Bergen Assembly is a perennial model for artistic production and research that is structured around public events taking place in the city of Bergen every three years.

Originating from the “Bergen Biennial Conference” in 2009 and its critical thinking around the biennial format, the Bergen Assembly seeks to devise alternative timeframes and densities for public presentation and perception today. The flexible model is reinvented for each edition, responding in particular to a perceived need for alternative temporalities of art production and experience within an oversaturated information culture, where attention itself is increasingly commodified and subject to pressure.

Pointing to the multitude of practices in contemporary art and related research, the Bergen Assembly 2016 offers three distinct propositions, expanded and developed in different temporal registers by the artistic directors: Tarek Atoui, freethought, and PRAXES. Exhibitions, live events, and publications are continually introduced and produced throughout the year, with a convergence of activities taking place in September, 2016.