Performa07, the second biennial of new visual art performance, will take place in New York City from November 1-20, 2007. As with Performa05, New York’s first performance biennial, Performa07 will bring together more than twenty of the city’s leading cultural institutions to present live work in all disciplines by visual artists from around the world. Performance has always been an important catalyst in the history of twentieth-century art, and the Performa Biennial recognizes its vital and ongoing impact on contemporary art and culture and provides opportunities for both established and emerging artists to present new performance for the twenty-first century.

Performa07 will transform the city during its three-week run with a schedule of performances, screenings, symposia, exhibitions and other events at more than twenty venues across the city. New programs this year will include the launch of Performa Publications, Performa late night Hot Spots, a Writing Live blog, and a pilot Apprenticeship Program in Arts Production for young people, ages 18-23. Dance After Choreography, a special series of programs, will examine the influence of the Judson Dance Theater’s groundbreaking interdisciplinary activities in 1960s and 70s New York on contemporary French performance. Performa will also present the thirteenth annual international conference of Performance Studies International in conjunction with New York University. Bringing together writers, artists, curators, and fans of live visual art in its many forms, Performa07 will not only spark cross-disciplinary conversations, but will also build a community of people dedicated to maintai ning New York’s extraordinarily rich heritage of radical performance and to nurturing new work for the future.

Performa Commissions For Performa07
The Performa Commissions program originates new productions and supports artists in the creation of exceptional performances. Performa works closely with commissioned artists from conceptualization to presentation, including international touring following the Performa Biennial. Performa is pleased to announce Isaac Julien, Yvonnne Rainer, Francesco Vezzoli, and Daria Martin as the first recipients of Performa Commissions for Performa07. Additional commissions will be announced in May.

Performa07 Consortium presenters include (list in formation): Anthology Film Archives, Art in General, Artists Space, Asia Society, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dance Theater Workshop, Eyebeam, The Kitchen, The Jewish Museum, Participant Inc., SculptureCenter, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Swiss Institute - Contemporary Art, White Box, White Columns and WPS1 Art Radio.

Upcoming Programs:
Not For Sale: Forever Radical? At New York University April 12, 2007
Not For Sale: Forever Radical? will explore the notion of the term “radical” as it has been used in the past to describe live actions by artists intentionally penetrating broadly held values of the art economy and the institutions that maintain it. Moderated by RoseLee Goldberg, this panel will provide a platform for discussion by artists, curators, and writers whose work continues to probe and disrupt those values, even at a time when a buoyant art market quickly absorbs such strategies. Not For Sale is an ongoing public education series presented with New York University.

First Performa Book Available In June 2007
Performa: New Visual Art Performance will feature extensive documentation of work by the 100 artists who made the first performance biennial so extraordinary. Photographs by Paula Court. With its coverage of each artist’s work, histories of the presenting venues, and overall characterization of the international performance scene today, Performa will be both an invaluable reference to contemporary art and new media as well as a new kind of guide to cultural life in New York City. Advance copies of Performa can be ordered by emailing [email protected]

Performa is a non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance in the history of twentieth century art and to encouraging new directions in performance for the twenty-first century. Performa’s programs are supported by grants from the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, The Foundation for Contemporary Art, The David & Elaine Potter Charitable Trust, the Performa Producer’s Circle, and many generous individuals.