2018:
IMAGINING A SERIES
OF POSSIBLE FUTURES

Under the theme of ‘Future Worlds,’ the fifth edition of AURORA–a public biennial exhibition focused on light, video and sound art–invited artists and visitors to imagine a series of possible futures. On November 3, 2018, a series of artistic propositions engaged the public and urged audiences to think about the direction our world might take and actively participate in its creation.

We were pleased to introduce this new theme as well as a new curatorial team and the new location of Downtown Dallas for  AURORA, which has been described by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings as “a cornerstone event for the arts in North Texas.”

LOCATION

To support its exponential audience growth, AURORA 2018 debuted an exciting new urban footprint that centered on the iconic I.M. Pei designed Dallas City Hall and stretched throughout Dallas. This convergence of art, architecture and innovation was perfectly timed to give prominence to Dallas’ standing as an international contemporary art destination.

“Our aim is to be a city-wide project that expands through and beyond the scope of downtown Dallas. By shifting the central exhibition footprint, the artist will have a fresh canvas to work with, while bringing attention to an iconic public space in the city,” says AURORA Co-Founder Joshua King.

THEME

The AURORA 2018 theme was ‘Future Worlds,’ a forward-looking invitation for artists and visitors alike to imagine a series of possible futures. As large scale, technological advances and environmental and political shifts are presenting us with new historical possibilities, the public was engaged—through a series of artistic propositions—to think about the direction our world might take and to actively participate in its creation. Whether dystopian or utopian, sci-fi or retro-futuristic, the contributions to AURORA 2018 aimed to open a dialogue about how we collectively envision our Future Worlds.

CURATORS

AURORA 2018’s curated exhibition presented a fresh lineup of local, national and international contemporary artists selected by four prestigious guest curators hailing from Dallas, New York and Berlin. Each curator brought a wealth of knowledge and experience in institution-level public art and international exhibitions and had previously worked with a spectrum of emerging to established contemporary artists.

The curators for AURORA 2018’s biennial contemporary art exhibition wre Danielle Avram (Dallas), Justine Ludwig (NYC), DooEun Choi (NYC) and Nadim Samman (Berlin). They carefully selected and invited local and international artistic contributions, which aimed to open a dialogue about how we collectively envision our ‘Future Worlds.’

DooEun Choi

Justine Ludwig

Nadim Samman

Danielle Avram

Click here for full AURORA 2018: ‘Future Worlds’ map

SPONSORS

Emily and David Corrigan
Chairs

Carol and John Levy
Chairs

Barbara and Jim Moroney
Chairs

Sunny and John Ackerman
Jennifer and Peter Altabef
Lydia and Bill Addy
Nancy and Randy Best
Shonn and Clarence Brown
Chris Byrne
Robin and Jim Carreker
Nita and Cullum Clark
Lucilo Peña and Lee Cobb
Maura and Tim Costello
Pam and Mark Denesuk
Claire Dewar
Adrienne Faulkner
Thomas Feulmer and Leland Burk
Tom Fagadau
Melissa and Trevor Fetter
Stacy and Mike Geisler
Carol and Don Glendenning
Juile and Ed Hawes
Mary Jalonick
Nancy and Mike Kerr
Ashlee and Chris Kleinert
Veletta F. Lill and John Lill

Brett and Lester Levy
Willow Sanchez and Peter Lewis
Jill and Brent Magnuson
Karla and Mark McKinley
Lynn and Allan McBee
Suzanne and Patrick McGee
Linda and Patrick McMahon
Vicki and Brian Miller
Susan and Bill Montgomery
Michelle Moussa
Sharon Lyle and Mark Mutschink
Pat Priest
Linda and David Rogers
Catherine and Will Rose
Deedie Rose
Lizzie and Dan Routman
Jodi Shelton
Jackie Sherman
Nicole and Justin Small
Marlene and John Sughrue
Fallon and Robie Vaughn
Donna Wilhelm
Peggy Pepper and Greg Wilkinson

PAST WORLDS

To get a taste of past events, check out our AURORA 2018: ‘Future Worlds’ trailer: