BUFFALO, NY.- In conjunction with planning for the major regional art exhibition Beyond/In Western New York 2010, a distinguished group of international art world professionals is being brought together for a symposium at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery to consider the question “Why Biennials?” Moderated by International Project Consultant Bruce Ferguson, the symposium will be held on Friday, January 30, 2009, at 7:15 pm in the Gallery’s auditorium. The symposium will explore issues surrounding the presentation of international biennial art exhibitions as twelve of Buffalo’s leading visual arts organizations plan to add a non-regional component to the exhibition Beyond/In Western New York 2010.

The panelists include:
·Francesco Bonami, Artistic Director of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo per L'Arte in Turin, Italy; Artistic Director Pitti Immagine Discovery, Florence; and Curator of the 75th Whitney Biennial of American Art.

·Anthony Bond, Assistant Director, Curatorial, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, where he has been responsible for collecting international contemporary art since 1984.

·Charlotte Bagger Brandt, Curator and Deputy Director of Charlottenborg Exhibition Hall and one of the founding directors and curators of the U-Turn Quadrennial for Contemporary Art in Copenhagen, Denmark.

·Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, Director of the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York and Caracas; and Chief Curator of the 6th Mercosul Biennial in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The symposium moderator, Bruce Ferguson, is serving as the International Project Consultant for Beyond/In Western New York 2010. An independent curator and critic who has worked internationally for more than thirty years, Ferguson has organized more than thirty-five exhibitions and was the founding Director and first Biennial Curator of SITE Santa Fe. In his capacity as an educator and administrator, he has served as President and Executive Director of the New York Academy of Art; Dean at the Columbia University School of Art; and is currently developing and directing F.A.R. (Future Art Research), a new institute for media arts and culture at Arizona State University.