In Colombia, a Biennial returns after forty years, ready to make itself heard

Lucrecia Piedrahita Orrego, architect and curator of the Antioquia and Medellín Biennial, describes the revival of the event as a dispersed project unfolding across unconventional spaces and a city in the midst of redefinition.

• Author: Giorgia Aprosio

• Published: 27 January 2026

The International Art Biennial of Antioquia and Medellín, running from October 2 to November 25, 2025, has been reactivated after a hiatus that began in 1981.

“It had been dormant for forty-four years. Reactivating it meant taking on an enormous responsibility: bringing the name of Medellín and the department of Antioquia back onto the international cultural stage,” says Lucrecia Piedrahita Orrego, architect and curator leading the project.

 It was not about celebrating the past, but about redefining what a biennial can be today. 

Lucrecia Piedrahita Orrego