The fifth edition of the OFF-Biennale is coming in 2025
The fifth edition of the OFF-Biennale is coming in 2025
Reviving the 1979 Gladness demonstrations of Endre Tót (a legendary figure of the Hungarian neo-avant-garde) carried out in several european cities, young artist Kristóf Kovács organised a demonstration in Budapest during the 2017 OFF-Biennale. Participants carried their own laughing faces on a large sign, while at the beginning of the march a giant banner read: “We are happy to demonstrate”.
We are delighted to announce that we will be organising OFF-Biennale again from 8 May to 15 June 2025! The fifth edition will also be a celebration of OFF’s tenth anniversary: it is just over a decade since the launch of the self-organised international garage biennale in spring 2015. The notion of “security” is the central topic of the next OFF, an instinctive need and a fundamental right for all of us; and yet, despite the heated political debates surronding it and the growth of the security services industry, it is becoming increasingly out of reach for the majority.
Ten years ago, OFF was established to strengthen the local independent art scene and contribute to the public discourse on social, cultural and environmental issues. As before, OFF aims to be a platform for open, multi layered and inclusive public debate, focusing our attention on pressing issues relevant to all of us by the means of contemporary art. In a political climate not conducive to civil and cultural self-organization OFF-Biennale remained one of the few art NGOs in Budapest still actively working on creating and maintaining ground for free speech and reinforcing independence.
The group exhibition Somewhere in Europe (Galeria Centralis / Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archive) reflected on the central theme of the 2017 OFF-Biennale, the daily life of the children’s republic Gaudiopolis and the short democratic period in Hungary between 1945-49, through archival material and contemporary artworks.
Over the past two decades, the notion of security has become central to mainstream political rhetoric and public discourse. In a world of rapid and chaotic change, the everyday unpredictability ecological disasters, wars and relentless individualistic competition, most people are desperate for a sense of existential, financial and social security – the lure of freedom has faded. Populist political tendencies have long been built on a sense of insecurity and fear, generating apocalyptic narratives of looming threats and enemies. It is increasingly accepted that security is being used as a pretext to curtail civil and human rights, leading to the rise of autocracies.
OFF-Biennale 2025 will attempt to rethink the notion of security with participating artists, professionals and researchers, so that it is based on trust rather than xenophobia, on communities of tolerance, care and solidarity rather than competition for domination, on transparency rather than secrecy, on emancipated public debate rather than fear of the dark masses. Where, how, with whom do we feel safe? What does this mean for us on a personal, even visceral level, when we think of our families, our communities? What does it mean in terms of our possessions, our data, and what when we talk about national security or international alliances? What does it mean for the most vulnerable communities who are not well represented in the current power structures? In a general climate of constantly generated fear and uncertainty, how can we feel safe enough to stand up for a future in which most living beings suffer the least?
The 2025 OFF-Biennale will be presented in several venues in Budapest, in the framework of local civil and institutional as well as international collaborations, with plans to show our productions abroad at partner sites in the second half of the year. Our priority is to produce and present new Hungarian artworks.