Toronto Biennial of Art exploring joy, solace in 10-week exhibit

The Toronto Biennial of Art is returning to the city Saturday with a 10-week exhibition. This year, the theme is 'Precarious Joys.'  (Claude Beaudoin/CBC - image credit)
The Toronto Biennial of Art is returning to the city Saturday with a 10-week exhibition. This year, the theme is 'Precarious Joys.' (Claude Beaudoin/CBC - image credit)

The Toronto Biennial of Art is returning to the city this month with more than 90 works of art hosted across 11 exhibition sites.

The exhibition, held every two years, runs from Saturday to Dec. 1. This year, for its third edition, the theme is Precarious Joys.

"We were committed to bringing art that challenges, inspires and connects us with many worlds," said Miguel López who curated the exhibit with Dominique Fontaine, speaking at a first look on Thursday.

According to its online digital guide, the exhibition will explore issues including environmental justice, sovereignty, self-representation, belonging and migration, collective memory and feminist genealogies.

The guide adds that the biennial will draw on the terms: joy, precarious, home, polyphony, solace and coded.

Venues include Art Gallery of Ontario

Some of the artwork exhibited will "explore the various layers of history that define life in Toronto," López said.

The biennial also features more than 55 exhibition and programming artists. Over the course of its 10 weeks, there will be conversations, workshops, performances and storytelling sessions for the public.

Dominique Fontaine curated the Biennial with Miguel López. Speaking at a first look for the exhibit on Thursday, she said Biennial aims to foster open dialogue.
Dominique Fontaine curated the Biennial with Miguel López. Speaking at a first look for the exhibit on Thursday, she said Biennial aims to foster open dialogue.

Dominique Fontaine curated the Biennial with Miguel López. Speaking at a first look for the exhibit on Thursday, she said Biennial aims to foster open dialogue. (Claude Beaudoin/CBC)

Venues this year include the Art Gallery of Ontario and Toronto Sculpture Garden.

Fontaine said organizers engaged in "meaningful dialogues" with other biennials hosted in Canada and across the world during the planning process.

"The biennial is not limited to a single narrative. Instead it fosters open dialogue," she said.