Mérida To Host First Bienale De Yucatán In November

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The inaugural Bienale de Yucatán, Mexico's first large-scale international contemporary art biennial, is scheduled to open in Mérida, the capital of Yucatán state, this November.

The biennale, titled“Vocal,” will focus on language and various forms of communication, according to artistic director Abraham Cruzvillegas. It is set to feature 76 artists and other participants, including linguists, filmmakers, poets, musicians, and dancers, from 20 countries. Notable visual artists participating include Oscar Murillo, Minerva Cuevas, Yoko Ono, Wael Shawky, Jimmie Durham, Lawrence Weiner, Cecilia Vicuña, and Rirkrit Tiravanija.

Cruzvillegas stated in a press release,“This international exhibition will focus primarily on tongue, languages, idioms, the written, the spoken, and what needs to be said. The works and individual participating in this renewed version of the Bienal de Yucatán will make it one of inclusion and diversity, of languages and idioms that engage in dialogue and contradict one another.”

The main venue for the exhibition is the Casa de la Cultura del Mayab, a 16th-century former convent located in Mérida's Centro Histórico. Additionally, 14 other sites will host events, among them the Centro de Artes Visuales, the Biblioteca Yucatanense, the Museo de la Ciudad, and the Museo Pinacoteca Juan Gamboa Guzmán. The biennale will run from November 26, 2026, until February 28, 2027.

Art historian and collector Catherine Petitgras, who divides her time between London and Mérida, founded the biennale. She highlighted the scarcity of local exhibition opportunities in Mérida, a situation worsened by the closure of the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Ateneo de Yucatán in 2021, despite the city's active contemporary art scene. Petitgras commented,“Since then, I began dreaming of a biennial which would strengthen and draw visibility for contemporary art in the region.”

Source: Artforum

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