Rupture and Renewal: Unpacking the Toronto Biennial’s 'Things Fall Apart'
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
The city's fourth biennial uses art to mirror a fragmented world, seeking possibility within the wreckage of colonial and environmental collapse.
As first reported by CBC Toronto:
Q: What is the central premise of the 2026 Toronto Biennial of Art?
A: Titled "Things Fall Apart," the festival's fourth edition explores the concept of "rupture as a site of possibility," according to curator Allison Glenn. The exhibition uses the theme of rupture to address various crises, including environmental collapse, displacement, and colonial violence. The biennial aims to show that while things may fall apart, they persist and evolve into new forms.
Q: Where does the exhibition's title originate?
A: CBC Toronto reports that the title is a quotation from the poem "The Second Coming" by Irish poet W. B. Yeats. The outlet notes that while Yeats wrote the poem during the aftermath of the First World War, the phrase has been adopted by various creators to describe calamities, including authors such as Stephen King, Joan Didion, and Chinua Achebe, as well as artists like Moby, the Roots, and Sleater-Kinney.
Q: How is the theme of water integrated into the art projects?
A: Water serves as a recurring motif throughout the biennial. CBC Toronto highlights several key works:
* **Rebecca Belmore**: The Anishinaabekwe artist choreographed *Gichigami* (meaning "great water" in Anishinaabemowin), a procession of dancers wearing coats made of crushed water bottles to mimic the sound of waves. Belmore stated that the creation story reminds us that "we all need land" amid a "sea of waste of our own making." * **Drexciya**: Curator Allison Glenn cited the aquatic cosmology of this Black electronica duo as an "anchoring sensibility" for the event. Cornelius Harris, label manager for Underground Resistance, explained that Drexciya imagines a future for the children of enslaved African women who were pushed or jumped overboard during the Middle Passage. * **Julianknxx**: The Sierra Leonian poet and artist created the video *What Colours Can We Dream in This Night Filled with Salt?*, which features the Boras Choir and explores the myth of Gang Gang Sarah, an African witch who lost her ability to fly after consuming salt in the Caribbean.
Q: Which institutions are hosting the biennial's projects?
A: According to CBC Toronto, the festival features 36 projects—including 16 new commissions—across various city sites:
* **The Art Museum at the University of Toronto**: Hosted the opening performance and displays records by Drexciya. * **The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)**: Features landscape photography by Dawoud Bey depicting the Underground Railroad and the Richmond Slave Trail, paired with objects from the AGO’s Frum Collection. * **The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)**: French artist Raphaël Barontini installed large banners above the *futalognkosaurus* display, using images of ceremonial objects to depict water gods and anti-slavery heroines. * **The Justina M. Barnicke Gallery**: Displays the video work by Julianknxx.
Q: How does the biennial address the future and environmental justice?
A: The exhibition looks toward survival and revitalization through Indigenous perspectives. CBC Toronto highlights the work of Kanienke’haka artist Lindsey Katsitsakatste Delaronde, who created the video *Soul-Hex*. The work features a "half-human, half-cyborg" character in a post-apocalyptic setting who utilizes ancestral Haudenosaunee knowledge to "revitalize the consciousness of the Earth," blending themes of environmental justice and Indigenous science fiction.