The creation in the local area

An event of international standing, the Lyon Biennale derives its originality and creativity from its home region. From day one, its desire to put down strong local roots prompted the rollout of a programme of arts and culture actions in Lyon, in the metropolitan area and throughout the region, which this fresh edition of the Lyon Biennale wishes to amplify still further. In choosing to henceforth build every territorial project in conjunction with one of the edition’s invited artists, the Lyon Biennale is embedding itself deeply in the local cultural but also socio-economic fabric, optimising the bond of continuity between its territorial programme and the central event, of which it is becoming an integral strand. For its implementation, this territorial programme is developing even more widely the laboratory for experimenting with socially-engaged artistic practices initiated in its previous editions.

Taking a long-term approach, the Lyon Biennale’s territorial programme – alert to respect for cultural rights, and with mediation central to its actions–thus views contemporary art as a field conducive to partaking in each person’s questionings, centres of interest, skills and cultures, to help democratise culture and promote community togetherness. Moreover, given that the artistic project developed by Alexia Fabre, the guest curator of the 17th Lyon Biennale, has at the core of its programming the values of altruism and welcoming the other, it was perfectly natural to expand even more widely the connections with its home region.

Nine artists–Alix Boillot, Mona Cara, Olivia Funes Lastra, Gözde Ilkin, Seulgi Lee, Florian Mermin, Bocar Niang, Hajar Satari and Zuri Camille de Souza–are at the heart of fifteen interconnected territorial projects in Lyon’s metropolitan area and the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region. These projects have given them the opportunity to co-produce their artworks with volunteer residents and users; to provide substance able to make each person’s experiments and questions resonate; and thus to share these moments with the largest possible number of people.