Bonavista Biennale 2019 — FLOE reconsiders Newfoundland and Labrador within the North Atlantic coastline with month-long visual art experience, August 17 - September 15

21 contemporary artists participating with artworks in Newfoundland and Labrador, including Jordan Bennett, Wanda Koop, D’Arcy Wilson, Ian Carr Harris + Yvonne Lammerich

Bonavista Biennale, a bi-annual month-long art event, adopts contemporary artwork as a lens to interpret the historical structures and cultural exchanges of the Northeast Atlantic coastline. Taking place August 17 - September 15, Bonavista Biennale 2019 — FLOE highlights the works of 21 leading Canadian, Indigenous, and international artists through a multi-site art experience across the Bonavista Peninsula’s coastal landscape. The sites of the Biennale trace the migratory and trade routes that connected North America to Europe — Ktaqmkuk, the Mi’kmaq word for Newfoundland, is traditional unceded Mi’kmaw territory, and FLOE (re)considers this history and the obscuring of cultures by systems of colonialism. 

Artworks examine the relationships among the architecture of heritage buildings, dis-used community and commercial spaces, and the cultural structures that shape the outport communities. Participating artists are designing sculptural forms, repurposing existing spaces, and creating site-specific installations that offer commentary on the transporting of ideas, culture, and artifacts. 

Viewers are encouraged to plan their own journey through the 100-kilometre loop, using a downloadable exhibition map as a guide to explore the sites and outport communities. 

Select Artworks Preview 

Jordan Bennett
​Jordan Bennett, 2018 Sobey Art Award shortlist nominee, uses painting, sculpture, installation, and sound to explore land, language, the act of visiting and to challenge colonial perceptions of Indigenous histories. He will be painting a mural on the side of a former high school (which is now being converted to a wellness centre), visually expressing the Mi’kmaq and Beothuk cultures of Ktaqamkuk. 

Ian Carr Harris & Yvonne Lammerich ​
​Ian Carr-Harris and Yvonne Lammerich will create wooden models together that collapse time and space. Their two artworks navigate the waters between history, memory, and perception by exploring iconic symbols of exploration, trade, settlement, and identity. 

Anna Hepler ​
​Anna Hepler builds sculptures as a means to disrupt conventional form, using graphic gestures to blur shapes and materials. Her site-specific installation will use repurposed cardboard in the shape of a whale’s ribcage and latticed like a boat hull as a commentary on the role of water in connecting Atlantic communities. 

Robert Hengeveld ​
​Robert Hengeveld is an installation and media artist dedicated to exploring the boundaries between reality and fiction by manipulating familiar environments or common experiences. His artwork will represent the ghost of an unused heritage house, using a scale steel outline of a house treated with iridescent paint. The work will move to different sites on the Peninsula throughout the Biennale. 

Bonavista Biennale — FLOE

FREE ​
​Saturday, August 17 - Sunday, September 15
​Bonavista Peninsula, Newfoundland and Labrador

Exhibition sites are located in outport communities: Duntara, King’s Cove, Knight’s Cove, Bonavista, Elliston, Port Union, Catalina, Champney’s West, Port Rexton, Trinity

The curators of Bonavista Biennale — FLOE are Catherine Beaudette (2 Rooms Contemporary Art Projects), David Diviney (Art Gallery of Nova Scotia), and Matthew Hills (Grenfell Art Gallery, Memorial University of Newfoundland).

Participating Artists

Jordan Bennett - Ktaqamkuk (NL)
​Bob Blumer - USA
​Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons - Cuba/USA
​Ian Carr-Harris + Yvonne Lammerich - Ontario
​Kym Greeley - NL
​Robert Hengeveld - Newfoundland and Labrador
​Anna Hepler - USA
​Jason Holley - Newfoundland and Labrador
​Thaddeus Holownia - New Brunswick ​
​Barb Hunt + Jane Walker Manitoba - Newfoundland and Labrador
​Mark Igloliorte - Nunatsiavut (NL)
​Wanda Koop - Manitoba
​Meagan Musseau - Ktaqamkuk (NL)
​Sean Patrick O’Brien - USA
​Paulette Phillips - Nova Scotia
​Meghan Price - Ontario
​Jerry Ropson - Newfoundland and Labrador
​Camille Turner - Ontario
​D’Arcy Wilson - Atlantic Canada

Full artist bios are available with media kit. 

Bonavista Biennale is a project of 2 Rooms Contemporary Art Projects, a platform for temporary installations, exhibitions, and events on the Bonavista Peninsula of Newfoundland.

Bonavista Biennale 2019 receives support from Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, ArtsNL, Atlantic Lottery and from corporate and community partners including Fishers’ Loft, the Bell Group, Cox & Palmer, private foundations and individual donors.

Bonavista Biennale 2019 — FLOE Map

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Jesika Arseneau

Jesika Arseneau

Publicist, The Knot Group

About Bonavista Biennale

The Bonavista Biennale launched in 2017, inspired by Canadian Heritage’s call for projects to recognize and celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary. Located on the Bonavista Peninsula in Newfoundland, the Bonavista Biennale is a bi-annual, rural-based art initiative with a unique approach and significant presence in the Canadian cultural landscape. It is committed to bringing high-calibre, professional, national and international contemporary art to the local area. The Bonavista Biennale’s mission is to make a positive cultural, economic and social impact on the Bonavista Peninsula through curatorial excellence in the presentation of contemporary visual art. The Biennale is a unique and inspiring project that provides direct cultural, social and economic benefits to the communities and people of the Peninsula; and contributes to access to and advancement of contemporary art and artists in the province and across the country. Visit bonavistabiennale.com or follow @bbiennale.

Contact

bonavistabiennale.com