17 & 18 SEPTEMBER FOR PROFESSIONALS,
OPEN TO ALL FROM 19 SEPTEMBER

Twelve days before opening to the public, the 18th Lyon Biennale – Contemporary Art is preparing to welcome artists, contemporary art professionals, collectors, institutions and members of the international art community for two professional preview days, on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 September 2026.

Then, from Saturday 19 September, the Biennale will open its doors to everyone for nearly three months of exhibitions across 11 venues in Lyon and its metropolitan area, until 13 December 2026.

17 & 18 SEPTEMBER - TWO DAYS DEDICATED TO CONTEMPORARY ART PROFESSIONALS

Ahead of its public opening, the Biennale de Lyon invites the French and international art community to two professional preview days offering an exclusive first look at its 18th edition.

Artists, curators, gallerists, directors of museums and art centres, collectors, and professionals working in cultural institutions, production, mediation, communications and research are invited to join us in Lyon on 17 and 18 September.

Professional accreditation includes:

• exclusive access to the exhibition venues during the professional preview days on 17 and 18 September;

• access to the opening reception of the 18th Lyon Biennale – Contemporary Art, on Friday 18 September at Les Grandes Locos;

• access to all Biennale venues during the first two days of the public opening, on 19 and 20 September.

Accreditation is personal and mandatory for access to the professional preview days. Applications are open through Wednesday 16 September 2026 inclusive.

Apply for professional accreditation: https://www.labiennaledelyon.com/espaceprofessionnel/accreditation-faq

Professional Days programme: https://www.labiennaledelyon.com/espaceprofessionnel/journees-professionnelles-programme?compact=1

Meetings, conversations with artists, opportunities for exchange and professional events will punctuate these two days. The programme notably includes international encounters and networking sessions at Les Grandes Locos, as well as a series of conversations bringing together artists and professionals from different international art scenes.

Professional Office contact

pros@labiennaledelyon.com
+33 (0)4 27 46 65 67

FROM 19 SEPTEMBER - THE BIENNALE OPENS TO EVERYONE

From Saturday 19 September to Sunday 13 December 2026, the 18th Lyon Biennale – Contemporary Art invites audiences to discover a new artistic map of Lyon and its metropolitan area.

Entitled “Passer d'un rêve à l'autre / To pass from one dream to another”, this 18th edition is under the artistic direction of Isabelle Bertolotti and curated by Catherine Nichols.

Inspired by Lyon's traboules — passageways that lead through courtyards and buildings, connecting one space to another — the Biennale explores the ways in which we can move from one mode of perception to another and, perhaps, from one collective dream to another.

Drawing on the history of Lyon as a city of trade, production, circulation and exchange, this edition examines the economies that organise our lives: the ways in which human and more-than-human beings acquire, transform, share and circulate the material and immaterial resources that enable them to live.

11 VENUES TO EXPERIENCE THE CITY DIFFERENTLY

With 120 artists and 11 exhibition venues, this year's Biennale extends far beyond a traditional museum itinerary. Cultural institutions, heritage sites, former industrial spaces, public spaces and places of transit form a geography to be discovered across the city and metropolitan area:

• Les Grandes Locos

• Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon – macLYON

• Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs

• Traboules des pentes de la Croix-Rousse

• Jardin du Musée des Beaux-Arts

• IAC – Institut d'art contemporain / Frac Rhône-Alpes

• Musée des Confluences

• Fondation Bullukian

• Parking LPA Saint-Antoine

• Metro Line B – Gare Part-Dieu station

• Cour des Loges, A Radisson Collection Hotel

Three venues form the principal anchors of this edition: Les Grandes Locos, macLYON and the Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs.

At Les Grandes Locos, the industrial scale of the site resonates with questions of production, transformation, extraction and circulation. At macLYON, the exhibition explores more closely the conditions of existence, life and death, inheritance and debt. At the Musée des Tissus, the works examine forms of relationship, care and exchange.

Around these three major hubs, the Biennale spreads throughout the city, taking over artistic institutions, heritage sites and everyday spaces alike.

LYON: A CITY-WIDE ARTISTIC EXPERIENCE

For nearly three months, the Biennale invites audiences to see Lyon differently.

Entering a museum, walking through a traboule, encountering an artwork in a former railway-industrial site, a garden, a car park or a metro station: the itinerary turns the city itself into one of the territories of the exhibition.

With this 18th edition, the Biennale de Lyon reaffirms more strongly than ever its mission: to make contemporary art an experience of encounter, circulation and sharing, open to everyone.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

18th Lyon Biennale – Contemporary Art: “Passer d'un rêve à l'autre / To pass from one dream to another”

Artistic Director: Isabelle Bertolotti

Guest Curator: Catherine Nichols

General Director, Biennale de Lyon: Cécile Bourgeat

Professional Preview Days: 17 & 18 September 2026

Opening reception: 18 September 2026 at 6:30 pm, by invitation

Public opening: 19 September 2026

Exhibition: 19 September to 13 December 2026

11 exhibition venues in Lyon and its metropolitan area
120 artists

400 works

Professional accreditation open through 16 September 2026 inclusive.

Public ticketing: advance sales until 18 September, with the Biennale Pass available for €20 instead of €25.

Biennale de Lyon
https://www.labiennaledelyon.com

Images:
[https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2026/07/img1-BAC26_VISUEL_V.jpg]
[https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2026/07/img2-BIENNALE_LYON_BAC26_BLOC-MARQUE_EN_DATES.jpg]
[https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2026/07/LOGO-labiennaledelyon.jpg]

ANOTHER PASSAGE OPENS

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Dialogue Between a Thinker and AI, thierry Ehrmann's 1,800-page open-access RAW typescript, places memory, art, humanism and artificial intelligence into circulation.
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About:

Artprice by Artmarket and La Demeure du Chaos/Abode of Chaos are partnering with the 18th Lyon Biennale, curated by Catherine Nichols and under the artistic direction of Isabelle Bertolotti.

This collaboration brings together two major players in the art world, both deeply rooted in Lyon while maintaining a strong international outlook. For more than forty years, the Lyon Biennale has supported the evolution of contemporary art and helped establish the Lyon metropolitan area as a leading platform for artists, art professionals, and audiences from around the world. Artprice, the global leader in art market information, has for many decades documented the transformations of the international art scene and the careers of the artists who shape it.