Rangi Kipa | 18th Lyon Biennale, France
Rangi Kipa is one of ten artists from Aotearoa who have been confirmed as participating in the 18th Lyon Biennale, opening at multiple venues across the city of Lyon in France on 19 September 2026.
The 2026 edition of the Biennale will devote special attention to Oceania – conceived not as a mere spotlight, but as a space of relation and movement.
Titling the exhibition To pass from one dream to another, Australian-born, Berlin-based curator, Catherine Nichols has chosen to centre this exhibition on the notion of economy — not in the conventional sense, but as articulated by French artist Robert Filliou: a “poetic economy” that intertwines art with life. Rarely explored from this angle, it proves profoundly revealing of our world’s state. Viewed through the lens of exchanges and relationships, it probes the ripple effects on local and global ecosystems.
Fiona Clark, Ngahina Hohaia (Taranaki Iwi, Te Atiawa, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Mutunga, Parihaka), Rangi Kipa (Te Āti Awa,Taranaki, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama), Maureen Lander (Ngāpuhi, Te Hikutū), Yana Nafysa Dombrowsky M’Baye, John Miller (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tāwake ki te tuawhenua, Te Uri Taniwha, Ngāti Rēhia, TeWhiu), Sriwhana Spong, Michael Stevenson, Ashleigh Taupaki (Ngāti Hako, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Kahungunu) and Luke Willis Thompson will each present works in the Biennale following research visits by Artistic Director Isabelle Bertollotti and Curator Catherine Nicholls in Aotearoa in May 2025 and February 2026.
Rangi Kipa’’s presentation at the Lyon Biennale is made possible through the support of Ngā Iwi o Taranaki, the New Zealand Embassy to France, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand Cultural Diplomacy International Programme, Creative New Zealand, Toi Māori Aotearoa, Govett-Brewster Foundation and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.
Further information to come.
New whakairo works by Rangi Kipa are arriving soon. Please email the gallery to register interest: info@melanierogergallery.com
