Opening this Saturday, September 21, the third iteration of the Toronto Biennial of Art (TBA) aims to acknowledge multiple truths at once. Fittingly titled Precarious Joys, this year’s edition will address the political, environmental, and economic instability of our world, highlighting the grief of living in such a vulnerable time and affirming the need for artistic spaces that will be the cradle for radical social change. The biennial will run through December 1 and feature 36 local and international artists with performances, workshops, and events spread across eleven venues, including two main hubs at 32 Lisgar Street and the ninth floor of the historic Auto BLDG at 158 Sterling Avenue. Visitors can attend any of the programming events, from exhibitions to roundtables, entirely free of charge.
Self-taught Balinese artist Citra Sasmita similarly looks to ancestral storytelling in her practice, and will present three new artworks during the biennial drawing on her interest in the Kamasan painting style. The tradition was historically an exclusively male art form, but as a feminist artist, Sasmita adapts the style to reimagine Balinese myths and epics to center women and call for their liberation.
