LB03 Curator Announcement

The Lahore Biennale Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of John Tain, Head of Research at Asia Art Archive, as the Curator for the third edition of the Lahore Biennale, LB03, whose theme is Ecology and Sustainable Futures. LBF hosted a conversation with Tain on the next Lahore Biennale (LB03) at Alhamra Dated April 17th, 2023.

Following the success of the inaugural Lahore Biennale in March 2018 and the second edition in early 2020, curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, the Foundation remains committed to showcasing groundbreaking contemporary art from around the world. LB03 promises to build on the legacy of its predecessors, with Tain at the helm, by continuing to foster critical practice and discourse on contemporary art in the region and beyond. The Lahore Biennale has become a significant platform for contemporary art in the region, showcasing artworks from a range of disciplines and media. The appointment highlights the Foundation’s commitment to promoting cultural exchange, inclusivity, and accessibility through the arts.

For the upcoming third edition, scheduled to take place Fall 2024, LBF will deepen its commitment to bringing art to the people through the placement of new art commissions and large-scale public installations at various heritage and everyday venues across the city. In addition, research into Lahore’s history will contribute to the exhibition’s emphasis on local and indigenous knowledges and practices as resources for thinking the future. It will also showcase place-making by devoting a number of projects on the Mall Road, a historical centre for public expression and cultural activity. LB03 will also integrate its discursive programming as part of its overall offering. All of these enhancements will foster a deeper connection and understanding of Lahore by diverse communities.

LB03’s convening of emerging and established artists, scholars, and researchers addresses ecology and sustainable development, urgent topics in a country that in the past year has seen calamitous floods and degraded environment, aggravated by agricultural disasters, urban pollution, and social inequality. These problems, which now cannot be ignored, have long been in gestation. The exhibition will foreground contributions by artists that suggest aesthetic, sensorial, conceptual, and collective ways to address such challenges, while also underscoring resonances between the histories of Lahore and Pakistan with other parts of the world that face similar issues.