Samson Young per Hong Kong

dal sito HKADC

Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) and M+ at the West Kowloon Cultural District announce that the two organisations will co-present Hong Kong’s participation in the 57th Venice Art Biennale (the Biennale), opening on May 13, 2017. This is the third collaboration between HKADC and M+, following the acclaimed 2013 and 2015 editions, on this representation of Hong Kong contemporary art at one of the most important international platforms.

Dr Wilfred Wong, Chairman of HKADC said, “Building on the successful collaborations in the last two Venice Biennales, HKADC and M+ are again ready to contribute our resources and expertise to promoting outstanding Hong Kong visual artist in the 57th Biennale.”

Recommended by M+ and endorsed by HKADC’s Venice Art Biennale Working Group, Mr Samson Young has been selected as the artist for the exhibition, which will be submitted to the Venice Biennale as a Collateral Event in the 57th Venice Biennale. For this edition, M+ will engage a guest curator, in an effort to nurture local curators through providing experience in a major international setting. In close consultation with Mr Young, Ms Ying Kwok, a widely respected Hong Kong-based curator, has been appointed as the guest curator. Mr Doryun Chong, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, and Acting Director, M+, who was a co-curator with Stella Fong for the 2015 edition, will serve as consulting curator.

Mr Chong said, “We are honored and pleased to co-present with HKADC Hong Kong’s participation in the Venice Biennale for the third time. I am proud of what we at M+ accomplished in the last two Biennales with one-person presentations of Hong Kong artists—Lee Kit in 2013 and Tsang Kin-Wah in 2015—both in terms of the polished, professional exhibitions and in successfully raising the profiles of the artists as well as the international understanding of the Hong Kong contemporary art scene in general. I am confident that we will have yet another successful presentation, which will also be a vital opportunity for growth for Mr Samson Young’s critically respected practice.”

Commenting on being selected as the artist of Hong Kong’s submission, Mr Young said “I am naturally thrilled, and feel very honoured to have been given the opportunity to represent my native Hong Kong within such an important international context. I look forward to collaborating with the curatorial team in the months to come.”

Ms Kwok said “I am much honoured and privileged to be invited to work on this prestigious event. I look forward to developing an in-depth dialogue and collaboration with Samson to create something really special. I would also like to thank HKADC and M+ for their forward-thinking approach in engaging an independent curator.”

Same as the last two editions, interns will be recruited locally and given the chance to assist with the exhibition and experience the Venice Biennale. M+ will create one position of assistant curator and HKADC will fund a curatorial intern position specifically for this project in order to foster and develop local expertise by providing an opportunity to work with the M+ team over an extended period. The 57th Biennale will be held from 13th May to 26th November 2017. More information on Hong Kong’s participation and related programmes will be announced later.

HKADC has organised the Hong Kong exhibition at the Biennale since 2001. To examine the experience of past participation and explore future strategies to participate in the Biennale and promote Hong Kong visual arts overseas, the HKADC engaged external experts to conduct a study. For the executive summary of the study and the HKADC’s response, please visit http://www.hkadc.org.hk/?p=14908&lang=en.

Zad Moultaka per il Libano

Zad Moultaka è stato selezionato dal Ministero della Cultura libanese ha rappresentare il Padiglione libanese al Cinquantasettesima Biennale di Venezia, che si terrà dal 13 maggio al 26 novembre 2017. Curatore sarà Emmanuel Daydé, uno storico e critico d'arte.

Takahiro Iwasaki per il Giappone

Il sito http://www.eca.ed.ac.uk/ segnala che l'artista Takahiro Iwasaki rappresenterà il Giappone, articolo 

Takahiro Iwasaki, a graduate of the Art, Space & Nature – MFA programme at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA), has been selected to represent Japan at one of the world’s most important visual arts events. 

Takahiro was selected by the Japan Foundation to show the work entitled “Upside-down Forest” at the Japan Pavilion.

Since graduating from ECA, Takahiro has been based in his native Hiroshima developing a thread of works which began on the Art, Space & Nature programme. Takahiro often uses everyday objects that are found around us as materials for his works. These include items that are regarded as garbage, such as dust, cloth and hair. By overlaying another image onto these to create a figurative representation, he gives meaning to things that are seemingly chaotic. For example, he makes a stack of dust cloths look like the mountains of nature, and books appear like buildings, experiencing a change in the way we perceive things.

Takahiro’s work is characterized by his meticulous handiwork and labour-intensiveness, developing the language of the architectural model. He creates cranes and steel towers from the threads pulled out from dust cloths or the bookmark strings attached to books. The delicacy of the work being stunning features of his ongoing ‘ Out of Disorder’ series.

“When I looked at the cross-section drawing of the Japan Pavilion, I saw that the four pillars rising from the piloti on the first floor served as the walls of the exhibition room on the second floor, and the ceiling of the first floor was also the floor of the second floor. It felt just like a boundary separating the sea and land,” said Takahiro of the work he’ll be producing for the exhibition, “I wanted the visitors to observe Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima, which offers a different view depending on the tides.”

“By creating the different perspectives of looking upward and looking downward, I hope to create a multifaceted spatial experience.”

After completing his MFA at Edinburgh College of Art, he went on to a PhD in Art at Hiroshima City University.

Takahiro’s selection as Japan’s sole representative at this showpiece event for contemporary art is a significant achievement, in an already notable career. Takahiro has exhibited at the Asia society in New York, 2015, and has held solo exhibitions at the Kurobe City Art Museum and the Oyama City Art Museum in the same year. Group shows include the 10th Lyon Biennale (2009), Yokohama Triennale (2011) and the 2013 Asian Art Biennale in Taiwan.

The 57th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale runs 13th May - 26th November 2017.

Egill Sæbjörnsson per l'Islanda

Per l'Islanda è stato scelto l'artista Egill Sæbjörnsson come segnalato dal sito http://icelandicartcenter.is/projects/venice-biennale/

Gal Weinstein per Israele

Dal sito http://coolisrael.it/

Inizia a delinearsi la lista dei partecipanti alla prossima Biennale di Venezia del 2017, l’Esposizione Internazionale di Arte Contemporanea divenuta ormai un simbolo in tutto il mondo: sarà infatti Gal Weinstein, nato a Ramat Gan nel 1970, con studi a Gerusalemme e Tel Aviv, a rappresentare Israele. L’annuncio è stato dato pochi giorni fa dal ministro della cultura israeliano Miri Regev. L’artista israeliano ha dichiarato che la sua esposizione sarà focalizzata principalmente sull’evoluzione del suo lavoro negli anni recenti. Il Padiglione sarà curato da Tami Katz-Friedman ex Haifa Museum of Art in Israel. Entrambi sono stati scelti da un comitato formato dal dipartimento delle arti visive del Ministero della Cultura.

Già noto in Italia per aver esposto le proprie opere alla Galleria Riccardo Crespi di Milano nel 2014, Weinstein è celebre per l’utilizzo di materiali molto diversi tra loro e decisamente originali, quali la lana d’acciaio, il legno, la ruggine, il marmo, la moquette, la candeggina e persino la maculazione della muffa, che vengono lavorati ed utilizzati in sostituzione del disegno per creare veri e propri capolavori. Attraverso la pittura, la fotografia, l’installazione, la scultura e il video l’artista tenta di esplorare il mondo fisico, con un metodo che definisce “scientifico”.

Attraverso le tre gallerie previste del Padiglione Weinstein ha dichiarato il proprio intento:

“Mi impegnerò soprattutto con le interazioni tra iconografia e la loro concretizzazione fisica”

Nell’immagine in alto: un autoritratto di Gal Weinstein

Rachel Maclean per la Scozia

The Scotland + Venice partnership is delighted to announce that Rachel Maclean has been selected to represent Scotland at the 57th International Art Exhibition, the Venice Biennale, running from 13 May to 26 November 2017.

This will be a solo presentation of new work centred on a major new film commission. The presentation is commissioned and curated by Alchemy Film and Arts, based in Hawick, in partnership with Talbot Rice Gallery and the University of Edinburgh.

Xavier Veilhan, Francia

Sarà l'artista Xavier Veilhan ha rappresentare la France alla Biennale di Venezia del 2017, ne da notizia il quotidiano Le Monde .

Cecilia Alemani per il Padiglione Italia 2017

Il ministro dei Beni e delle attivita’ culturali e del turismo, Dario Franceschini ha reso pubblico il nome del prossimo curatore del Padiglione Italia, che sarà Cecilia Alemani.

Non si sa ancora nulla del progetto ma viene segnalato come selezionato da una rosa di proposte.

Cecilia Alemani e’ curatrice del High Line Art di New York, di Frieze Projects New York, ha collaborato con diversi enti internazionali quali Tate Modern.

Wales gli ultimi tre...

Intanto il Galles valuta gli ultimi selezionati dalla rosa primaria e a maggio ufficializzerà l'artista della Biennale. 

Info http://www.arts.wales/97709

Dall'Italia ancora nulla ...

Erkka Nissinen e Nathaniel Mellors per la Finlandia

Erkka Nissinen e Nathaniel Mellors sono stati selezionati per rappresentare la Finlandia al 57 ° Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte, Biennale di Venezia 2017.

Si intitolerà "The Aalto nativi" il progetto degli artisti e sarà curato da Xander Karskens.

L'intento è di trasformare il Padiglione della Finlandia in un'installazione multimediale.

Info http://www.frame-finland.fi/en/

Katja Novitskova per l'Estonia

Il Center for Contemporary Arts Estonia (CCA) supporterà l'artista Katja Novitskova con la curatela di Kati Ilves.

Mark Bradford per gli USA

L’artista californiano Mark Bradford, noto per i suo grandi quadri dai forti giochi cromatici, è stato scelto per il Padiglione USA.

Il progetto sarà curato da Christopher Bedford e da Katy Siegel, col supporto del Rose Art Museum .

Tutte le info al suo sito http://markbradfordvenice2017.org

Oceans Pavilion

La collezionista e filantropa Francesca von Habsburg, nota per la TBA21, proporrà un padiglione dedicato agli Oceani, Oceans Pavilion che prenderà sede nel 2017

Erwin Wurm e Brigette Kowanz rappresenterà l' Austria

Erwin Wurm. - Photo: Elsa Okazaki, courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin

Erwin Wurm e Brigette Kowanz si divideranno il Padiglione Austria sotto il titolo “Padiglione di luce” 

Lisa Reihana per la Nuova Zelanda

Lisa Reihana sarà l’artista per la Nuova Zelanda alla prossima Biennale del 2017 con un progetto di rielaborazione di un’opera d’arte “I selvaggi del mare pacifico”

New Zealand presents Lisa Reihana at 57th Venice Biennale

An historic naval warehouse in the heart of the Arsenale exhibition district will be the venue for Lisa Reihana’s media-based exhibition at the Venice Art Biennale in 2017.

The New Zealand pavilion will be housed in the Tesa dell'Isolotto, one of the oldest buildings in the Arsenale, among many permanent national pavilions and part of the Biennale’s curated exhibition.

The venue was announced by the Hon Maggie Barry, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, at a patrons’ campaign launch in Auckland tonight. 

Commissioner Alastair Carruthers says selecting a venue early was crucial as few spaces are suitable for the artist’s large-scale audiovisual immersive project. He says, “Tesa dell'Isolotto’s location in a shipyard offers new possibilities for Reihana’s exhibition as she develops it for the Venice environment.” 

“We are very fortunate to have found space in the Arsenale, where hundreds of thousands of visitors come to experience the best contemporary art from around the globe. This will be the first time the New Zealand pavilion is within the Biennale’s official exhibition area.”

He says, “The Arsenale is the magnificent historic shipyard of Venice, a naval basin that still operates and a place where ocean ready sailing vessels were built – at a rate of one per day.”

Emissaries will be the exhibition title of Reihana’s 2017 Venice Biennale presentation, which will include her panoramic video in Pursuit of Venus [infected], expanded and augmented with a series of new photographic works.

Reihana says, “Isolotta means ‘island’ and I’m very interested in the relevance of that, and of the location’s history as I develop this exhibition. Transported half a world away we will be new emissaries to Venice.”

Arts Council Chairman Dr Dick Grant says the Venice Biennale is widely recognised as the world’s pre-eminent contemporary art exhibition.

He says, “It provides a huge opportunity for international exposure for New Zealand art and artists – and presents New Zealand as an assured country confidently taking its place on the world cultural stage. Each year, as we build on the success of previous exhibitions, our presence becomes more anticipated.”

New Zealand at the Venice Biennale

New Zealand’s arts development agency, Creative New Zealand, funds and manages New Zealand’s presence at the Venice Art Biennale for the almost seven month duration. 

Creative New Zealand is pleased to again be working with Te Papa as our Key Partner and for the first time with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki as our Presenting Partner.

The New Zealand at Venice patrons generously contribute around a third of the budget for New Zealand’s project at the Venice Art Biennale.

The Venice Art Biennale is widely recognised as the pre-eminent international art exhibition in the world. In 2015 almost 90 countries had a presence – and the Biennale attracted more than 8,000 accredited journalists and 500,000 visitors. 

An official presence there provides a career development opportunity at the highest level for New Zealand contemporary visual artists. It brings the New Zealand pavilion to the attention of global media, art institutions, experts and gallerists and offers professional development opportunities for the curators, exhibition attendants and team members including the technical, design and artistic contributors to the project.

New Zealand has exhibited at the Venice Art Biennale since 2001. New Zealand artists who have exhibited are: Peter Robinson and Jacqueline Fraser (2001); Michael Stevenson (2003) et al. (2005); Judy Millar and Francis Upritchard (2009); Michael Parekowhai (2011); Bill Culbert (2013) and Simon Denny (2015).

Lisa Reihana, artist

Lisa Reihana (b 1964) completed a Masters in Design from the School of Visual Art and Design, Unitec in Auckland in 2014 and graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland in 1987.Of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Hine, Ngāi Tū descent, she lives and works in Auckland.

Reihana’s work has featured in significant international exhibitions including the Museum van Loon, the Amsterdam Film +Media Arts Festival, the Samstag Museum in Toronto, the Campbelltown Arts Centre, the Havana Biennale, the Brooklyn Museum, the Liverpool Biennale, the Asia Society Museum in New York, the Noumea Biennale, the 12th Biennale of Sydney, and the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane.

Reihana was made an Arts Laureate by the New Zealand Arts Foundation in 2014. She was shortlisted for the Signature Art Prize at the Singapore Art Museum in 2014 for in Pursuit of Venus; as well as the Double Take Anne Landa Award, Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2009 and the Walters Prize at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki in 2008, both forDigital Marae. She has recently been shortlisted for the 2016 Walters Prize for in Pursuit of Venus [infected].

Rhana Devenport, curator

Rhana Devenport is director of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. She was director of Govett-Brewster Art Gallery (2006-2013) and held senior positions with the Biennale of Sydney (2005-2006), Artspace NZ (2005) and the Sydney Festival (2004) and was Senior Project Officer for the Asia Pacific Triennial with the Queensland Art Gallery (1994-2004). Her curatorial and publishing projects include projects with Peter Robinson, Fiona Pardington, Judith Wright, Nalini Malani, NS Harsha, Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, Song Dong, Yin Xiuzhen, Zhang Peili, Lee Mingwei and Lisa Reihana.

For further information, go to www.nzatvenice.com or www.labiennale.org 

Follow New Zealand at Venice on Facebook and Twitter 

Philipp Kaiser sarà il curatore del Padiglione Svizzera

Philipp Kaiser. Photo by Albrecht Fuchs.

Philipp Kaiser to curate Swiss Pavilion exhibition at the 57th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia.

The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia has appointed Philipp Kaiser to curate the exhibition at the Swiss Pavilion at the 2017 Art Biennale in Venice. Born in Berne and now based in Los Angeles, Kaiser is regarded as one of the most renowned Swiss exhibition makers worldwide. 

Philipp Kaiser, born 1972 in Berne, has been selected to curate the exhibition at the Swiss Pavilion in Venice’s Giardini for the 57th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia. Kaiser, who lives and works in Los Angeles, was recommended for nomination by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia’s art biennials jury. While in previous years artists have been nominated to exhibit at the Swiss Pavilion, now the jury have chosen a curator to assume the responsibility for Switzerland’s National Participation at next year’s Venice Art Biennale. This year, the biennial’s jury based their decision on Philipp Kaiser’s impressive accomplishments as a curator, notably his monographic and thematic exhibitions with both public and private collections which create bridges between Europe and America. The Venice Biennale is one of the world’s most prestigious platforms for contemporary art. 

Commitment to Swiss art

Working as an independent curator and art critic in California, Kaiser’s work recognises and retains his close links to the Swiss art scene. He is currently preparing a comprehensive exhibition focussing on the archive and library of the late, world-famous Swiss curator Harald Szeemann at the renowned Getty Research Institute in LA. Kaiser began his career as an Art historian in Switzerland. From 2001 to 2007, he worked as curator for modern and contemporary art at the Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Basel. He then moved to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles. At the age of 39 he was appointed director of Museum Ludwig in Cologne. His work as visiting professor at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Karlsruhe, the University of California in Los Angeles and, also in California, the Claremont McKenna College give evidence of his close ties to teaching and research.

Further information on Switzerland’s presence at biennials: www.biennials.ch

Visions for Venice – Ireland’s shortlist for 2017 Arts Biennale

Eccovi dal sito dell'Irlanda la shortlist a breve il vincitore

Six unique proposals have been shortlisted to represent Ireland at the 2017 Venice Arts Biennale. The shortlist (below) has been released following Stage I submissions by these teams to Culture Ireland. All teams will now proceed to Stage II interviews to be held shortly. The successful proposal will be announced in March 2016.

Artist	Commissioner	Curator
1. Brian Duggan	Firestation Artists Studios	Helen Carey
2. Eva Rothschild	Mary Cremin	Mary Cremin
3. Jesse Jones	Tessa Giblin	Tessa Giblin
4. John Gerrard	Gavin Delahunty	Gavin Delahunty
5. Niamh O'Malley	Barbara Dawson	Sheena Barrett
6. Sam Keogh	Woodrow Kernohan	Vaari Claffey

Phyllida Barlow Gran Bretagna

La scultrice Phyllida Barlow rappresenterà la Gran Bregnata alla prossima Biennale 

English

The British Council is delighted to announce that Phyllida Barlow has been selected to represent Britain at the 57th Venice International Art Biennale. She will present a major solo show in the British Pavilion, which will run from 13 May to 26 November 2017. The Artistic Director of the 57th International Art Biennale will be Christine Macel.

Best known for her colossal sculptural projects, for over four decades Phyllida Barlow has employed a distinctive vocabulary of inexpensive materials such as plywood, cardboard, plaster, cement, fabric and paint to create striking sculptures and bold and expansive installations that confront the relationship between objects and the space that surrounds them. Drawing on memories of familiar objects from her surroundings, Barlow’s practice is grounded in an anti-monumental tradition characterised by her physical experience of handling materials in an expedient and direct way.

Phyllida Barlow said: “It is an extraordinary privilege and honour to be invited to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale 2017. I am astonished, thrilled and of course hugely excited. It is going to be a remarkable experience to begin to consider the work for the imposing architecture of the British pavilion. I cannot imagine a more invigorating and wonderful challenge. The international diversity for which the Biennale is so renowned within the particular context of Venice is a unique and stimulating creative opportunity beyond my wildest dreams.”

The 2017 Venice Biennale Selection Committee, which advises the British Council on the UK's representation in the British Pavilion, is made up of the following members:  

Maria Balshaw, Director, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

Alfredo Cramerotti, Director, MOSTYN, Llandudno, Wales

Jennifer Higgie, Editor, Frieze Magazine

Skinder Hundal, Chief Executive, New Art Exchange, Nottingham

Sarah McCrory, Director, Glasgow International, Glasgow, Scotland

Helen Legg, Director, Spike Island, Bristol

Matt Packer, Director, Centre for Contemporary Art, Derry, Northern Ireland

Alistair Sooke, Art Critic and Columnist, The Daily Telegraph and BBC

Emma Dexter, British Council Director, Visual Arts and Chair of the Venice Biennale Selection Committee, said: “I am truly delighted that Phyllida Barlow has been selected to represent Britain at the 2017 Venice Biennale. Barlow’s imposing sculptures and installations have enthralled and intrigued audiences around the globe in recent years. Her work combines physical impressiveness with intricate and highly considered details with regard to materials and techniques, allowing questions of making and experimentation to be at the core of her work.  Barlow transforms and dynamically alters every exhibition space she encounters. I am hugely excited at the prospect of seeing what she will bring to the neo-classicism of the British Pavilion.”

Barlow’s work has been presented in solo exhibitions around the world. Her latest exhibitions include the recently opened ARTIST ROOMS, Tate Modern, London (2016) as well as 'tryst', Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas (2015); the Duveens Commission 'dock', Tate Britain, London (2014) and'GIG', the inaugural exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Somerset (2014).

For more information on the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale: http://venicebiennale.britishcouncil.org/

Mats Stjernsted per i Padiglioni Nordici

Mats Stjernstedt è stato nominato curatore per il Padiglione dei Paesi Nordici (Norvegia, Finlandia e Svezia), ne ha dato notizia il Moderna Museet 

English

Mats Stjernstedt will curate the joint exhibition of Finland, Norway and Sweden in the Nordic Pavilion at the 57th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia 2017. The exhibition marks the rejuvenation of the Nordic collaboration between the three countries.

The art in the Nordic Pavilion will be presented as a joint project, where the three countries are represented on equal terms. As before, the countries will take turns as principal commissioner and manager of activities at the Nordic Pavilion as follows:

2017: Moderna Museet, Sweden

2019: Frame Visual Art Finland, Finland

2021: Office for Contemporary Art (OCA), Norway

Moderna Museet has thus appointed Mats Stjernstedt to curate the Nordic Pavilion in 2017. Stjernstedt is the artistic director of Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo since 2011. He has curated numerous exhibitions internationally over the years.

“Being asked to assemble an exhibition for the Nordic Pavilion is an honour and a challenge. I appreciate being entrusted this assignment and look forward to combining my experience with research over the next few months. I also look forward to presenting interesting artists who are active in the Nordic countries, within the compelling framework of La Biennale di Venezia,” says Mats Stjernstedt.

The Nordic Pavilion for the Venice Biennial was completed in 1962 and has since been a space for collaboration between three nations – Sweden, Finland and Norway. Built on a plot between the pavilions of the United States and Denmark, it is situated in the Biennale grounds at Giardini in Venice. For the last three biennials of 2011, 2013 and 2015, a format was developed which involved the solo commissioning by each country of a project. For the period 2017–2021 the agreement entailing that all three countries are represented on equal terms, will be resumed.

Frame Visual Art Finland received 96 proposals

Frame Visual Art Finland received 96 proposals for the exhibition to be staged in the Pavilion of Finland at the forthcoming Venice Biennale in 2017.

In its Open Call Frame sought project proposals that examine independence as something formed through complex processes of dependence. Applicants were also requested to consider how the logic of exclusion, forgetting and silencing is recognised as foundational in the construction of national identity.

“The curators and artists who submitted proposals had developed interesting concepts from a wide variety of perspectives and in a diverse range of artistic media. The proposals were conceptually diverse and of a high level of quality,” says Raija Koli, Director of Frame.

The proposals are being processed by an international jury chaired by Raija Koli, Director of Frame. Her fellow jury members are Taru Elfving, Head of Programme at Frame, Curator Katerina Gregos, Professor Sarat Maharaj, Leevi Haapala, Director of the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Curator Maaretta Jaukkuri and artist Patrik Söderlund.

68 proposals for the Dutch entry to Venice Biennale 2017

The Mondriaan Fund’s request for proposals for the Dutch entry to the 57th edition of the Venice Biennale has received a wide response. 68 proposals were submitted by curators and curator collectives. Along with freelancers, curators and directors of various museums, presentation spaces and art initiatives also entered proposals. Proposals for solo versus group presentations are evenly balanced.

The director of the Mondriaan Fund, Birgit Donker, considers this a good harvest of promising proposals. It highlights (demonstrates) the amount of talent and ambition in the Netherlands, and selecting the very best plan will be a considerable task for the jury, she added.

The proposals will be evaluated by an internationally oriented jury of experts, who will submit a selected shortlist of no more than 5 by the end of February. The selected curators will be assigned a budget with which to further elaborate their plan, and will present their plans to the jury at the end of May.

The jury consists of Lorenzo Benedetti (curator, e.g. Nederlands Paviljoen in Venice 2013), Nathalie Hartjes (director showroom MAMA), Aernout Mik (artist, participant in e.g. exhibitions in the Nederlands Paviljoen in 1997 and 2007) and Mirjam Westen (curator of contemporary art Museum Arnhem). Birgit Donker is chairperson, with no right of vote.

The jury members will select the most suitable plan after the presentations, and will subsequently formulate their choice of curator of the Dutch entry for the Mondriaan Fund. The Venice Biennale opens on May 13, 2017.