AURORA BIENNIAL 2026 THEME
Under the title States of Becoming, Aurora Biennial 2026 responds to a moment of profound transformation—from the climate crisis and the rise of AI to the erosion of democratic norms. We are living through destabilizing times. In the midst of this, the stories we use to make sense of the world are changing: myths about who we are, how we live together, and our understanding of what it means to be human are being rewritten.
These shifts are not abstract; they are unfolding in specific places and communities. Dallas and the sites where AURORA Biennial’s main event and expanded program will take place, are in a state of flux. Our main footprint, Dallas City Hall, itself a symbol of transformation in another era, is at risk of demolition. The fabric of Downtown Dallas and the Discovery District is also poised to change dramatically as AT&T prepares to relocate. Elsewhere, neighborhoods like South Dallas are at the precipice of major revitalization projects that promise to breathe new life into the community. On an ecological scale, water scarcity looms as the city's population grows and water-intensive data centers increasingly shape the surrounding landscape.
Dallas is a microcosm of broader transformations taking place across the United States and around the world. Against this backdrop, we focus on the unstable present, a time that relates to a foundational myth, that of metamorphosis, a moment of transition from what we have been to what we are becoming. We are exploring what it feels like to be in the in-between. To share stories about ambiguity, uncertainty, and unresolved change. Guided by questions such as: What are we letting go of? What are we carrying forward? How are we moving through change?
These shifts are not abstract; they are unfolding in specific places and communities. Dallas and the sites where AURORA Biennial’s main event and expanded program will take place, are in a state of flux. Our main footprint, Dallas City Hall, itself a symbol of transformation in another era, is at risk of demolition. The fabric of Downtown Dallas and the Discovery District is also poised to change dramatically as AT&T prepares to relocate. Elsewhere, neighborhoods like South Dallas are at the precipice of major revitalization projects that promise to breathe new life into the community. On an ecological scale, water scarcity looms as the city's population grows and water-intensive data centers increasingly shape the surrounding landscape.
Dallas is a microcosm of broader transformations taking place across the United States and around the world. Against this backdrop, we focus on the unstable present, a time that relates to a foundational myth, that of metamorphosis, a moment of transition from what we have been to what we are becoming. We are exploring what it feels like to be in the in-between. To share stories about ambiguity, uncertainty, and unresolved change. Guided by questions such as: What are we letting go of? What are we carrying forward? How are we moving through change?
Metamorphosis is not a passage from one stable state to another—it is a radical unmaking. The caterpillar doesn't become a butterfly; it dissolves, surrendering its form entirely before something new emerges. We find ourselves in the midst of dissolution. Nothing feels solid anymore. But in that formless fluidity lies an opportunity to reimagine what could be, free from the constraints of what has been.
Ultimately, this biennial aims to offer space for collective calibration—a means of sensing where we are, together, before deciding where to go. In a moment saturated with future-oriented promises and existential dread, we aspire to something quieter but no less urgent: an opportunity to remain with the present long enough to understand what kind of shift is underway and to consider who we want to become.
This exhibition brings together local and international artists engaging with technology to revive old stories and share new ones about this moment of ecological urgency, technological disruption, and social transformation. Through site-responsive installations, performances, new commissions, and community-engaged projects, the works will explore transformations taking place all around us and reflect on the experience of living through change.
—Julia Kaganskiy & Tairone Bastien
Click here for more information about the Biennial. Additional details will be announced soon.
Ultimately, this biennial aims to offer space for collective calibration—a means of sensing where we are, together, before deciding where to go. In a moment saturated with future-oriented promises and existential dread, we aspire to something quieter but no less urgent: an opportunity to remain with the present long enough to understand what kind of shift is underway and to consider who we want to become.
This exhibition brings together local and international artists engaging with technology to revive old stories and share new ones about this moment of ecological urgency, technological disruption, and social transformation. Through site-responsive installations, performances, new commissions, and community-engaged projects, the works will explore transformations taking place all around us and reflect on the experience of living through change.
—Julia Kaganskiy & Tairone Bastien
Click here for more information about the Biennial. Additional details will be announced soon.