Biennials of resistance—a view from Kosovo and some questions left unanswered

This essay examines the concept of “Biennials of Resistance” through a contextually grounded analysis of the Autostrada Biennale, Kosovo’s first contemporary art biennial. Emerging from global curatorial discourse in the early 2000s, the term frames certain biennials as counter-hegemonic alternatives to dominant Western-centric models. However, this study argues that the uncritical use of this expression, both in scholarly literature and curatorial statements, risks reducing “resistance” to a symbolic gesture, where the criticality it implies is largely presumed. Such use may inadvertently reproduce the very institutional frameworks and art historical categories it purports to challenge. Drawing on participant observation and direct involvement in Autostrada Biennale’s fourth edition, the paper interrogates Kosovo’s socio-political context to question what forms of resistance are being claimed and what role an art biennial might play in enacting them. Through a four-part analysis—including tracing the concept’s emergence, unpacking key debates, reconstructing the conditions of possibility for Autostrada Biennale’s claim to “resistance”, and examining the case study—it highlights both the potential and the limitations of positioning biennials as sites of resistance, advocating for more nuanced, context-specific approaches.