This book is intended as a complex anthology of newly commissioned writing, artists’ projects and texts relating to the seventh Liverpool Biennial (15 September–25 November).
Unlike the exhibition, the publication exists as a site that is neither time-specific nor geographically determined. And we have curated it to capitalise on that fact, so that it can resonate beyond the biennial itself.
The rules of engagement are simple and reminiscent of literary games. Piracy and occupation are central strategies that test and extend the notion of hospitality, the theme of the biennial. The texts and the artworks exist as prompts and possibilities that urge us to reconsider the present.
The book has been divided into three sections: art, writing and thinking. Artists have been invited to make a contribution that reflects on a particular aspect of hospitality, or to invite a guest to occupy their space. Many have made new work and used their pages to present it. Some have brought along others as fellow contributors or collaborators.
Sylvie Blocher, for example, has invited a new text from philosopher Jacques Rancière, while Suzanne Lacy appears in conversation with curator Stephanie Smith.
Others have handed over their pages entirely: Jirí Kovanda has invited six other artists, each of whom has made new work. The result is a collection that exists only in these pages and therefore becomes an exhibition in book form.
American poet Kenneth Goldsmith was invited to curate an anthology of writing on the subject. In turn, he invited 29 poets to write texts that explore two key areas of relevance to contemporary hospitality – technology and geography.
New essays have been commissioned to elaborate specific notions of hospitality. These include political scientist Achille Mbembe evoking the spectre of slavery. And cultural theorist Stuart Hall, the subject of John Akomfrah’s 2012 film The Unfinished Conversation, discusses hospitality and black history with David Scott.
This Liverpool Biennial, perhaps more than any other previous edition, with its multiplicity of guests and layers of hospitality, focuses attention on the difficulty of being hosted, of being a guest and of potentially becoming unwelcome.
Lorenzo Fusi, the curator of The Unexpected Guest exhibition, articulates these complexities in his thoughtful contribution to the publication.
We hope that this book, too, prompts similar thinking, writing and art as a way of developing a deeper knowledge of hospitality in the 21st century.
Sally Tallant is the director of the Liverpool Biennial
Unlike the exhibition, the publication exists as a site that is neither time-specific nor geographically determined. And we have curated it to capitalise on that fact, so that it can resonate beyond the biennial itself.
The rules of engagement are simple and reminiscent of literary games. Piracy and occupation are central strategies that test and extend the notion of hospitality, the theme of the biennial. The texts and the artworks exist as prompts and possibilities that urge us to reconsider the present.
The book has been divided into three sections: art, writing and thinking. Artists have been invited to make a contribution that reflects on a particular aspect of hospitality, or to invite a guest to occupy their space. Many have made new work and used their pages to present it. Some have brought along others as fellow contributors or collaborators.
Sylvie Blocher, for example, has invited a new text from philosopher Jacques Rancière, while Suzanne Lacy appears in conversation with curator Stephanie Smith.
Others have handed over their pages entirely: Jirí Kovanda has invited six other artists, each of whom has made new work. The result is a collection that exists only in these pages and therefore becomes an exhibition in book form.
American poet Kenneth Goldsmith was invited to curate an anthology of writing on the subject. In turn, he invited 29 poets to write texts that explore two key areas of relevance to contemporary hospitality – technology and geography.
New essays have been commissioned to elaborate specific notions of hospitality. These include political scientist Achille Mbembe evoking the spectre of slavery. And cultural theorist Stuart Hall, the subject of John Akomfrah’s 2012 film The Unfinished Conversation, discusses hospitality and black history with David Scott.
This Liverpool Biennial, perhaps more than any other previous edition, with its multiplicity of guests and layers of hospitality, focuses attention on the difficulty of being hosted, of being a guest and of potentially becoming unwelcome.
Lorenzo Fusi, the curator of The Unexpected Guest exhibition, articulates these complexities in his thoughtful contribution to the publication.
We hope that this book, too, prompts similar thinking, writing and art as a way of developing a deeper knowledge of hospitality in the 21st century.
Sally Tallant is the director of the Liverpool Biennial
