Vancouver Biennale

Vancouver Biennale The Vancouver Biennale is a non-profit charitable organization that celebrates art in public space.

08/30/2026

Yayoi Kusama (1929 - 2026)

Kusama, one of the most important and influential artists in the history of contemporary art, has left a monumental legacy of artworks in a multitude of mediums. Her signature elements of repetition and mirroring have mesmerized millions of viewers across the globe.

It has been a pleasure for some of our team members to visit several Kusama installations in different parts of the world during art explorations over the last few years:

•The Broad in Los Angeles (2020, 2023)
•Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh (2023)
•SFMOMA in San Francisco (2024)
•Parque Serralves in Porto, Portugal (2025)
•Naoshima Island, Japan (2026)

In 1965, Kusama produced her first INFINITY MIRROR ROOM and created the illusion of infinite space via a unique visual immersion. In her own words: “Dots are symbols of the world, the cosmos. The Earth is a dot, the moon, sun, the stars are all made up of dots. You and me, we are dots.”

When Kusama first exhibited NARCISSUS GARDEN at the Venice Biennale in 1966, the installation brought her worldwide attention. The repetition of the reflective balls that show the surrounding landscape and spectators makes the viewer feel as though they are being united with nature.

One of her most recognizable motifs is the pumpkin, which became her muse early in her career. Each pumpkin artwork has a set of unique dimensions and characteristics, just as every human being has their own distinctive appearance and personality.

What is your favourite Yayoi Kusama artwork, and where did you see it?

07/27/2026

Art fun!

This past weekend the Vancouver Biennale had the pleasure to partner once more with Cycling Without Age (Vancouver Cycling Without Age Society) for a little BIKEnnale.

With Nature’s cooperation (and only a few raindrops), we toured some of the artworks we’ve installed and a few works installed by the City of Vancouver.

A perfect way to connect with others through public art, share some art stories, and make some new friends.

The ride concluded at Yue Minjun’s A-MAZE-ING LAUGHTER sculptures, which generated more smiles and laughter from everyone.

Thank you, Jake, for the invitation, and, Lillie, we appreciate all your time, too! And a big shout-out to the pilots who safely navigated the seniors and their accompanying family and friends.

We thoroughly enjoyed participating in this public art tour and are looking forward to our next cycling collaboration (and more storytelling) with this exuberant group. 😎

07/09/2026

Summer art explorations!

Some of our team recently caught the final day of Marcus Bowcott’s exhibition, CHAIN AND GO JUSTICE, at Addition Gallery in Vancouver.

As many of you know, Marcus is the artist behind TRANS AM TOTEM, which we installed in 2015 during our 2014-2016 open-air exhibition. Gifted to the City of Vancouver’s public art collection by philanthropists Chip and Shannon Wilson, the sculpture (renamed TRANS AM RAPTURE) will be soon be reinstalled in a new location.

“Stacked, immobilized, or displaced, these objects begin to resemble monuments to the very systems they once promised would liberate us.” — Marcus Bowcott

“It’s a monumental summer for Bowcott across the province. His STACKED CAR SUNDIAL BIRD BATH is on view at Surrey Art Gallery, and this August two paintings from this body of work, CHAIN AND GO JUSTICE and FULL-WELD WRATH, both drawn from the demolition-derby culture of Hope, British Columbia’s Brigade Days, take over the city as 66-by-44-inch backlit bus shelter installations for 20 FACES [a public-transit art project displayed at bus shelters throughout Metro Vancouver].” — ADDITION

06/12/2026

This week some of our team were elated to attend AN EVENING OF APPRECIATION at Emily Carr University of Art + Design ().

The evening featured interactive workshops (print-making and Indigenous mini drum-making) guided by ECU staff and students, a curated selection of works from graduation award recipients of 2026, and a private reception with opportunities to connect with fellow guests and the ECU community.

It was a true pleasure to connect with other donors and to celebrate ECU!

With multiple talented faculty and their diverse expertise and skills, Canada’s premier art and design university offers practice-based education that helps students build strong, meaningful creative practices.

“For the past 100 years, ECU has fuelled imagination and impact, influencing Vancouver’s creative sector and beyond,” asserts Dr. Trish Kelly, President + Vice-Chancellor of ECU. “Through our centennial celebrations, we get the chance to reflect on the amazing work of our students, staff, faculty and alumni in transforming industries, launching movements, and inspiring change throughout communities worldwide.”

We’re excited to see what partnerships and collaborations—and new donors—will appear in the next century!

P.S. For the seventh consecutive year, ECU has been named the number one university in Canada for art and design—according to the 2026 QS World University rankings (), the leading global survey on higher education!

Thanks to our friend David McCann for this memory! The Vancouver Biennale was thrilled to play a part in this project in...
05/29/2026

Thanks to our friend David McCann for this memory!

The Vancouver Biennale was thrilled to play a part in this project involving THE FAMILY by Jack Harman.

We’re curious who has made a visit to this sculpture, located in the courtyard outside The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant on Granville Island. We’d love to see your photos!

05/28/2026

Award news!

We are delighted to announce the recipient of the 2026 Vancouver Biennale “Art Attack” Award of Excellence in Visual Art at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver:

Hailey Hyeonji Park, BFA: THE BREATH MOON JAR (3D printed ceramic, breath sensor, real-time sound and visual, Arduino-based sound sensor)

Hailey’s artwork is a “techno-mystical interactive installation that reinterprets the traditional Korean Moon Jar as a sacred vessel for human breath. Where the original Moon Jar was a vessel for moonlight, this work transforms the act of breathing into a generative field of light and sound. When a participant exhales into the dark interior of the jar, the stillness awakens: breath becomes vibration, vibration scatters into light, and light unfolds across the room like a cosmos being born.” — Hailey Hyeonji Park

The Degree Exhibition Jury also awarded an honourable mention to Hyewon Lee, BFA, for WALTZ OF THE WIND (wood, metal, acrylic rod, paper, thread, wire, DC motors, motor speed controller modules).

It was a pleasure for some of our team to meet Hailey and Hyewon at Emily Carr University’s THE SHOW, an exhibition that presented the work of more than 450 graduating students researching, experimenting, innovating, and creating across multiple disciplines—painting, sculpture, performance, interaction design, animation, film, and sound.

While the Vancouver Biennale extends congratulations to all the 2026 graduates and best wishes to Emily Carr University on its momentous centenary, we reiterate our elation in being one of the community supporters of the next generation of artists as they embark on the next chapter of their artistic journey.

In 2014, Kirsten Larsen created the Vancouver Art Attack Award for Excellence in Visual Art at Emily Carr University. In 2024, in appreciation of Kirsten’s support of community arts programming, her founding of the Vancouver Biennale Young Ambassadors group, and her ongoing support of the Vancouver Biennale’s mandate where public art is a catalyst for dialogue, community engagement, and social action, the Vancouver Biennale established a new iteration of the award to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the “Art Attack” Award and the hundredth anniversary of Emily Carr University.

05/24/2026

A joyful day with our friends at Heidelberg Materials (Vancouver) and, of course, everyone’s favourite tallest, 360-degree local artwork—the GIANTS!

The open house was an excellent opportunity to explore an active concrete plant—and to see the monumental 21.3-metre-tall mural created by internationally renowned Brazilian twin brothers (Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo) known as Os Gemeos.

Live music, plant tours, face painting, prizes, and a giant sandbox: fun for all ages!

Since the Vancouver Biennale’s collaboration in 2014 with Ocean Concrete (now Heidelberg Materials) and OSGEMEOS, thousands of locals and tourists have visited Granville Island to say hi to these colourful towering figures. 😎

If you were in attendance today, please tag us. We’d love to see *your* selfie with the GIANTS!

Vancouver Biennale names senior curator for 2027-29 editionTHE ART NEWSPAPER • Hadani Ditmars • April 23, 2026 2:16 PM T...
04/25/2026

Vancouver Biennale names senior curator for 2027-29 edition

THE ART NEWSPAPER • Hadani Ditmars • April 23, 2026 2:16 PM

This marks a return to Vancouver for the Brazilian curator Marcello Dantas, who organised a Vik Muniz project in the city as part of the biennale’s 2013-15 edition.

The Vancouver Biennale has selected Marcello Dantas to be the senior curator for its 2027-29 edition. According to the biennale’s founder and director, Barrie Mowatt, Dantas is “widely recognised as one of the world’s most distinguished and innovative curators, and we are honoured to welcome him to Vancouver.”

Mowatt says that Dantas’s most recent projects include co-curating the 2024 edition of the outdoor art exhibition Desert X AlUla in Saudi Arabia (with Maya El Khalil) and curating an Es Devlin exhibition in São Paulo. Dantas is also the art director at Sfer Ik, an art centre in Tulum, Mexico. And, with the Fifa World Cup coming to Vancouver in just eight weeks, Mowatt adds that Dantas has “World Cup experience” , having served as the artistic director of Pelé Station, a massive multimedia exhibition about the Brazilian soccer legend Pelé during the 2006 World Cup in Berlin.

In addition to curating exhibitions by artists including Shirin Neshat, Bill Viola, Tunga, Ai Weiwei and Laura Vinci, Dantas has produced operas by Peter Greenaway and La Fura dels Baus. He is also a film-maker who has made 12 documentaries about artists. This is not the São Paulo-curator’s first time working in Vancouver: he was involved in the Vancouver Biennale’s 2013-15 edition, curating a project by Vik Muniz that involved using local natural materials to create a portrait of a wolf that was so large it could only be fully viewed from an elevated platform. Dantas worked with local First Nations and community groups on that project, and says he hopes to continue those types of collaborations in the upcoming biennale.

Continued below in the comments

Ongoing art travels in Japan have led our team to the beautiful Pola Museum of Art (ポーラ美術館 polamuseumofart) in Hakone. T...
04/09/2026

Ongoing art travels in Japan have led our team to the beautiful Pola Museum of Art (ポーラ美術館 polamuseumofart) in Hakone. The images of the two deer artworks are extremely fascinating to examine at close range; in particular, the crystal spheres’ internal images captivate viewers of all ages.

“Nawa Kohei generates a wide range of imagery by harnessing the properties of diverse materials and exploring relationships between life and the cosmos, perception, and science and technology.

“His sculptures give concrete form to his concept of PixCell, which combines the pixels of digital images with the cell, the smallest unit of living organisms. He creates novel visual experiences by covering taxidermied animals, which represent the natural world, with artificial crystal spheres attached using advanced adhesive techniques, and blurring the boundary between nature and artifice.

“The shifting sense of distance depending on the viewer’s position elicits reconsideration of the relationship between viewer and work as well as the meanings that arise from the work. Two PixCell-Deer face one another, and a space that renders the unseen visible brings the exhibition to its close.” —

Postscript: It was a pleasure for our team to meet the artist at his studio, and they are especially grateful to him and Chie for their time and the inspirational studio tour.





04/09/2026



Vancouver Biennale team members have thoroughly enjoyed their visits to a couple of Japan’s “art islands” in the Seto Inland Sea.

Former fishing communities, these islands have been transformed into contemporary art destinations featuring multiple museums designed by Tadao Ando, outdoor installations, and site-specific projects.

Nature is an outstanding backdrop for many of the outside artworks: expansive ocean views, abundant fresh air, colourful spring blooms, and birdsong complement the overall art experience.

Must-see venues are the indoor and outdoor artworks at the Benesse House Museum on the island of Naoshima.

As some venues do not permit photography, the experiences—particularly those at the architectural works—remain in visitors’ memories.

We strongly encourage anyone visiting Japan to include at least two or three days on these enchanting islands, as there is an abundance of things to see and experience.




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