Fiona Hall per l'Australia nel 2015

Fiona Hall è l’artista scelta per rappresentare l’Australia alla prossima Biennale di Venezia del 2015, la curatela sarà di Linda Michael.

L'occasione sarà anche l' inaugurerà del rinnovato padiglione australiano, che è stato ri-progettato dallo studio Denton Corker Marshall, che sostituisce quello temporaneo ideato da Philip Cox nel 1988. 

The Australia Council for the Arts today announced Fiona Hall AO has been selected to represent Australia at the 56th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale 2015.

The Adelaide-based artist, who works across a broad range of media, will be the sole artist exhibiting at the newly constructed Australian Pavilion in the Giardini from May 2015. The exhibition will be curated by Linda Michael.

Venice Biennale 2015 Commissioner Simon Mordant AM said he was delighted Fiona Hall had agreed to represent Australia at the most prestigious, international contemporary art exposition.

“Fiona Hall is one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists,” Mr Mordant said.

“Her work is deeply thoughtful, insightful and engaging. I can’t wait to see the new works she will create for the exhibition in Venice.”

Ms Hall said she was thrilled to be invited to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale in 2015.

“It is a great honour to be offered this opportunity to create the first exhibition in the new Australian Pavilion,” Ms Hall said.

Fiona Hall first emerged in the 1970s as a photographer and during the 1980s she began working in a diverse range of artforms. The core theme throughout her work has been the relationship between nature and culture.

A major retrospective of her work was held at Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane and toured to the Art Gallery of South Australia (both 2005) and the survey exhibition Fiona Hall: Force Field at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in partnership with City Gallery Wellington (2008) toured to Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand and Newcastle Art Gallery.

She has been included in many important group exhibitions and biennales, such as ‘dOCUMENTA 13 (2012), the Third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2009), The Biennale of Sydney (2000 and 2010), and Prism: Contemporary Australian Art at the Bridgestone Museum, Tokyo (2006).

Her work has been collected by all major Australian State galleries as well as the National Gallery of Australia.

Australia Council Chair Rupert Myer AM said the Council was extremely pleased to have one of Australia’s most prominent contemporary artists exhibiting at the pavilion.

“The Venice Biennale is the most important and prestigious event on the international contemporary arts calendar and the Council considers our involvement to be an important part of the way we promote Australian artists to international audiences,” Mr Myer said.

“At this year’s biennale, about 200,000 people visited the Australian Pavilion to see Simryn Gill’s work and I have no doubt Fiona Hall’s exhibition will also attract an impressive number.

“The 2015 Venice Biennale is a particularly exciting one for Australia, as it will be the first year the new pavilion, designed by Denton Corker Marshall, will be open.”

Melbourne-based curator Linda Michael will return to the Venice Biennale after curating Australia’s 2003 exhibition of Patricia Piccinini’s work. She is the Deputy Director and Senior Curator at Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne and is also a respected editor and writer.

Fiona Hall was selected by a seven-member expert panel comprising: Simon Mordant AM, Australian Commissioner for the Venice Biennale 2015, Chair of the Selection Advisory Panel and Chair, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia; Danie Mellor, artist and Chair Australia Council Visual Arts Strategy Panel; Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Curator, Rome and New York; Max Delany, Senior Curator, Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Rachel Kent, Chief Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia; Suhanya Raffel, Director of Collections, Art Gallery of NSW; and Leigh Robb, Curator, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Mr Mordant said he was delighted to announce the continued support of The Balnaves Foundation as the Major Partner and Maddocks, The University of Melbourne and White Rabbit Gallery as Supporting Partners.

“Their long-term support, as well as the contribution of the Commissioner’s Council and many individual donors, ensures our presence in Venice is maximised to provide international opportunities for the Australian contemporary visual arts sector.”

The Commissioner’s Council helps position Australia in Venice with its national membership, comprising Simon Mordant AM, Charles Green, Deputy Commissioner for Australia at the 2015 Venice Biennale, Hamish Balnaves, Anita Belgiorno-Nettis, Adrian Fini, Mark Henry, Ross Nielson, Roslyn Oxley, Lisa Paulsen and Nick Tobias.

Biennale 2015 The new director Okwui Enwezor Director of the Visual Arts Sector

Sotto Italiano 

The Board of Directors of la Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, met in the headquarters of Ca’ Giustinian and, after thanking and expressing its gratitude to Massimiliano Gioni for the excellent results of the 55th International Art Exhibition, appointed Okwui Enwezor Director of the Visual Arts Sector, with the specific responsibility of curating the 56th International Art Exhibition, to be held in 2015 (Venice, Giardini and Arsenale, May 9th > November 22nd, 2015).

 

Born in Nigeria in 1963, Okwui Enwezor is a curator, art critic, editor and writer; since 2011 he has been the Director of the Haus der Kunst in Munich. He was Artistic Director of the 2nd Johannesburg Biennale in South Africa (1996-1998), of documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany (1998-2002), the Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla in Spain (2005-2007), the 7th Gwangju Biennale in South Korea (2008) and of the Triennal d’Art Contemporain of Paris at the Palais de Tokyo (2012). Enwezor’s wide-ranging practice spans the world of international exhibitions, museums, academia, and publishing. In 1994 he founded “NKA: Journal of Contemporary African Art” published by Duke University Press. He is the author of numerous essays and books, among others: Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art (2008).

 

At the end of the meeting of the Board, President Paolo Baratta stated:

“We have closed an extraordinary research-exhibition which was brought to term with great success by Massimiliano Gioni, and had the record in the number of visitors and particularly of young visitors. This success demonstrates the ever-widening range of people who directly enjoy the cultural and the emotional experience that la Biennale can provide. We now turn, for the next edition, to a person who has a great many experiences to his name, with an ample history of activities and studies in a wide range of topics concerning art. Enwezor has investigated, in particular, the complex phenomenon of globalization in relation to local roots. His personal experience is a decisive starting point for the geographic range of his analysis, for the temporal depth of recent developments in the art world, and for the variegated richness of the present.”

 

On his part, Okwui Enwezor has stated:

“No event or exhibition of contemporary art has continuously existed at the confluence of so many historical changes across the fields of art, politics, technology, and economics, like la Biennale di Venezia.

La Biennale is the ideal place to explore all these dialectical fields of reference, and the institution of la Biennale itself will be a source of inspiration in planning the Exhibition.”

 

 

Biographical Note
Okwui Enwezor (Nigeria, 1963) is a curator, art critic, editor and writer, since 2011 he has been the Director of the Haus der Kunst in Munich.
He was Artistic Director of the 2nd Johannesburg Biennale in South Africa (1996-1998), of documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany (1998-2002), the Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla in Spain (2005-2007), the 7th Gwangju Biennale in South Korea (2008) and the Triennal d’Art Contemporain of Paris at the Palais de Tokyo (2012).

Enwezor’s wide-ranging practice spans the world of international exhibitions, museums, academia, and publishing. He is interested in African, European, Asiatic, North and South American art of the 20th and 21st Century, in modern and contemporary art of the African countries and the contemporary art of the African diaspora. Enwezor’s research includes video and photography, archives theory, photographic documentation, photojournalism and museums history. He also studies theories on diasporas and migrations, of post-colonial modernism and the architecture and urbanism of postcolonial African cities.

In 1994 he founded “NKA: Journal of Contemporary African Art” published by Duke University Press. As a writer, critic, and editor, he has been a regular contributor to exhibition catalogues, anthologies and journals, and has published articles and interviews in the major daily newspapers and periodicals of the world. He is the author of many books, including Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary (Gottingen: Steidl and New York: International Center of Photography, 2008), Contemporary African Art Since 1980 (Damiani, 2009, with Chika Okeke-Agulu), Antinomies of Art and Culture: Modernity, Postmodernity, Contemporaneity (Duke University Press, 2008, with Terry Smith and Nancy Condee), James Casebere: Works, 1975-2010 (Damiani, 2011).

He has held many academic positions such as Dean of Academic Affairs and Senior Vice President of the San Francisco Art Institute (2005-2009), Visiting Professor at the Department of Art and Architectural History at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Visiting Professor at the Department of Art History and Archaeology of Columbia University, New York. In spring 2012, he was the Kirk Varnedoe Visiting Professor in Art History at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

His many exhibitions include: ECM: A Cultural Archaeology, Haus der Kunst, Munich; Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life, International Center of Photography, New York; The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945-1994, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich; Century City, Tate Modern, London; Mirror’s Edge, Bildmuseet, Umea; In/Sight: African Photographers, 1940-Present, Guggenheim Museum; Global Conceptualism, Queens Museum, New York; David Goldblatt: Fifty One Years, Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona; Stan Douglas: Le Detroit, Art Institute of Chicago; Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, International Center of Photography, New York; The Unhomely: Phantom Scenes in Global Society, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville; Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art, International Center of Photography, New York.

ITALIANO

Il Cda della Biennale di Venezia, presieduto da Paolo Baratta, si è riunito nella sede di Ca’ Giustinian: dopo aver ringraziato e aver espresso la sua gratitudine a Massimiliano Gioni per gli ottimi risultati conseguiti con la 55. Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte, ha nominato Okwui Enwezor Direttore del Settore Arti Visive, con lo specifico incarico di curare la 56. Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte che si terrà nel 2015 (Venezia, Giardini e Arsenale 9 maggio > 22 novembre 2015).

 

Nato in Nigeria nel 1963, Okwui Enwezor è curatore, critico d’arte, giornalista e scrittore; dal 2011 èDirettore della Haus der Kunst di Monaco di Baviera. È stato Direttore Artistico della 2. Johannesburg Biennale in Sudafrica (1996-1998), di documenta 11 a Kassel in Germania (1998–2002), della Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo di Siviglia in Spagna (2005-2007), della 7. Gwangju Biennale in Sud Corea (2008) e della Triennal d’Art Contemporaine di Parigi al Palais de Tokyo (2012). I suoi campi di interesse spaziano dal mondo delle mostre internazionali ai musei, dall’università all'editoria. Nel 1994 ha fondato “NKA: Journal of Contemporary African Art” edito da Duke University Press. È autore di numerosi saggi e libri tra cui ricordiamo Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art (2008).

Al termine del CdA, il Presidente Paolo Baratta ha dichiarato:

“Abbiamo chiuso una straordinaria mostra-ricerca dove si è cimentato con grande successo Massimiliano Gioni, che ha ottenuto il record dei visitatori, in particolare dei giovani visitatori, coinvolgendo così la più ampia fascia di pubblico di sempre nell’esperienza culturale ed emotiva che la Biennale può suscitare. Ci rivolgiamo ora, per la prossima edizione, a una persona che ha già alle spalle numerose esperienze, con un vasto bagaglio di attività e studi rivolti ai molteplici temi relativi all’arte, e che si è confrontato criticamente col complesso fenomeno della globalizzazione, a fronte delle espressioni provenienti da radici locali. La personale esperienza di Enwezor è un punto di riferimento decisivo per l’ampiezza del raggio geografico di analisi, per la profondità temporale degli sviluppi recenti nel mondo dell’arte, per la variegata ricchezza del presente.”

 

Da parte sua Okwui Enwezor ha affermato:

“Nessuna manifestazione o mostra d'arte contemporanea è esistita in maniera continuativa, al centro di così tanti cambiamenti storici nel campo dell'arte, della politica, della tecnologia e dell'economia come la Biennale di Venezia.

La Biennale è il luogo ideale per esplorare tutti questi campi dialettici di riferimento, e la stessa istituzione Biennale è fonte di ispirazione per la progettazione della Mostra.”

Okwui Enwezor (Nigeria, 1963), curatore e critico d’arte, giornalista e scrittore, è Direttore della Haus der Kunst di Monaco di Baviera dal 2011.  

È stato Direttore Artistico della 2. Johannesburg Biennale in Sudafrica (1996-1998), di documenta 11 a Kassel in Germania (1998–2002), della Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla in Spagna (2005-2007), della 7. Gwangju Biennale in Sud Corea (2008) e della Triennal d’Art Contemporaine di Parigi al Palais de Tokyo (2012).

I suoi campi di interesse spaziano dal mondo delle mostre internazionali, ai musei, l’università e l'editoria. I suoi interessi vanno dall’arte africana, europea, asiatica, nord e sud americana del XX e XXI secolo, all’arte moderna e contemporanea nei paesi africani e l’arte contemporanea della diaspora africana. Le sue ricerche includono il video e la fotografia, la teoria dell’archivio, del documentario fotografico e del fotogiornalismo, la storia dei musei. Studia le teorie sulla diaspora e sulle migrazioni, del modernismo post-coloniale, e quindi dell’architettura e dell’urbanistica delle città africane postcoloniali.

Nel 1994 ha fondato Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art edito da Duke University Press. Come scrittore e critico ha contribuito a cataloghi di mostre, antologie e riviste, oltre ad aver pubblicato articoli e interviste per i maggiori quotidiani e periodici del mondo. È autore di numerosi libri tra cui ricordiamo Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art (Gottingen: Steidl and New York: International Center of Photography, 2008), Contemporary African Art Since 1980 (Damiani, 2009, con Chika Okeke-Agulu), Antinomies of Art and Culture: Modernity, Postmodernity, Contemporaneity (Duke University Press, 2008, con Terry Smith and Nancy Condee), James Casebere: Works, 1975-2010 (Damiani, 2011).

Ha ricoperto numerosi incarichi accademici come Rettore degli Affari accademici e Vice Presidente Senior del San Francisco Art Institute (2005-2009), Visiting Professor presso il Dipartimento di Storia dell'Arte e Architettura dell'Università di Pittsburgh e della University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Visiting Professor presso il Dipartimento di Storia dell'Arte e Archeologia della Columbia University, New York. Nella primavera del 2012 è stato Kirk Varnedoe Visiting Professor presso l'Istituto di Belle Arti, New York University.

Tra le sue numerose mostre ricordiamo: ECM: A Cultural Archaelogy, Haus der Kunst, Monaco; Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life, International Center of Photography, New York; The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945-1994, Museum Villa Stuck, Monaco; Century City, Tate Modern, Londra; Mirror’s Edge, Bildmuseet, Umea; In/Sight: African Photographers, 1940-Present, Guggenheim Museum; Global Conceptualism, Queens Museum, New York; David Goldblatt: Fifty One Years, Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcellona; Stan Douglas: Le Detroit, Art Institute of Chicago; Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, International Center of Photography, New York; The Unhomely: Phantom Scenes in Global Society, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Siviglia; Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art, International Center of Photography, New York.

Turchia, 20 anni di Biennale, fino al 2034

E' stato siglato l'accordo fra la Biennale di Venezia e la Turchia per una sede permanente per i prossimi venti anni. 

Istanbul Cultura e Art Foundation, col sostegno di 21 promotori,  hanno dato corpo a questa iniziativa che vede l'uso del palazzetto ad angolo nell'area dell'Arsenale, fino al 2034.