A biennial shaped by movement and memory
The fourth Toronto Biennial of Art, titled Things Fall Apart, brings together more than 30 artists and collectives to consider how histories, borders and movement shape the present. Curated by Allison Glenn, the exhibition takes the Great Lakes and their connected waterways as a starting point, with works presented across Toronto and at selected sites including Anchorage and New York's Times Square.
At the Art Gallery of Ontario, Dawoud Bey's work brings landscape photographs and a two-channel film into conversation with objects from the museum's collection. Together, they explore how historical memory can be carried through places and cultural objects. At the University of Toronto Art Centre, Antonio Obá's rows of brass bells sound as visitors pass, turning movement into part of an artwork about memory and shared experience.
Other artists draw on personal and intergenerational knowledge. Wen Liu's sculpture incorporates Chinese herbal medicines, while Taqralik Partridge's work evokes her grandmother's journey across the Hudson Strait. At the Royal Ontario Museum, Raphaël Barontini connects Caribbean visual traditions with the story of Harriet Tubman and routes to freedom.
The biennial also extends beyond central Toronto. In Scarborough, Nirbhai (nep) Singh Sidhu's permanent work at the Scarborough Gurdwara creates a setting for simran, a Sikh practice of stillness and deep listening. Across the programme, artists use materials, place and lived knowledge to explore how communities carry memory and imagine new possibilities.
With exhibitions across more than 13 Toronto venues and additional sites, Things Fall Apart continues through December 20, 2026. Its wide-ranging works suggest that art can help people connect histories and perspectives--and that such connections may shape more thoughtful futures.
