Whitney Biennial
When: 17 March-11 June
Where: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
The Whitney Museum will by co-curated by Christopher Lew, based at the Whitney, and the independent curator Mia Locks. They have selected 63 participants. Among the established names there will be the US artists Jo Baer and Larry Bell, international collectives like the Gulf-based GCC, and between young New York artists, Torey Thornton, Casey Gollan and Victoria Sobel. Dana Schutz, Pope.L, Jordan Wolfson and Anicka Yi will also feature.
Documenta 14
When: 8 April-16 July; 10 June-17 September
Where: Athens and Kassel
Documenta, the quinquennial contemporary show held in Kassel, is going to be a highly political exhibition. For the first time in its 60-year history, the event will be divided across two cities: Kassel in Germany, the birthplace of the exhibition, and Athens. In Kassel's Friedrichsplatz, there will be the enormous and famous installation "The Parthenon of Books", a re-staging of Acropolis of Athens by the Argentine artist Marta Minujìn, made from 100,000 banned books.
57th Venice Biennale
When: 13 May-26 November
Where: Arsenale and Giardini, Venice
Christine Macel will be the artistic director of the next Venice Biennale, described as an exhibition “designed with the artists, by the artists and for the artists”, with a particular concern on the “individual expression” and art having “a spiritual dimension”, instead of a political orientation. The title of the exhibition is "Viva Arte Viva", with more women artists and an emphasis on forgotten artists, and explorations of work from Russia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Aros Triennial
When: 3 June-30 July
Where: Aros Aarhus Art Museum, Aarhus
The ARoS Aarhus Art Museum will host the first ARoS Triennial, entitled "THE GARDEN – End of Times; Beginning of Times", with a very ambitious scope with a focus on depictions of nature throughout history: to cover the past 400 years through The Past, The Present and The Future sections.Works by both internationally recognised visual artists and young, emerging talents will feature, with new commissions by artists including Fujiko Nakaya, Simon Starling, Cyprien Gaillard, Doug Aitken, Alicja Kwade and Superflex.
Istanbul Biennial
When: 16 September-12 November
Where: Various venues, Istanbul
The 15th edition of the Istanbul Biennial will be curated by the Scandinavian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset, who decided to deal with multiple notions of home and neighbourhoods, "exploring how living modes in our private spheres have changed throughout the past decades. Home is approached as an indicator of diverse identities and a vehicle for self-expression, and neighbourhood as a micro-universe exemplifying some of the challenges we face in terms of co-existence today.”