The general consensus on the last Yokohama Triennale was that it really wasn't very good. While the first two editions in 2001 and 2005 had drawn favourable reviews, the 2008 was too sprawling and unfocussed, while its performance-oriented theme too often translated into watching film footage of more interesting happenings going on elsewhere. There's been a lot going on behind the scenes since then: the City of Yokohama is asserting more control over the fourth Triennale than in previous years, while the focus of the event has now shifted to the Yokohama Museum of Art, whose director, Eriko Osaka, is serving as director general for the event. Whether this heralds a more populist approach remains to be seen, although this year's wide-eyed theme, 'Our Magic Hour: How Much of the World Can We Know?', suggests that it might. Participating artists include Nobuyoshi Araki, Yoko Ono, Damien Hirst, Carsten Nicolai, Sun Xun and Tadanori Yokoo, and there are special events scheduled throughout the Triennale – check the website for details.
Ugo Rondinone,'moonrise.east.march', 2005. Photo: Ellen Page Photography, New York. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich. ©the artist
Ono Yoko. Courtesy of Yoko Ono