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Recent times have seen biennales bloom. Mapping the state of world art, these exhibitions have become synonymous with globalism. Curators Hou Hanru and Suhanya Raffel are seasoned campaigners in this new art landscape. Hou curated the 2000 Shanghai, 2005 Tirana and 2007 Istanbul Biennales, and now the 2009 Biennale de Lyon, and has played roles in countless more. Raffel has been on the curatorial team of Queensland Art Gallery's Asia-Pacific Triennial (APT)  since 1996, and is lead curator for its sixth and latest installment, APT6. Robert Leonard spoke to them about the process of biennale making.

Robert Leonard: A lot of lofty rhetoric springs from biennales. Their titles and blurbs often read like manifestos. They routinely present themselves as forces for good – high-minded and socially progressive. On the other hand, they're also caught up in the bidding of governments and sponsors, not to mention the art world's own politics of inclusion and exclusion. Do biennales live up to their utopian rhetoric?

Hou Hanru: This is a contradiction we face every day, and not only in biennales. The whole cultural system today is related to political and economic conditions – that's inevitable. I don't think we can solve the problem. It's rather about how to take it up in any given context. Maybe it's related to the experiences of my generation, but there's always a necessity for me to articulate a critical aspect on the one hand, and a utopian one on the other. My work emphasises optimism – the fact that art can express the imagination. I know that's idealistic, but then most of the energy behind biennales stems from some kind of idealism, particularly a desire to claim a place in the world.

Suhanya Raffel: Utopianism and utopian rhetoric are different. I would say, yes, biennales do live up to a utopian idealism, but the rhetoric – that's another matter. We all work within constraints and there is no absolute freedom, but we still reach for utopia. Art is affected by the politics and economics, but at the same time it has a utopian energy that we respond to. In the most highly charged political and economic situations art is still being made. In Sri Lanka – a country that's gone through civil unrest, repression and war – they have just had a biennale. Artists there want it. You have to take that energy seriously. 

HH: Life goes on. For me it's about how to create a situation where different energies can meet and what new possibilities can be produced out of the clash. Biennales are really the most intense moments we see in the art world. People always compare them with the Olympics. But biennales are not about artists competing. If anything, the competition is between the events themselves, each seeking to be more visible or consequential than the rest.

RL: If biennales are developmental stepping stones, what are they stepping us towards?

HH: Outside a few notable exceptions, big cities don't do biennales. They start in places like Havana, Istanbul, Shanghai or Gwangju, when there is no established art infrastructure. They are created for art communities which don't yet have museums or a market and they help those communities to develop them. After twenty years of its biennale, a solid art scene has emerged in Istanbul, including private and public foundations with their own galleries. They are all closely related to the biennale – an extension of its influence. The 2000 Shanghai Biennale was China's first international biennale. It helped make contemporary artists living in China visible and acceptable and forced the authorities to rethink their cultural politics. Consequently, after a few years China developed a policy to export its art, creating a national pavilion for the Venice Biennale.

SR: Biennales are typically impelled by isolation combined with a deep curiosity, a desire to experience work from outside. They are places for contemporary art to be intensely seen and discussed. They foster artists and audiences, provide contextualising educational platforms, and encourage collectors. Biennales ignite all that ...

This article appears in excerpted form. You can read the entire article in Art & Australia's Summer 2009 issue.