press release

PRESS RELEASE

The International Foundation Manifesta is delighted to announce the selection of the newly appointed curators of Manifesta 7, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art: Adam Budak (Krakow/Graz), Anselm Franke (Antwerp/Berlin) / Hila Peleg (Berlin) and the members of the Raqs Media Collective (New Delhi). Manifesta 7 will take place in the region of Trentino—Alto Adige / Südtirol, Italy from 19 July to 2 November 2008. The curators were appointed by the IFM board from a shortlist of more than 20 candidates.
Manifesta, the European Biennial of Contemporary art, changes locations every two years. Following the cancellation of Manifesta 6 in Nicosia, Cyprus in 2006, the next edition, Manifesta 7, will be situated across a 150 kilometres of historical and industrial locations in the region of Trentino – Alto Adige / Südtirol. This region is recognised by Manifesta for its extraordinary industrial heritage and cultural infrastructure, which will form the basis for formulating the artistic strategy of Manifesta 7.
Manifesta 7 will open to the public on July 19, 2008 and will run until 2 November, 2008. The venues are located on one of Europe’s most important travel routes between north and south: the fortress of Fortezza that dates back to the middle of the 19th century, three industrial buildings from the first decades of the 20th century the Ex-Alumix (Bolzano) and the Ex-Alpe and Ex-Peterlini (both located in Rovereto) as well as the Post Office building in Trento, an edifice constructed in the rationalist style in the 1930. While articulating an overall framework for Manifesta 7, each of the three curatorial units will concentrate on working in one city and its venues, with Raqs Media Collective working in Bolzano, Anselm Franke/Hila Peleg in Trento, and Adam Budak in Rovereto. The fourth venue, the fortress Fortezza, will be curated by all curators collaboratively.
About the curators:
Adam Budak, who lives in Graz and Krakow, is currently curator for contemporary art at the Kunsthaus Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz, Austria. He studied theatre studies at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and history and philosophy of art and architecture at the Central European University in Prague. He is a guest professor at the Higher Institute for Fine Arts – Flanders in Ghent and at the Theatre Institute of the Kunstuniversität in Graz. He has recently co-established the postgraduate studies programme in curatorial practice and theory at the Art History Institute of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Adam Budak has curated “Architectures: Metastructures of Humanity, Morphic Strategies of Exposure”, exhibition in the Polish Pavilion of the 9th Venice Biennale of Architecture (2004). He worked with acclaimed artists such as John Baldessari, Cerith Wyn Evans and Monika Sosnowska, and has curated a large number of international exhibitions. Rece nt projects include “Protections. This Is Not an Exhibition” (together with Christine Peters) and “Volksgarten. Politics of Belonging” (cocurated with Katia Schurl and Peter Pakesch).
Anselm Franke is the artistic director of Extra City Center for Contemporary Art in Antwerp. He has been Director of Exhibitions at KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin until 2006. In Berlin, he continues to work as co-curator of the Forum Expanded of the International Film Festival Berlin. He has frequently organised projects in theatres, as well as in architectural and academic contexts. Writing for various magazines such as Piktogram, he is currently completing a PhD at the Visual Cultures/Center for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths College London. At the moment, he is working on an exhibition titled “Mimétisme”.
For Manifesta 7, Anselm Franke will be collaborating with Hila Peleg, who is a curator based in Berlin. Born in Tel Aviv, Peleg studied Art History at Goldsmiths College/University of London, where she is currently a PhD candidate in Curatorial Knowledge/Visual Cultures. Peleg organised and co-curated various international projects dealing with artistic practices and culture from the Middle East. More recently, Peleg has edited a book on the artist Keren Cytter published by Revolver, and she directed the film “A Crime Against Art”, released by UNP Berlin. Peleg and Franke have co-organised the exhibition “Imaginary Number” at KW Berlin (2005) and “Clinic – A Pathology of Gesture” at
HAU Berlin (2006).
The Raqs Media Collective (Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula & Shuddhabrata Sengupta) has been variously described as artists, media practitioners, curators, researchers, editors and catalysts of cultural processes. Their work, which has been exhibited widely in major international spaces and events, locates them squarely along the intersections of contemporary art, historical enquiry, philosophical speculation, research and theory – often taking the form of installations, online and offline media objects, performances and encounters. They live and work in Delhi, based at Sarai, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, an initiative they co-founded in 2000. They are members of the editorial collective of the Sarai Reader series.
About the team:
Manifesta 7 is a co-production between the International Foundation Manifesta, the Autonomous Province of Bozen/Bolzano—South Tyrol and the Autonomous Province of Trento, who combined forces in a new administrative entity called Comitato Manifesta 7. Hedwig Fijen, director of the IFM in Amsterdam is also acting as President of the Comitato Manifesta 7 in Italy and thus ultimately responsible. In addition, two other board members of the International Foundation Manifesta are represented in the local Comitato Manifesta 7: Viktor Misiano and Allard Huizing, attorney in law.
Andreas Hapkemeyer (former Director of Museion, the museum of modern and contemporary art in Bolzano), and Fabio Cavallucci (Director of Galleria Civica di Arte Contemporanea in Trento) are appointed as the coordinators of Manifesta 7 and form the management team.
Manifesta 7 is financially supported by the Autonomous Province of Bozen/Bolzano—South Tyrol, the Autonomous Province of Trento, and the European Commission Culture 2000 Programme.
About Manifesta:
Manifesta and its related activities are an initiative of the International Foundation Manifesta in Amsterdam. Manifesta is the only itinerant biennial in the world. Every two years all parameters change, therefore Manifesta at Home in Amsterdam is the permanent backbone structure of this nomadic biennial.
International Foundation Manifesta is funded by European Commission Culture 2000 programme and the Dutch Mondriaan Foundation.
For more information, please contact:
Manifesta 7
Crispistr 15 Via Crispi
I – 39100 Bozen/Bolzano, Italy
T +39 0471 414980
F +39 0471 414989
E info@manifesta7.it
http://www.manifesta7.it
International Foundation Manifesta
Laurierstraat 185
NL – 1016 PL Amsterdam
The Netherlands
T +31 20 6721435
F +31 20 4700073
E secretariat@manifesta.org
http://www.manifesta.org