The International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC) has announced the appointment of Colombian curator José Roca as curator of the 37th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts, one of the world’s oldest and most influential biennials.
Founded in 1955, the Ljubljana Biennale helped establish printmaking as an international contemporary art language and has continually reinvented itself over seven decades. Today it stands as a major platform for contemporary art, commissioning new works and fostering international dialogue across disciplines.
Roca brings extensive biennial and institutional experience to the role. Most recently, he served as Artistic Director of the 23rd Biennale of Sydney, r?vus (2022), and Curatorial Advisor for the inaugural Bogotá International Biennial of Art and the City, BOG25. Over the past two decades he has also held key curatorial positions at the São Paulo Biennial, Philagrafika in Philadelphia, the Mercosul Biennial in Brazil and Tate in London, where he served as Adjunct Curator of Latin American Art.
Alongside his late partner Adriana Hurtado, Roca founded FLORA ars+natura in Bogotá, an influential independent space dedicated to contemporary art and artistic exchange. Throughout his career, he has developed a reputation for exploring the relationships between art, ecology, landscape and social systems.
Announcing the appointment, Nevenka Šivavec, Artistic Director and CEO of MGLC, said:
“Nearly 15 years ago, we first encountered José Roca through his profound idea that graphic art serves as the ‘unconscious of contemporary art’. By leveraging its capacity to leave an imprint, multiply messages and democratise information, printmaking seamlessly intersects with contemporary art – prioritising conceptual motive over traditional craft. After all this time, we are delighted that José has agreed to bring his imagination, insight and time to the 37th edition of the Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts.”
For the 2027 edition, Roca plans to explore the concept of the imprint as both a technical and cultural phenomenon, extending beyond traditional printmaking into broader questions of trace, memory and transmission.
Roca said:
“I welcome the opportunity to work on the 37th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts. Having previously developed citywide projects that explored the expanded field of print, I am particularly drawn to an event that, for more than seven decades, has continuously redefined and challenged the medium’s boundaries.”
He continued:
“At the centre of this proposal lies a simple but far-reaching question: what kinds of traces do we leave in the world and how are those traces registered, transmitted or transformed over time?”
The exhibition will examine print not only as a medium but as a condition of contact and exchange, bringing together artworks, material culture, design, scientific artefacts and everyday objects. Roca also plans to develop new commissions through the MGLC residency and print workshop programmes, working closely with a team of local co-curators.
The appointment signals another ambitious chapter for the Ljubljana Biennale, which has evolved from a specialist print exhibition into a major contemporary art event while continuing to investigate the possibilities of reproduction, circulation and image-making in contemporary culture.
Further details about the 37th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts will be announced in autumn 2026.
