Melanie Bonajo per l'Olanda

Dopo il cambio temporaneo di spazi il Padiglione dell'Olanda comunica che sarà l'artista Melanie Bonajo a rappresentare il paese il prossimo anno. 

Gli spazi, che ospiteranno un video dell'artista, saranno quelli della Chiesetta della Misericordia nel quartiere Cannaregio di Venezia.

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Dutch Entry 59th Venice Biennale

Artist: Melanie Bonajo

Curatorial team: Maaike Gouwenberg, Geir Haraldseth and Soraya Pol

Commissioned by Mondriaan Fund

Location Dutch pavilion: Chiesetta della Misericordia in Venice

The artist selected to represent the Netherlands at the Venice Biennale in 2021 is Melanie Bonajo. A broad-based international jury selected Bonajo from a long list of artists and curators who had applied to take part in earlier versions of the biennale. Those selected were invited to submit an overall plan within a short space of time. A month later, these plans were presented to the jury, which was unanimous in determining that Melanie Bonajo would be representing the Netherlands. Bonajo will be working with a curatorial team consisting of Maaike Gouwenberg, Geir Haraldseth and Soraya Pol. Bonajo’s work will be presented at the Chiesetta della Misericordia in the Cannaregio neighbourhood in Venice.

In making its choice, the jury took not only the quality of the work into consideration, but also the impact that it will have on the international stage that is the Venice Biennale. The jury is confident that Bonajo will create a presentation that both impresses and inspires.

Members of the jury for the Dutch contribution to the 2021 Venice Biennale are: Kate Bush (curator Tate Modern), Stijn Huijts (director Bonnefantenmuseum), Hicham Khalidi (director Jan van Eyck Academy), Franziska Nori (director Frankfurter Kunstverein), Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi (curator MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, New York), Fatos Üstek (director Liverpool Biennale), Rieke Vos (curator Het HEM), and non-voting chairperson Eelco van der Lingen (director Mondriaan Fund).

For the 59th Venice Biennale, Bonajo will produce a new film, which will be presented together with a publication in an extensive, wide-ranging setting. Quoting from the plan for the project: ‘In Venice, Bonajo takes charge of the [human] body and hauls it up out of the claws of capitalism. Mel* absorbs you into The New Intimacy Movement. She challenges you to recognize and explore the body anew, as a means of connection, intimacy, touch and safety. You are swept along in adventures that stimulate all the senses: feeling is a form of intelligence, thinking through touch.’

Location of the Dutch pavilion in 2021

The Mondriaan Fund recently announced that the Dutch presentation for the 59th Venice Biennale would take place at a new location in the city. From among a number of options, Melanie Bonajo selected the Chiesetta della Misericordia, a deconsecrated 13th-century church. Director Eelco van der Lingen is delighted: ‘An exciting artist in an exciting location. The Chiesetta della Misericordia is a splendid building in the middle of the city. I am looking forward to seeing how that relates to the splendid work of Melanie Bonajo.’

For 2021, the Mondriaan Fund wants the Dutch presentation to take place outside the Rietveld Pavilion and the Giardini. Van der Lingen hopes to establish a new point of reference for the future. ‘For us, it is good to step out of our comfort zone and take a look around at what freedoms being outside the walls of the pavilion can generate. This also offers the Dutch contribution the opportunity to conceive a plan that does not have to take Rietveld, the pavilion, or the Giardini into account.’ The Mondriaan Fund has meanwhile invited Estonia to make use of the Rietveld Pavilion for the 2021 Venice Biennale.  

L'Olanda apre all'Estonia

Nel 2021, i Paesi Bassi lasceranno il padiglione Rietveld, la sede storica ai Giardini della Biennale d'Arte di Venezia. Questo approccio unico rompe con una lunga tradizione e segna una rivalutazione dell'intero processo che circonda l'ingresso olandese. Una mossa radicale di Eelco van der Lingen, direttore del Fondo Mondriaan che organizza l'evento.

L'innovazione è essenziale in un evento come la biennale secondo van der Lingen: 'È bello deviare di volta in volta da uno schema, senza negare ciò che abbiamo fatto in passato o ciò che faremo in futuro. Contrassegnando una rottura con il passato, possiamo ricalibrare e creare un nuovo punto di partenza ". Dal 1954, i Paesi Bassi presentano ogni due anni la loro partecipazione alla Biennale d'Arte di Venezia nel padiglione Rietveld, un edificio modernista situato nei Giardini - dove vari paesi hanno i loro padiglioni nazionali. Ora, Van der Lingen sta rompendo con questa tradizione. “È stato spesso detto che i Giardini riflettono un precedente equilibrio di poteri, ma nessun paese rinuncia al suo posto sul palco principale della biennale. Allo stesso tempo, è bene per noi uscire dalla nostra zona di comfort per una volta ed esplorare la libertà fuori dalle mura del padiglione. Ciò offre anche all'entrata olandese l'opportunità di elaborare un piano che non deve tener conto del contesto di Rietveld, del padiglione o dei Giardini. ”   Ingresso estone nel padiglione olandese Per l'edizione 2021 il Fondo Mondriaan ha invitato l'Estonia a utilizzare il padiglione olandese Rietveld nel cuore dei Giardini. L'Estonia espone all'evento dal 1997. Tuttavia, dal momento che dal 1996 non è possibile costruire nuovi padiglioni nei Giardini, le giovani nazioni non possono accedere a questo centro della biennale. La mostra dell'Estonia sarà organizzata dal Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA), che affitterà l'edificio dalla Fondazione Rietveld Pavilion di Venezia. In precedenza, la CCA aveva organizzato mostre di successo in varie località della città durante la biennale.   Fondo Mondriaan Il fondo Mondriaan, il fondo pubblico per l'arte visiva e il patrimonio culturale nei Paesi Bassi, è responsabile per l'ingresso olandese. La presentazione è finanziata dal bilancio internazionale che il fondo riceve dal Ministero dell'istruzione, della cultura e della scienza. La biennale inizia nel maggio 2021. Non appena la procedura relativa all'iscrizione nel 2021 sarà completata, il fondo annuncerà chi rappresenterà l'ingresso olandese e la sede alternativa.

www.venicebiennale.nl EnglisH In 2021, the Netherlands will leave the Rietveld Pavilion, its usual home in the Giardini at the Venice Art Biennale. Instead, it is temporarily stepping off the main stage of the world’s largest international visual arts event and will be exhibiting elsewhere in the city. This one-off approach breaks with a long tradition and marks a reevaluation of the entire process surrounding the Dutch entry. A radical move by Eelco van der Lingen, director of the Mondriaan Fund which organizes the entry.   Innovation is essential at an event such as the biennale according to van der Lingen: ‘It’s good to deviate from a pattern from time to time, without negating what we have done in the past or what we will be doing in the future. By marking a break with the past, we can recalibrate and create a new starting point.’ Since 1954, the Netherlands presents its entry for the Venice Art Biennale biannually in the Rietveld Pavilion, a modernistic building located in the Giardini – where various countries have their national pavilions. Now, Van der Lingen is breaking with this tradition. “It’s often been said that the Giardini reflects a former balance of powers, but no country gives up its place on the main stage of the biennale. At the same time, it’s good for us to step out of our comfort zone for once and explore the freedom outside the walls of the pavilion. This also gives the Dutch entry the opportunity to come up with a plan that doesn’t need to take into account the context of Rietveld, the pavilion, or the Giardini.”   Estonian entry in Dutch pavilion For the 2021 edition the Mondriaan Fund has invited Estonia to use the Dutch Rietveld Pavilion at the heart of the Giardini. Estonia has been exhibiting at the event since 1997. However, due to the fact that since 1996 no new pavilions can be built in the Giardini, young nations cannot gain access to this centre of the biennale. Estonia’s exhibition will be organized by the Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA), which will rent the building from the Foundation Rietveld Pavilion Venice. Previously, the CCA organized successful exhibitions at various locations in the city during the biennale.   Mondriaan Fund The Mondriaan Fund, the public fund for visual art and cultural heritage in the Netherlands, is responsible for the Dutch entry. The presentation is financed from the international budget that the fund receives from the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science. The biennale begins in May 2021. As soon as the procedure surrounding the 2021 entry is complete, the fund will announce who will represent the Dutch entry and the alternative location.   www.venicebiennale.nl

Sonia Boyce per la Gran Bretagna

Per il padiglione del Regno Unito è stata selezionata l'artista Sonia Boyce, nota soprattutto per una intensa produzione di spicco nella scena artistica britannica negli anni '80, che riflette sui concetti di razza, società e genere. 

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The British Council is pleased to announce that Sonia Boyce OBE RA has been announced to represent Great Britain at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2021. The exhibition will run from May – November 2021 and will feature a major solo exhibition of new work from the artist.

Sonia Boyce is known for her highly innovative and experimental approach to art-making, using performance and audio-visual elements in her work. Since the 1990s, her practice has become increasingly improvisational and collaborative, inviting a broad cross-section of participants to come together and speak, sing or move in relation to the past and the present.

On accepting the British Council commission, Sonia Boyce commented:

“You could have knocked me down with a feather when I got the call to tell me I had been chosen to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale 2021 - it was like a bolt out of the blue. Obviously, I’m extremely honored, excited – and nervous. I’m eager to start this creative journey, exploring the experience with others who agree to work with me along the way.”

Emma Dexter, British Council Director Visual Arts, Commissioner of the British Pavilion and Chair of the British Pavilion Selection Committee, said:

“The British Council is thrilled to announce that Sonia Boyce has been commissioned to represent the UK at the Biennale Arte 2021. We are eagerly anticipating her exhibition, where collaboration, improvisation and dialogue will undoubtedly play a key role. Boyce’s work raises important questions about the nature of creativity, questioning who makes art, how ideas are formed, and the nature of authorship. At such a pivotal moment in the UK’s history, the Committee has chosen an artist whose work embodies inclusiveness, generosity, experimentation and the importance of working together”.

The British Council has been responsible for the British Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia since 1937, showcasing the best of the UK's artists, architects, designers and curators. These exhibitions, and the British Council’s Venice Fellowships initiative introduced in 2016, help make the British Pavilion a major platform for discussion about contemporary art and architecture.

Later this year, the British Council will appoint an Associate Curator to work alongside Sonia Boyce and the British Council team to develop the exhibition. This post will be generously supported by Shane Akeroyd and offers mid-career curators a unique professional opportunity to work with a leading British artist on a global platform.

#BritishPavilion

Pilvi Takala per la Finlandia

Il sito Frame ha annunciato che sarà Pilvi Takala ha rappresentare la Finlandia alla prossima Biennale del 2021. Supportata dalla curatela di Christina Li.

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Artist Pilvi Takala has been selected to exhibit in the Pavilion of Finland at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by Christina Li, the exhibition will be commissioned and produced by Frame.

“I am thrilled to be making a new work for the Pavilion of Finland in Venice. My practice is slow, requiring a long research process, so I am especially grateful to Frame for approaching me for a proposal well in advance. The fact that I could start researching early on means I don’t have to make any compromises due to lack of time and can be more ambitious about what I’m making,” says Takala.

“We are very pleased to be working with Pilvi Takala. She is an artist with a very special artistic practice. This exhibition will give her the opportunity to further develop her unique view on the world,” says Frame’s Director and Commissioner of the Pavilion of Finland Raija Koli. “I’m also happy to have curator Christina Li on board our journey towards the exhibition in 2021. Her perspective and her previous work with Pilvi puts her in a perfect place of collaboration.”

Artist

Pilvi Takala divides her time between Berlin and Helsinki. Her video works are based on performative interventions in which she researches specific communities in order to process social structures and question the normative rules and truths of our behaviour in different contexts. Her works show that it is often possible to learn about the implicit rules of a social situation simply through its disruption.

Takala’s work has been shown at MoMA PS1, New Museum, Palais de Tokyo, Museum of Contemporary art Kiasma, Kunsthalle Basel, Manifesta 11, CCA Glasgow, International Film Festival Rotterdam, HotDocs, Witte de With, and the 9th Istanbul Biennial.

Takala won the Dutch Prix de Rome in 2011, the Emdash Award in 2013, and the Finnish State Prize for Visual Arts in 2013.

Curator

Christina Li is a curator and writer working in Hong Kong and Amsterdam. She was the Curator-at-Large at Spring Workshop, Hong Kong, where she served as the Director between 2015 and 2017. At Spring, she curated projects such as A Collective Present (2017), Wu Tsang: Duilian (2016), and Wong Wai Yin: Without Trying (2016). Her most recent exhibition, Dismantling the Scaffold (2018), was the inaugural exhibition at Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong.

As a writer, she has contributed to publications including Artforum, Art Review Asia, LEAP, Parkett, Spike, and Yishu Journal of Contemporary Art. She was the curator of Hong Kong’s participation with Shirley Tse at the 58th Venice Biennale 2019 and is currently working on a special project marking the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Art Basel with Kasper Koenig, and Hamza Walker.

“Having closely followed Pilvi Takala’s uncompromising practice for more than a decade, I am thrilled and humbled to have the opportunity to further our conversions in this forthcoming collaboration, and to bring Pilvi’s daring vision into fruition for this occasion,” says Li.

Commissioner

The exhibition in the Pavilion of Finland is commissioned and produced by Frame Contemporary Art Finland. Frame, an advocate for Finnish contemporary art, supports international initiatives, facilitates professional partnerships, and encourages critical development within the field through grants, visitor programmes and residencies, seminars and talks, exhibition collaborations and network platforms.

Frame has a varying practice for selecting artists featured at the Venice Biennale. For the 2021 Venice Biennale, Frame invited both the artist and curator. For the 2017 and 2019 biennials, Frame invited proposals in open calls.

The exhibition is supported by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.