We Need You
2024 Bermuda Biennial
We invite all Bermudian artists and artists living in Bermuda, to submit work to the 2024 Bermuda Biennial, sponsored by Bacardi Limited. The exhibition, which has been showcasing the best of Bermuda art for over three decades, will be juried by Chicago based Jamaican multimedia artist Ebony G. Patterson and N.Y.C based art fair director Helen Toomer.
The Bermuda Biennial aims to showcase the best Bermuda has to offer across all artistic disciplines, from artists of all ages, at all stages of their career, and from all walks of life. We need you to make that happen.
We welcome varied submissions from artists across the island – and Bermudian artists living abroad – in order to best showcase Bermuda’s people and voices. The 2024 Biennial has no thematic limitations, thus, we welcome submissions on all themes; the resulting show will reflect the voices and perspectives being put forth in contemporary art on the island.
Whether you are an established artist who has exhibited extensively, an emerging artist or someone who simply enjoys making art in their spare time, we encourage you to submit.
Applications are now open and will close on January 2, 2024.
The 2024 Bermuda Biennial, sponsored by Bacardi Limited, will be on display at the Bermuda National Gallery from April 2024 through to January 2025.
Featured image: 2020 Bermuda Biennial artwork by Jayde Gibbons (Bermudian, b. 1991) All The Kings Men from the series My Negus for Real (MNFR), 2019. Photography and mixed media. 72 x 96 inches. Collection of Bermuda National Gallery. As exhibited in The Bermuda Biennial: A Retrospective.
Why Submit?
We encourage all artists to submit to the 2024 Biennial. Whether you are an established artist, or in the early stages of your artistic practice, the Bermuda National Gallery’s flagship exhibition provides a unique opportunity to have your work seen by internationally recognised art professionals through the jurying process and if successful, showcase your work to a local and international audience.
“The 2020 Biennial catapulted my career, placed me on an international stage, and also landed me my first solo exhibition […]. The power of a thought, of a vision, of a word, is indescribable.” – Gherdai Hassell
The exhibition provides a great first step to working with the Bermuda National Gallery. Many Biennial artists, such as Will Collieson (2016, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998, 1996, 1994 Bermuda Biennials) and Sharon Muhammed (2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998, 1994 Bermuda Biennials) have gone on to be featured in large solo exhibitions at the gallery, many more have been included in a number of group shows and have had their work accessioned into BNG’s permanent collection.
BNG PROJECT SPACE
The BNG Project Space is reserved for former Biennial artists to showcase current series of work, as they continue to develop their craft.
Former Biennial artists who have exhibited work in the Project Space over the past two years includes Meredith Andrews, Abi Box, Catherine Lapsley, and most recently, Gherdai Hassell (pictured above). Mediums range from photography, to monotype printing, large scale installation, and fibre works.
If you have previously exhibited in the Bermuda Biennial and have a new body of work or concept that you would like to propose for the BNG Project Space, you can email director@bng.bm.
ARTISTS ON THE BIENNIAL EXPERIENCE
“Inclusion in major exhibitions such as the Biennial provides recognition and assists in personal growth […]. Their work becomes part of the tapestry that will in time provide a future audience a glimpse into the realities, conversation and values held within this island home.”
Dr Edwin M.E. Smith (2020, 2014, 2012, 2008, 2006, 2004 and 2002 Bermuda Biennials)
“Now that I have this exposure, and with it a heightened sense of courage, I now call myself an artist and know in my bones that I can back it up.”
Judith Aidoo-Saltus (2022 Bermuda Biennial)
“The Bermuda Biennial is a valuable opportunity to publicly share artwork that exists outside local expectation.”
Centipede Art Movement (2020, 2018 Bermuda Biennials)
“The calibre of the Biennial jurors was both inspiring and intimidating. Beyond their credentials, I respect their work.”
Liana Nanang (2022 Bermuda Biennial)
The Jurors
The jurors for the 2024 Bermuda Biennial are Ebony. G. Patterson and Helen Toomer.
Former BNG Trustee Ebony G. Patterson, (b.1981, Kingston, Jamaica) is an award-winning artist whose multilayered practice in painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and video uses beauty as a tool to address global social and political injustices.
Her work is in the public collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, NC; National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica; Pérez Art Museum Miami, FL; Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY and The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; among others.
Helen Toomer is a recognized leader in the arts, with over fifteen years’ experience organizing events, exhibitions and residencies. She is dedicated to uplifting women in the arts.
Toomer is Co-Founder of Stoneleaf Retreat, an artists’ residency and connective space in the Hudson Valley of New York focused on supporting women and families. She is also the Founder of Upstate Art Weekend and Director of Photofairs New York, which recently launched its inaugural edition at the Javits Center in New York City.
All submitting artists will be invited to attend a Meet the Jurors evening event and panel discussion at the private Bacardi 1862 Cocktail Bar on Tuesday, January 16, where they will be able to hear directly from Ebony. G. Patterson and Helen Toomer on their experience curating the Biennial.
How To Apply
The Bermuda Biennial, sponsored by Bacardi Limited, celebrates and promotes the best of contemporary Bermuda art.
We invite all Bermudians, residing in Bermuda or living overseas, and foreign nationals who have been resident on the island for at least 6 months during the preceding two years (January 1, 2022 – January 1, 2024) to submit up to five (5) artworks.
Artists may submit as an individual artist, a collective or in collaboration, and can be at any stage in their career (emerging or established). Applicants must be at least 18 years of age.
Submission requirements:
- Artwork must have been completed between January 1, 2022 – January 1, 2024.
- Artwork cannot have been previously exhibited.
- Artists are invited to submit a combined total of up to five (5) artworks. Each one will be judged individually.
- If a single artwork has numerous elements, that are integral parts of the same artwork such as a diptych or triptych, then it is considered as one artwork submission.
- Artworks can be in any medium, including but not limited to painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, ceramics, textiles, performance, digital, film and installation.
- There is no specific size limit.
- Artists are also invited to submit proposals for site-specific projects located in and around the Bermuda National Gallery and within the City of Hamilton.
Applications are now open online and close at midnight on Tuesday, January 2, 2024.