The Biennale de Paris in Cyprus

October 20–23, 2010
Nicosia, Cyprus

The seventeenth Biennale de Paris will begin on October 20 in Nicosia, Cyprus, with the project “Reinventing the Terminology of Art”, co-organised with Artos Foundation. A press conference will take place on October 21 at Artos Foundation, followed the next day by a round-table discussion. International projects relating to terminology will be presented during the same week.

Art has developed through successive breaks with its own values. New practices have emerged and, with them, new terms. A term always arises from an existing practice, defining what had previously been indefinable. To name something is to bring it into existence. A term also enables the practice from which it emerged to develop and expand.

Yet the terminology of art, which has grown richer since its beginnings in the Renaissance, has evolved very little over the past fifty years. To accept a static terminology of art would be to acknowledge the impossibility of historical continuity. Renewed terminology, by contrast, is an encouraging sign that art is progressing. An update has therefore become essential.

The nature of practices such as those that constitute the Biennale de Paris means that the usual vocabulary of art is insufficient to bring them into existence, identify them or describe them. Other terms, words and concepts are therefore needed. These terms lay the foundations for a new terminology of art. Artists, art critics and philologists from France and abroad will come together to reflect on, debate, enrich and finalise these new definitions.

Partners

Artists and Other Professionals

Alexandre Gurita, strategist in the art sector, Director of the Biennale de Paris
Caroline Keppi, author, Executive Assistant at the Biennale de Paris
Achilleas Kentonis, author, Director of Artos Foundation
Loïc Depecker, terminologist, President of the French Terminology Society
Ghislain Mollet-Viéville, art agent
Jean-Baptiste Farkas, author
Ricardo Mbarkho, artist
Paul Robert, artist

Institutions

French Ministry of Culture and Communication
Ministry of Culture and Education of Cyprus
Municipality of Nicosia
International Association of Art Critics
French Terminology Society
International Organisation of La Francophonie
French Cultural Centre in Cyprus
Musée du Quai Branly
Cyprus University of Technology

Coordinator

Achilleas Kentonis
Artos Foundation
Email: info@artosfoundation.org