Inspired by the Biennial’s slogan that ‘Art is Always Somewhere Else’, this edition’s theme is ‘Absent Without Leave (AWOL)’.

AWOL is a term which refers to someone who has deserted their post without permission – the person is somewhere else, with thoughts and needs beyond and in opposition to the central point, the institution. In accordance with this, the biennial and artists’ work aim to investigate and create alternative spaces and situations for presenting and experiencing art. This will include work that critiques the ‘institution’, projects that engage with the politics and communities of a particular site, and work that engages with the emotionalism of someone who is AWOL. Above all, AWOL allows for the possibility of art arising out of unexpected discoveries, or unlikely juxtapositions for both artists and audience.

 

By creating the opportunity where ideas of ‘here’ and ‘somewhere else’ can be explored, the Biennial aims to begin to distinguish the European identity of the capital based on such an exploration of creativity through proposals of alternative spaces for expression, experience, reflection and dialogue.

 

What happens to art or artists whose practice is always ’somewhere else’? Where are the types of situations, environments and individuals the artists and their art have re-grouped in or with in their quest for alternative forms of presenting art? What are they in opposition to, what have they escaped from, where do they find themselves, what are their new activities?The selected works explore the dichotomy of absence and presence as alluded to in the phrase ‘Absent Without Leave’. Are individuals ‘lost’ when their position in life is deemed to be AWOL from the ‘norm’ in society? Can the people be the institution? Can an individual change the function of an institution? What do individuals look for when their need is to regroup? What is the identity of an individual in a group?