profile of contemporary art, museums need financial support if they are to produce a biennale up to the standards that will manufacture global attention. With the participation of government organizations and private funding, art will have to exist on the same platform as politics and diplomacy. Contemporary art and biennales are entwined. The sustainability of contemporary art, which can be difficult to understand, needs biennales to legitimize it through public engagement. (Lim)
 
In 1998, when the first biennale was formed under the guidance of CIAC, little did Gosselin and his board of commissioners know they were riding a wave towards biennialization. Can we conclude that the first biennale under the BNL MTL banner is a success for Canadian artists, as well as the city of Montreal? Whether the board of trustees on the MACM board and the commissioners on the BNL MTL board can exhale with relief and pat themselves on the back, will be a matter of L'avenir (looking forward). Whether their goal of becoming one of the top 25 biennales to see in ten years time will materialize, we'll have to look to the stars.

BNL MTL 2014

Northwest Passage, 2002 

Matthew Buckingham, Self-Determination, 2014, pigment, industrial felt, grommets, wood, two sections: 216 x 216 x 140 cm each, installation dimensions variable (courtesy of the artist and Murray Guy, New York)
Matthew Buckingham, Self-Determination, 2014, pigment, industrial felt, grommets, wood, two sections: 216 x 216 x 140 cm each, installation dimensions variable (courtesy of the artist and Murray Guy, New York)
Matthew Buckingham’s two works consider the North American political imaginary in relation to power, colonization, sovereignty, climate change and control of natural resources. 
(more... Matthew Buckingham BNL MTL 2014)

Time Machine, 2011

Time Machine, 2011, mirrored box with HD video projection, sound, 11 minutes, English and Danish, installation dimensions variable, mirrored box: 125 x 94 x 94 cm (courtesy of the artist, Murray Guy Gallery, New York, and Paul Andriesse Gallery, Amsterdam; special thanks to Jesper Carlsen for 3D animation, Joshua Mittleman for voice, Stefan Pedersen for sound ingeneering and the Danish Arts Council for their support)
In Time Machine (2011), a computer-animated fox stutters through an account of his visit to the future. Difficult to follow, the tale occasionally slides into incoherence as if the journey disrupted something in the fox’s capacity to recall and recount. Why is the fox so hard to follow? Perhaps because Danish words are slipped into the English monologue. And yet, should we really be surprised? Isn’t the improbability of time travel equal to that of a talking animal?
​(more... Ann Lislegaard BNL MTL 2014)

This is Tomorrow, 2014

Left to right: David Tomas, Lot 232, 2014, and Lot 231, 2014, inkjet print on canvas, 121.92 x 121.92 x 5.8 cm, details of This is Tomorrow, 2014, installation: 9 mounted inkjet on canvas prints, cellular bookcase, speaker and electronics, 3.65 x 7.3152 x 6.096 m (courtesy of the artist)
David Tomas’s installation This is Tomorrow focuses on the recent auction sale of two display panels designed by the British pop artist Richard Hamilton for Man, Machine, Motion, an exhibition held at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London in 1955, in order to raise questions about the future form of the artwork in the context of a global art system and market economy.
​(more... David Tomas BNL MTL 2014)
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  2. BNLMTL 2014,. 'Theme - BNLMTL 2014'. N.p., 2015. Web. 5 Dec. 2015.
  3. Bochatay, Lydie. 'Sylvie Fortin Appointed Executive And Artistic Director | E-Flux'. E-flux.com. Web. 5 Dec. 2015.
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  6. Filipovic, Elena. 'What Is An Exhibition'. Ten Fundamental Questions Of Curating. Jens Hoffmann. 1st ed. Mousse Publishing, Fiorucci Art Trust. Print.
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  8. Lim, In-Young. 'Les Politiques Des Biennales D'Art Contemporain De 1990 À 2005'. Marges 05 (2007): 9-21. Web. 5 Dec. 2015.
  9. Lind, Maria. Performing The Curatorial. Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2012. Print.
  10. MACM,. 'Musée D'art Contemporain De Montréal'. N.p., 2015. Web. 5 Dec. 2015.
  11. Sandals, Leah. 'MAC Montreal Rocked By Staff Departures & Plans To Cut More - Canadian Art'. Canadian Art. N.p., 2013. Web. 5 Dec. 2015.
  12. Sorenson, Oli. 'Interview: Montreal Biennale Artistic Director Claude Gosselin'. M-kos.net. N.p., 2011. Web. 5 Dec. 2015.