English edition.The art biennial as a global phenomenon – strategies in neo-political times. Jubilee Edition: 5 years of Open. Not only is there a boom in international art biennials, but they are also increasingly deployed for developing and marketing cities and regions. In order to compensate for this, political issues are more and more often put on the agenda. Can biennials really represent an alternative political voice? This extra anniversary issue of Open contains a number of lectures delivered at the debate on this issue in October 2008 in connection with the first Brussels Biennial. With contributions by Thierry de Duve, Boris Groys, Michael Hardt, Chantal Mouffe, Simon Sheikh and Irit Rogoff (a.o.).