At the intersection between art and technology lies Aurora, a free festival founded in 2010 by local creatives Shane Pennington and Joshua King and arts supporter Veletta Forsythe Lill. Held biennially, this significant celebration of community and transformative public work has become a touchstone for local art fans and casual observers alike.
Next year, the number of engaged viewers should swell exponentially as the visionary installations, exhibitions, talks and performances at locations including Dallas City Hall, the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library and the AT&T Discovery District will run for three weeks in 2026 — a significant expansion of Aurora’s traditional one-night span.
Julia Kaganskiy and Tairone Bastien are the co-curators of the Aurora Biennial in Dallas.
Justin Clemons
For the seventh edition held from Nov. 1 to 21, 2026, two curators — Julia Kaganskiy and Tairone Bastien — are already dividing and conquering to source the best site-specific works to ensure Aurora continues to reflect multiple points of view, including the voices of people of color, LGBTQ people and women.
Bastien, the co-curator of the Toronto Biennial of Art in 2019 and 2022, says the duo is working together to express a “clear cohesive experience for viewers rather than getting multiple different takes on issues. It’s early days, but we’ve been thinking a lot about this idea of metamorphosis and what’s going on in the world. The velocity of change is pretty dramatic, from the climate crisis to the erosion of democracy in many places, and artists working in new media and tech are perfectly poised to help us work through what is happening.”
For a sneak peek at what Aurora 2026 will have in store, a panel talk featuring Kaganskiy and Bastien along with King will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday at FLOCC, 606 N. Edgefield Ave. To register, visit eventbrite.com.
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