Paiz Art Biennial

Created in 1978 in Guatemala, the Paiz Art Biennial stands out as one of the oldest biennials in the world and the second oldest in Latin America. At that time, the artist Zipacná de León and the businessman, politician and cultural philanthropist Don Rodolfo Paiz Andrade, noticed the lack of a meeting point for local artists and decided to launch the first Biennial, with the purpose of stimulating the creative practice of Guatemalan and foreign artists living in the country, and to show the development of the visual arts to the Guatemalan public.

The Biennial is an important platform for increasing the visibility of national, regional and international visual arts. It is a dynamic and lively event that is in constant renewal. Accompanying the exhibitions there is an essential pedagogical component designed for the different audiences. The Biennial allows to approach the potential of art as a tool for building more inclusive spaces, for creating encounters and debating ideas, for discovering ways of conceiving the world, and thus to empower creativity, production and education as mechanisms of development and transformation.

(From press information. © Photo top: Courtesy of Instituto Guatemalteco de Turismo. Others: Paiz Art Biennial)