The ninth edition of the Performa Biennial focused on New York City as it re-emerged from the prolonged trauma of the pandemic that has radically altered our way of life, affecting the larger social infrastructure as well as the everyday details of our day-to-day existence. Taking place almost entirely outdoors from October 12-31, the Performa 2021 Biennial used the city as its backdrop, and featured new live performances by Kevin Beasley, Ericka Beckman, Sara Cwynar, Danielle Dean, Madeline Hollander, Andrés Jaque (Office for Political Innovation), Tschabalala Self, and Shikeith. For the first time in its sixteen-year history, the entire Biennial opened to the public free of charge.
Performa 2021
Madeline Hollander, Performa 2021 Biennial. Photo credit: Walter Wlodarczyk.
Tschabalala Self. Performa 2021 Biennial. Photo credit: Paula Court.
Kevin Beasley, Performa 2021 Biennial. Photo credit: Paula Court. October 13, 2021.
Danielle Dean, Performa 2021 Biennial. Photo credit: Paula Court.
Shikeith, Performa 2021 Biennial. Photo credit: Walter Wlodarczyk.
Tschabalala Self, Performa 2021 Biennial. Photo Credit: Walter Wlodarczyk.
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“The terrific range of project proposals we receive each year speaks to the mobile and porous disciplinary boundaries of contemporary art practice, and to the rich and inventive ways writers approach art today. They are alert to the urgent need to expand the conventions of art history and criticism with ideas from other discourses, such as black studies, transnational and diaspora studies, gender and women’s studies, and LGBT studies. The work of lesser known and overlooked artists and art communities continues to be mined, with writers articulating new ways to counter the striking imbalances of race, class and gender that continue to affect the arts and the culture industry.”