Outdoor Art to Discover in 2022
We’re taking a look at some of the exhibitions, installations, festivals and public art programs that are opening outdoors around the world in 2022.
Image: Asia Culturcenter
Outdoor art exhibitions have not just become practical during the pandemic due to safety concerns. There also seems to be a renewed sense of community that has emerged in these isolating times – an interest in strengthening local communities, sharing experiences, and engaging in dialogue and exchange – which public art can play a vital role in developing. At the same time, current international debates around monuments have also served to spark further discussion and reconsiderations in this area.
Here’s a list of some of the programs and projects picking up such discussions and addressing ideas of community, participation, and access, while activating creativity and inspiration in urban and rural outdoor spaces in 2022.
International Public Art Festival - Cape Town
Alongside 133 existing murals, the 6th edition of the International Public Art Festival (IPAF), organized by Baz-Art, will bring multi-storey, large-scale public murals and community-driven art projects to Cape Town CBD and the historical suburb of Salt River. Local and international artists have submitted proposals to the festival’s open call to create murals responding to this year’s theme of “humanity”. The 10-day program includes walking tours through Salt River – an art district with long-standing community projects – as well as live art and events. Previous editions of the annual festival have included work by South African artists like VivaSage, Zizo Bongekile Manona and Kilmany-Jo Liversage, as well as international artists, including Saype, Luca Maleonte, and Morag Myerscough, among others.
Where: Throughout Cape Town CBD and Salt River, South Africa
When: 18-27 February 2022.
Charo Oquet at Bass Museum
Dominican-born, Miami-based interdisciplinary artist, Charo Oquet was awarded the second “New Monuments” commission by the Bass Museum, Miami, for which she will create a temporary, site-specific monument at the museum’s site in Collins Park. This is the second year of the commissioning program, which was launched in 2020 and will run for five years, engaging artists to consider the question of “what is a monument”. Oquet’s work, titled I am here: Translation of Mystic Symbols in an Age of New Subjectivity, will be a four-sided metal sculpture combining various cultural symbols and references and drawing on rituals and ceremonies of the Caribbean diaspora. Engaging the city’s intersectional history, the monument is intended to evoke healing, collectivity, and reflection among viewers. Collins Park is already inhabited by four monuments, and the “New Monuments” commission invites artists to produce a fifth in dialogue with them, addressing current debates surrounding monuments and their legitimacy.
Where: Bass Museum, Miami, FL, US
When: March 2022 - January 2023.
Setouchi Triennale 2022
The Setouchi Triennale is an international contemporary art festival that spans multiple islands in the Seto Inland Sea in Japan. Every three years since its establishment in 2010, the festival takes place with a focus on local communities and the restoration of the sea. With a rapidly aging population, the rural islands have been facing mass depopulation in recent years. The festival aims to sustainably revitalize the islands and to further strengthen the region as a site for contemporary art. Alongside the region’s museums and existing installations and artworks from previous festival editions, the triennial will bring numerous new artworks to the twelve islands and ports of Takamatsu and Uno – many of which will be exhibited outdoors. The 2022 edition will include artworks by Japanese and international artists including Manal Al Dowayan, Noe Aoki, Haruyuki Uchida, Esther Stocker, Sopheap Pich and Minako Nishiyama, among many others. The festival opens during three periods of approximately 30 days each, in spring, summer and fall. However, many of the artworks will remain installed beyond the festival’s run, becoming part of the islands’ permanent art installation.
Where: The islands of the Seto Inland Sea, Japan: Naoshima / Teshima / Megijima / Ogijima / Shodoshima / Oshima / Inujima / Shamijima [Spring Only] / Honjima [Autumn Only] / Takamijima [Autumn Only] / Awashima [Autumn Only] / Ibukijima [Autumn Only] / Takamatsu port / Uno port
When: Spring 2022 - April 14 to May 18; Summer 2022 - August 5 to September 4; Fall 2022 - September 29 to November 6
Destination Crenshaw
Destination Crenshaw is set to be the largest Black public art project in the U.S. Unfolding along Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles, the project will commission more than 100 works by Black artists who have strong ties to the city. The project is not only an art initiative, but a community and environmental one as well – it will create jobs for local workers, provide technical support to small businesses, and reforest the boulevard by planting trees and developing sustainable landscaping. Alongside an additional 4 acres of green space and a total of 10 new parks that will be developed as part of the project, the 1.3-mile-long open-air museum will bring together sculptures, murals, and street furniture, celebrating Black history and culture in Los Angeles and fostering a new economic center. Seven permanent installations will debut in fall 2022 during the first phase of the project. These initial works are by Brenna Youngblood, Kehinde Wiley, Charles Dickson, Artis Lane, Maren Hassinger, Melvin Edwards and Alison Saar. Additional works will continue to be commissioned for the project through 2027.
Where: Crenshaw Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, US
When: From fall 2022
Qatar Museums - Public Art Program
Qatar Museums is extending the nation’s public art program over the course of the year, with forty sculptures by local and international artists being installed across Doha and beyond. The initiative comes ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which Qatar will host in November 2022. Alongside existing public art, the outdoor museum will present new and commissioned works within shopping areas, transit spaces, athletic facilities, parks, and other locations – totalling 100 public artworks throughout the country. Seventy works are already installed and more are still to come this year. Among the newly installed works are pieces by Iza Genzken, Bruce Nauman and Katharina Fritsch, with additional artists still to be announced. The initiative seeks to build on and bolster Qatar Museums’ existing public art program, which includes monumental work by artists such as Richard Serra, Subodh Gupta, and Louise Bourgeois in locations throughout Qatar, as well as installations of international, local and regional artists, like Ali Hassan and Amal Al Raban, around Hamad International Airport (HIA).
Where: Various sites in Qatar
When: Throughout 2022 / Ongoing
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