Toronto Biennial of Art: Precarious Joys

Third Edition | September 21 – December 1, 2024

Naomi Rincón Gallardo, Filiación abono (Dung kinship), video still, 2024. Photo: Claudia Lopez Terroso

The third edition of TBA, titled Precarious Joys, will take place over a ten-week period from September 21 to December 1, 2024 and transform Toronto and its partner regions with free exhibitions, performances, and learning opportunities. Grounded in diverse local contexts, the Biennial’s city-wide programming aims to inspire individuals, engage communities, and contribute to global conversations.

Precarious Joys is organized around open dialogues and poetic connections. Co-curators Dominique Fontaine and Miguel A. López, in making this exhibition, have been engaged in conversations and active listening traversing national and international landscapes and numerous artists’ studios. The exhibition explores the emotional climate of our times, acknowledging our vulnerability and grief while emphasizing the importance of passion and beauty in driving social change. The artworks address the various layers that define life in Toronto while reflecting broader social and political structures. Instead of presenting a single theoretical assertion. Together, these works create sparks that ignite a fire amidst the fragility of existence.

In addition to curated artworks, there is an expansive selection of free arts events and learning programs. Created for participants of all ages, TBA programs include performances, moments for exchange and conversation, hands-on workshops, and learning experiences. The 2024 Toronto Biennial of Art Public and Learning programs have been developed by Jenn Goodwin, Public Programs Curator, and Mary Kim, Senior Manager of Learning & Mediation.

Visit our website to learn more about the 2024 curatorial process, the full artist list, free programming schedule, and locations.

Rajni Perera, Joyous Procession / The Infinite Serpent, 2024. Image courtesy of Patel Brown. Photographer: Darren Rigo

Free Opening Day Programming, Saturday, September 21
The 2024 TBA officially opens to the public on Saturday, September 21 at all 11 locations across Toronto. Below are highlights of the opening day programming schedule.

Storytelling Sessions:
32 Lisgar St | 10am – 6pm with Jingshu Yao and Siki Soberetonar
The Auto BLDG. at 158 Sterling Rd | 10am – 6pm with Laura Carvalho
TBA’s Storytelling Program offers visitors of all ages new ways of engaging with the artworks presented in the Biennial by offering artist-led participatory sessions in the exhibition spaces.

VIBE Arts Family Days
32 Lisgar St | 11am – 4pm
VIBE Arts returns for the 2024 Biennial season to deliver fun, creative and interactive programming for intergenerational learners, families and caregivers in response to the exhibitions artists and artworks.

Fresh Arts, Visual Arts: histories and legacies with d’bi.young anitafrika, Pamila Matharu, and Winsom Winsom
32 Lisgar St | 12 – 1:30pm
2024 Biennial artists Pamila Matharu and Winsom Winsom are joined by artist, activist, and academic d’bi.young anitafrika to discuss aspects of the histories and legacies of Fresh Arts, an artist-led mentorship program which was pivotal to the local community arts ecology in the 1990s.

Storytelling Session with Melly Davidson
The Coach House at Colborne Lodge, High Park | 1 – 4pm
Join artist, educator, and TBA 2022 Storyteller Melly Davidson for listening and learning activities in High Park connected to artist Tanya Lukin Linklater’s dance program (listed below). Melly will additionally activate the artist’s 2024 Mobile Arts Curriculum tool, which explores High Park’s unique ecology in relation to Indigenous knowledge.

With sky, sunlight, clouds, wind. With ground, grass, trees, songbirds. (We are held) with Tanya Lukin Linklater and guest dance artists
The Coach House at Colborne Lodge, High Park | 1 – 4pm
Tanya Lukin Linklater leads a choreographic process in relation to plant life, weather, and our lived environments. Visitors are invited to witness this series of site-specific open rehearsals with 5 invited dance artists.

Toronto Biennial of Art 2024 Opening Remarks
32 Lisgar St (Lisgar Park) | 1:30pm

songs from the edges with Jumblies Theatre and the Gather Round Choir
32 Lisgar St | 2 – 3pm
Presented with Jumblies Theatre’s Gather Round Singers and Suba Sankaran songs from the edges is a performance that will feature songs that explore stories about the various borders people cross throughout their lives.

An exhibition activation performance with Maria Hupfield and collaborators
32 Lisgar St | 4 – 5pm
More information to come.

For a complete list of programming, please visit the TBA website.

Léann Herlihy, to be nowhere, 2022-ongoing. Post-performance documentation. Project Arts Centre, Dublin. Photograph by Niamh Barry

Toronto West-End TBA Locations:
Gallery TPW
The Auto BLDG at 158 Sterling, 9th Floor
32 Lisgar St and Park
Billboard at Abell St and Queen St W
Toronto Pearson Airport

Toronto Downtown TBA Locations:
AGO
The Image Centre (TMU)
Toronto Sculpture Garden
Collision Gallery
Toronto Union Station
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery

About the Toronto Biennial of Art
The Toronto Biennial of Art’s mission is to make contemporary art accessible to everyone. A ten-week event every two years, the Biennial commissions artists to create new works for a city-wide exhibition in dialogue with Toronto’s diverse local contexts. Year-round public and learning programs bridge Biennials and invite intergenerational audiences to explore the ideas that inspire our events. Building upon past editions and offering new ways of seeing and listening, each Biennial connects people to spark meaningful dialogues and imagine new futures.

For more information visit torontobiennial.org or follow us @torontobiennial.

Media Contacts:
Deanne Moser at DMPUBLIC: +1 647-888-9388; deanne@dmpublic.com
Michael Usling at DMPUBLIC: +1 647-657-8269; michael@dmpublic.com
Megan Irwin at the Toronto Biennial of Art; mirwin@torontobiennial.org