The fifth edition of the Art Encounters Biennial, My Rhino is Not a Myth focuses on the intersection of art, science, and fictions. Curator Adrian Notz (ETH AI Center Zürich) draws connections between hyper-digital realities, modernist avant-garde, and contemporary art worlds. In between scientific explorations and imaginative speculations, the invited artists delve into stories of unknown, alternative histories of anticipation.

The biennial’s title is inspired by Albrecht Dürer’s famous Rhinocerus woodcut, an imaginative description of a rhino since the artist-scientist never saw one. Ganda, by its Gujarati name, was a diplomatic gift that caused a sensation in all the places it arrived before its tragic end in the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, his part-fiction, part-story-told depiction informed numerous artistic works and scientific publications into the 18th century.

Following connections across geographies and histories, My Rhino is Not a Myth quotes from the play Rhinocéros by Eugène Ionesco. A response to the rise of authoritarian regimes and complicity, inhabitants of a village gradually turn into rhinoceroses in the story, while only one character is constantly being told “Your rhinoceros is a myth!”. The title reclaims the power to resist conformity and relies on the imaginative abilities of art and science to envision other futures. The biennial transforms the rhino into a vessel: a non-human being inhabiting multiple dimensions with different degrees of truth and reality, bleeding into our world.

My Rhino is Not a Myth travels through different moments of histories, pasts, presents and futures, tracing the rhino’s path around the globe, by unfolding experimental realities and challenging visitors with new tools of imagination. Guided by the way of the rhino, the curatorial approach brings out the many nuances of the entangled relationship between arts, politics, science, and technology.

Romanian and international artists participate through exhibitions, workshops, events and collaborations in and around Timișoara:

Nora Al-Badri, Carlos Amorales (satellite program in MNAC, Bucharest), Korakrit Arunanondchai, Zheng BO, Floriama Cândea*, Anetta Mona Chisa*, Alina Cioară*, Ioana Cîrlig, Giulia Crețulescu, CROSSLUCID, András Cséfalvay, Chiril Cucu, Stoyan Dechev, Rohini Devasher, Megan Dominescu, Nika Dubrovsky, Albrecht Dürer , Arantxa Etcheverria, Constantin Flondor, Kata Geibl*, Anna Godzina, Liat Grayver, Veronika Hapcenko, Libby Heaney, Eugen Ionesco, IRWIN, Maren Dagny Juell, Zhanna Kadyrova, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Patricia Kaliczka, Knowbotiq, Natasa Kokic, Alicja Kwade, Kazimir Malevic, Sakib Rahman Mizanur*, Gregor Moebius, Sebastian Moldovan*, Farah Mulla, Anca Munteanu Rimnic, Ciprian Mureșan, Museum of Antiquities, Sahil Naik*, Maria Nalbantova, Janiv Oron, Christodoulos Panayiotou, Katarina Petrovic*, Pushpamala, Cristian Răduță, Aparna Rao & Søren Pors, Tabita Rezaire, Naomi Rincón Gallardo, Pipilotti Rist, Dimitar Solakov*, Christopher Kulendran Thomas, Sasa Tkacenko, Kata Tranker, Vitto Valentinov, Mihaela Vasiliu (Chlorys), Sorina Vazelina*, Christian Waldvogel.

*New commissions.

The 2023 Art Encounters Biennial is accompanied by a platform dedicated to the artist run spaces in the city (Avantpost, Balamuc, Baraka, Lapsus, Nava C2, Simultan), acknowledging their important contributions to the local artistic ecosystem.

Sprawling across Timișoara, the biennial subtly references the city’s rich cultural history connected to technological developments and geo-political changes, such as being modeled after Viennese architecture, or being the first city to rise up against the communist regime in 1989. Embedded in the context of the cultural program Timișoara 2023—European Capital of Culture, this edition features a momentous opening weekend with special guests, talks, performances, screenings, and public space art events (May 19–21).

Highlighting the event’s commitment to collective thinking and curating, Adrian Notz is joined by the team of curators and writers—Cristina Bută, Monica Dănilă, Edith Lázár, Ann Mbuti, Cristina Stoenescu and Georgia Țidorescu—as members of the curatorial sounding board.

This project is part of the Timișoara 2023 – ECoC Program and is financed by the Municipality of Timișoara through the Center for Projects.

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