2023 Bonavista Biennale: Host

Host wordmark design by Mark Bennett

Curatorial Theme and Artist List Announced

Bonavista Biennale, a month-long event of art, ideas, and unique experiences returns with its fourth edition from August 19 to September 17, 2023. This year’s Biennale, entitled Host, invites visitors to explore meeting points and relationships between people, perspectives, life forms, and locations.

Bonavista Biennale’s strong representation of artists from Newfoundland and Labrador grounds the exhibition while creating thoughtful dialogue with artists from across Canada, Indigenous nations, and beyond. Scattered across the rugged Bonavista Peninsula, the event features 23 artist projects, plus workshops, talks, performances, and other programs, all nurturing a vibrant bond between art, people, and place.

Bonavista Biennale’s Artistic Director, Rose Bouthillier, and Ryan Rice, Executive Director and Curator, Indigenous Art at OCAD University’s Onsite Gallery in Toronto, serve as Co-Curators for the 2023 Biennale. This year, their work is supported by a Curatorial Advisory composed of artists and curators connected to Newfoundland and Labrador: Jenelle Duval, Bushra Junaid, Bethany MacKenzie, and Ossie Michelin.

The artist participating in the 2023 Bonavista Biennale are:

Born in the North (Chris & Greg Mitchell) (Toronto, ON)
Ethel Brown (St. John’s, NL)
K. Jake Chakasim (Vancouver, BC)
Lindsay Katsitsakatste Delaronde (Victoria, BC)
Wally Dion (Binghamton, NY)
Jerry Evans (St. John’s, NL)
Letitia Fraser (Halifax, NS)
Billy Gauthier (North West River, NL)
Glenn Gear (Montreal, PQ)
Cynthia G.Renard (Montreal, PQ)
Erin Hunt (Fogo Island, NL)
Don Kwan (Ottawa, ON)
SK Maston (Toronto, ON)
Shirley Moorhouse (Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL)
Shelley Niro (Brantford, ON)
Shawn O’Hagan (Corner Brook, NL)
Mary Ann Penashue (Sheshatshiu, NL)
Sarah Prosper (Halifax, NS)
Megan Samms (Codroy Valley, NL)
Anastasia Tiller (Lethbridge, NL)
Miya Turnbull (Halifax, NS)
Couzyn van Heuvelen (Bowmanville, ON)
Jessica Winters (St. John’s, NL)

Lindsay Katsitsakatste Delaronde, working image for Sturgeon Woman Rising performance (detail), 2023. Photo: Marina Glassford.

“Collaborating with this year’s extraordinary curatorial team and participating artists reminds me how fortunate we are to be animating some of the most breath-taking settings in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the responsibilities of stewardship that come with this privilege,” says Executive Director Sue Balint. “This year’s Biennale will distinguish itself with a number of new initiatives, including an expanded footprint and several new partnerships that allow us to amplify our support to artists through co-commissions and extended residencies.”

Programming partners for this year’s Biennale include MOMENTA Biennale de l’image, Inuit Art Foundation, Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq / Pijariuqsarniq Project, and Onsite Gallery at OCAD University.

Miya Turnbull, Self-Portrait (Multiple Selves) (detail), 2022, digital photograph (film still), 16 x 20 inches.

About Bonavista Biennale

The Bonavista Biennale is an innovative, rural-based, public art event occurring every two years on Newfoundland’s Bonavista Peninsula. It provides a unique platform for artists and audiences to explore, exchange and challenge different ideas and perspectives.

The Biennale includes strong representation of artists from Newfoundland and Labrador, grounding the exhibition in this place while creating thoughtful dialogue with artists from across Canada and beyond.

The Biennale features emerging and established artists, working in all types of media. Installations and events take place in unconventional outdoor and indoor locations across the Peninsula, embedding contemporary art in the historic spaces and daily places of rural communities. Biennale visitors experience artworks alongside the complex and compelling histories, economies, geological features and environments that shape the Bonavista Peninsula.

Contact: admin@bonavistabiennale.com

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Bonavista Biennale gratefully acknowledges that the land on which we gather is Ktaqmkuk, traditional unceded Mi’kmaw territory. We further acknowledge with respect the diverse histories and cultures of the Beothuk, Mi’kmaq, Innu and Inuit of this province, and the ongoing connections with the past, present and future in our relationships with Indigenous and other peoples in Newfoundland and Labrador.