2026 Biennial
Haunting
Haunting features artists working across media who share a restless relationship with time. Whether reaching into the deep past, inhabiting an unsettled present, or anticipating an arriving future, the artists make visible what ordinary sight cannot hold.
The exhibition considers that time is never neutral: it accumulates, repeats, and haunts. Lydia Smith folds 2,000 years of Indigenous history into a single panoramic view of a burial mound. Hans Gindlesberger compresses the arc of photographic history into rubbings, obscuring images to reveal the material memory beneath them. Considering the suspended time of the pandemic, Amber J. Anderson constructs Victorian paper houses as a way of moving through confinement. Kate Shannon returns to filmed testimonies, holding intimate human faces against the unimaginable weight of what they carried. Arne Svenson uses gun-violence data and internet imagery to present haunted photographs, seeking to shock viewers out of their “terrifying normal.” Lori Kella memorializes species already fading from the Great Lakes through translucent, light-held forms that grip precisely because they are disappearing. Together, these artists propose that the image is not simply a record of what was, but a place where past, present, and future press against one another.
Artists: Amber J. Anderson, Hans Gindlesberger, Lori Kella, Gina Osterloh, Kate Shannon, Lydia Smith, Arne Svenson
Related Events
Haunting Artist Talk: Kat Shannon
September 24, 2026
1:00pm – 2:00pm
Haunting artist Kate Shannon will give a survey of her practice. The timing is intended to engage students, but the talk is open to all.
Additional Information: Wheelchair accessible. Location: Canzani Center, 2nd Floor Multipurpose Room, 60 Cleveland Ave, Columbus, OH 43215.
Columbus Spotlight Weekend
October 23, 2026
–
Spotlight Weekends highlight FotoFocus Biennial Venues within specific geographic locations where artists and curators will be on site for talks, tours, special events, and featured programming. This is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the vibrant energy of the FotoFocus Biennial, exploring art within the communities that create and present it.
Friday, 10/23
- 10 Minutes on the Dot, 11am. Columbus Museum of Art
- Highlights Tour, 1pm. Columbus Museum of Art
- Unorthodocs film screening: Non-aligned Newsreels: Fragments from the Debris (live documentary performance by Mila Turajlić), with Turajlić in person for Q&A, 4:30pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs film screening: When a Witness Recants (Dir. Dawn Porter, 2026), with Porter in person for Q&A, 7pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
Saturday, 10/24
- Columbus Bus Tour, 9am–7pm. Biennial Pass Holders only. Limited capacity
- Unorthodocs film screening: Aanikoobijigan (Dir. Adam and Zach Khalil, 2026), 11:30am. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs film screening: Barbara Forever (Dir. Brydie O’Connor, 2026), with O’Connor in person for Q&A, 1:30pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- 10 Minutes on the Dot, 2pm. Columbus Museum of Art
- Unorthodocs film screening: Once Upon a Time in Harlem (Dir. David Greaves, 2026), 4pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs Reception, 6pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs film screening: American Doctor (Dir. Poh Si Teng, 2026), with Poh Si Teng and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa in person for Q&A, 7pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
Sunday, 10/25
- Unorthodocs film screening: Do You Love Me? (Dir. Lana Daher, 2025), 12pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs film screening: Everybody to Kenmure Street (Dir. Felipe Bustos Sierra, 2026), 1:45pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- 10 Minutes on the Dot, 2pm. Columbus Museum of Art
- Unorthodocs film screening: The Oldest Person in the World (Dir. Sam Green, 2026), 3:45pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
Columbus Spotlight Weekend
October 24, 2026
–
Spotlight Weekends highlight FotoFocus Biennial Venues within specific geographic locations where artists and curators will be on site for talks, tours, special events, and featured programming. This is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the vibrant energy of the FotoFocus Biennial, exploring art within the communities that create and present it.
Friday, 10/23
- 10 Minutes on the Dot, 11am. Columbus Museum of Art
- Highlights Tour, 1pm. Columbus Museum of Art
- Unorthodocs film screening: Non-aligned Newsreels: Fragments from the Debris (live documentary performance by Mila Turajlić), with Turajlić in person for Q&A, 4:30pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs film screening: When a Witness Recants (Dir. Dawn Porter, 2026), with Porter in person for Q&A, 7pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
Saturday, 10/24
- Columbus Bus Tour, 9am–7pm. Biennial Pass Holders only. Limited capacity
- Unorthodocs film screening: Aanikoobijigan (Dir. Adam and Zach Khalil, 2026), 11:30am. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs film screening: Barbara Forever (Dir. Brydie O’Connor, 2026), with O’Connor in person for Q&A, 1:30pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- 10 Minutes on the Dot, 2pm. Columbus Museum of Art
- Unorthodocs film screening: Once Upon a Time in Harlem (Dir. David Greaves, 2026), 4pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs Reception, 6pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs film screening: American Doctor (Dir. Poh Si Teng, 2026), with Poh Si Teng and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa in person for Q&A, 7pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
Sunday, 10/25
- Unorthodocs film screening: Do You Love Me? (Dir. Lana Daher, 2025), 12pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs film screening: Everybody to Kenmure Street (Dir. Felipe Bustos Sierra, 2026), 1:45pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- 10 Minutes on the Dot, 2pm. Columbus Museum of Art
- Unorthodocs film screening: The Oldest Person in the World (Dir. Sam Green, 2026), 3:45pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
Columbus Bus Tour
October 24, 2026
9:00am – 7:00pm
Spotlight Weekends highlight FotoFocus Biennial Venues within specific geographic locations where artists and curators will be on site for talks, tours, special events, and featured programming. This is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the vibrant energy of the FotoFocus Biennial, exploring art within the communities that create and present it.
To RSVP, please email pass@fotofocus.org. Seating is limited. Biennial Pass required.
9:15am Meet at Ziegler Garage
9:30am Depart Cincinnati
11:30am Wexner Center for the Arts
Sammy Baloji: When Extraction Becomes Form It Speaks In Borrowed Tongues. Uncovers how colonial extraction shaped the flow of people, materials, forms, and culture across Africa, Europe, and the Atlantic world through photography, film, and sculpture.
Gallery tour led by Sarah Robison, Curator of Teaching, Learning, and Interpretation, and Rebecca Lowery, Curator of Exhibitions. Interim Executive Director & Head of Advancement hope to join as well.
12:30pm Lunch in the Mershon Auditorium
1:30pm Columbus Museum of Art
Queer Constellations: Photographs from the Aronowitz Family Collection. Traces artistic lineage and identity through photographs by and about queer artists, illustrating how photographers across generations shape histories and create visibility.
Gallery tour led by Kaitlin Booher, Associate Curator of Photography.
2:30pm Columbus College of Art & Design: Beeler Gallery
Haunting. Examines time as a haunting force, reaching across burial grounds, pandemics, atomic history, gun violence, and ecological loss to reveal what the visible image cannot hold.
Gallery tour led by new Executive Director Kyle Herrington and Registrar Melissa Vogley.
3:15pm Shot Tower Gallery
One Shot. Alumni exhibition highlighting the impact of the Photography Career Program at Fort Hayes, an incubator for emerging image-makers to explore photography as a form of artistic expression and storytelling.
Gallery tour led by Stephen Takacs, Career-Technical Education (CTE) Photography Instructor.
4:00pm ROY G BIV Gallery
Franklinton Across Time: The Floodplain Imagination. A living archive examining the history of one of Columbus’ oldest neighborhoods through contemporary lens-based work, archival materials, interviews, and site-responsive installations, reflecting on collective memory and urban change.
Gallery tour with Executive Gallery Director, Bethani Blake.
Reception & light bites.
5:00pm Depart ROY G BIV Gallery
7:00pm Arrive back in Cincinnati
Access to the entire FotoFocus Biennial Program is only one benefit of being a FotoFocus 2022 Biennial Passport holder. GET THE PASSPORT for free entry and exclusive events!
Columbus Spotlight Weekend
October 25, 2026
–
Spotlight Weekends highlight FotoFocus Biennial Venues within specific geographic locations where artists and curators will be on site for talks, tours, special events, and featured programming. This is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the vibrant energy of the FotoFocus Biennial, exploring art within the communities that create and present it.
Friday, 10/23
- 10 Minutes on the Dot, 11am. Columbus Museum of Art
- Highlights Tour, 1pm. Columbus Museum of Art
- Unorthodocs film screening: Non-aligned Newsreels: Fragments from the Debris (live documentary performance by Mila Turajlić), with Turajlić in person for Q&A, 4:30pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs film screening: When a Witness Recants (Dir. Dawn Porter, 2026), with Porter in person for Q&A, 7pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
Saturday, 10/24
- Columbus Bus Tour, 9am–7pm. Biennial Pass Holders only. Limited capacity
- Unorthodocs film screening: Aanikoobijigan (Dir. Adam and Zach Khalil, 2026), 11:30am. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs film screening: Barbara Forever (Dir. Brydie O’Connor, 2026), with O’Connor in person for Q&A, 1:30pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- 10 Minutes on the Dot, 2pm. Columbus Museum of Art
- Unorthodocs film screening: Once Upon a Time in Harlem (Dir. David Greaves, 2026), 4pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs Reception, 6pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs film screening: American Doctor (Dir. Poh Si Teng, 2026), with Poh Si Teng and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa in person for Q&A, 7pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
Sunday, 10/25
- Unorthodocs film screening: Do You Love Me? (Dir. Lana Daher, 2025), 12pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- Unorthodocs film screening: Everybody to Kenmure Street (Dir. Felipe Bustos Sierra, 2026), 1:45pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
- 10 Minutes on the Dot, 2pm. Columbus Museum of Art
- Unorthodocs film screening: The Oldest Person in the World (Dir. Sam Green, 2026), 3:45pm. Wexner Center for the Arts
Amber J. Anderson, Houses I Have Haunted: Second Empire, 2021. Vintage Victorian house kits, archival pigment print, 10 × 10 inches. Courtesy of the artist
Lori Kella, Little Brown Bat, 2020. 3-D models created from vellum and translucent papers, photographed on a light table, archival inkjet print, 20 × 20 inches. Courtesy of the artist
Hans Gindlesberger, Diffusion Transfer (Two of Four Sisters), from A Photographic Timeline, 2015. Crayon rubbing on tracing paper, overlaid on archival photograph, 14 × 11 inches. Courtesy of the artist
2026 Biennial
Venue Details
Columbus College of Art & Design: Beeler Gallery
60 Cleveland Ave
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 222-3270
Wed–Sat 11am–6pm
Free to the Public
Nearby Venues
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