Rashid Rana has quit as artistic director of the first Lahore Biennale. A statement posted on the biennale’s social media accounts state the artist and the Lahore Biennale Foundation had ‘differing views on the vision’ for the inaugural project. The statement claims the parting is amicable but that the two sides could not ‘reach a formal agreement on their propose collaborative relationship’.
Rana was appointed curator in March 2016 and the exhibition was initially supposed in open in November 2017 but was since postponed. He presented his vision for the biennale as ‘an ever-evolving process rather than a product’ in New York in May 2016. ‘At the very core of the curatorial premise lies questioning, rethinking and reinventing existing biennale formats, dispelling the concept of “one grand exhibition”, and exploring fully the artist/public and gallery/public space dichotomies.’
The foundation have offered assurance that none of Rana’s ideas or curatorial methodologies will be used in any forthcoming exhibition, though have not at this juncture commented on the future of the biennial specifically.
31 August 2017
