Masks, Mirages, and the Morphic Mirror
London Biennale 2020

In Manila in July of 2019, David Medalla and I sat and spoke through the theme of the 2020 London Biennale. Its theme, its installations, locations, global pollinations.

Using the mask as theme, the mirage, the morphic mirror, we were obviously unaware of the pandemic we are now living. David pointed to a poem of Walt Whitman, from The Leaves of Grass, to be the theme, that would mark the proposal for this years untimely and absurd prophetic concurrence with the global pandemic, OUT FROM BEHIND THIS MASK. (To Confront a Portrait.) W. Whitman 1892.

We were furthermore inspired later in the year, of the civil actions of protests of populations globally and the stories that may lay behind the mask. From tribal, to celabratory, performative, to shield, camouflouge and disguise.

In light of the current situation, we are encouraging artists, to send images of their masks with a decription of their masks, the whys, the necessities, the fable, the introspection of each manifest to be put online as a virtual home. The artist or participant can author their work or remain anonymous if politically sensitive.

These works, these odes to a political or the current health pandemic, a pre-existing ID of identity, or desire of self change, internally or an altered guise, an individuals choice to create non-identity or amplified identity, or joyous or apocalyptic manifests will be video beamed on sites world wide with accompanying texts, and if physical manifests can be sent, the masks will find home in diffrent locations of the world, within the walls of galleries, or spaces yet determined with accompanying texts.

We are currently in the final stages of building a website for this project, www.londonbiennale.net and hopefully will also be able to include manifest of past biennales from 2000 on. This is now the tenth London Biennale. We appreciate so much the thousands of artists that have participated over the years.

Please send your photographic submissions to anvaspace@gmail.com
If you have images texts or invitaions of past participation please also send to anvaspace@gmail.com

We dedicate this London Biennale 2020 manifest to all front line workers during this current pandemic of 2020, protesters of human rights and justice, prisoners of conscience, fellow artists and the art loving public.

In great admiration and gratitude of and for all.

With our warmest wishes to all, the participants, and non- partcipants alike, please stay safe.

David Medalla and Adam Nankervis
London Biennale 2020

Berlin/ Manila

londonbiennale.net

with many thanks to Daniel Kupferberg for construction of the website

photo- David Medalla and Adam Nankervis
Masks, Mirages, and the Morphic Mirror
Daniel Kupferberg, avs. 2014

London Biennale

Jose Olarte

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London Biennale 2020 how to participate history 2000-2018 facebook