5th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art

The 5th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art is presented in Ekaterinburg and cities in the Ural and Siberia regions of the Russian Federation from September 12 - December 1, 2019.

More than 70 artists and art groups from 23 countries and regions will take part in the Main Project of the 5th Ural Industrial Biennial. Artists in residence selected for the Biennial come from Sweden, Norway, Russia, Netherlands, Switzerland, France and United Kingdom.

The Ural Industrial Biennial is the largest regional art project with international participation among those existing on the territory of the Russian Federation. The Biennial takes place at former industrial and non-exhibition spaces in Ekaterinburg and other cities of the Ural region.

In its 5th edition, the Ural Biennial explores concepts behind the Immortality, both secular and sacred; it is seen as a powerful utopist idea, as technocratic obscurity, as a symbolic tool and as a condition which might cause evident ethical schisms.

Curated by Xiaoyu Weng, the exhibition departs from a series of inquiries; i.e., how is it possible to untangle varying traditions of technological consciousness? What does the anticipation of the Homo Deus tell us about humanity? What are the systematic paradoxes between universalism and universalization?

Is it still possible to imagine different forms of utopia?

The exhibition considers a constellation of aesthetic, historical, political, and philosophical propositions that not only shape but also destabilize our understanding of immortality. In particular, the Main Project engages critical reflections on the cultural metaphors of immortality and our imaginations of the future. Perhaps a more crucial question shall be raised: how can we overcome, not death, but immortality?