John Akomfrah, Olga de Amaral and Carmen Herrera included in the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
31 January 2024
Lisson Gallery is delighted to share that Olga de Amaral and Carmen Herrera are among the artists included the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Adriano Pedrosa.
Opening to the public on 20 April, 'Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere' will take place in the Central Pavilion (Giardini) and in the Arsenale, with two sections: the Nucleo Contemporaneo and the Nucleo Storico. As a guiding principle, the Biennale Arte 2024 has favoured artists who have never participated in the International Exhibition. Special attention is being given to outdoor projects, both in the Arsenale and in the Giardini, where a performance program will activate the pre-opening and closing weekend of the 60th Exhibition.
The title ‘Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere’ is drawn from a series of works started in 2004 by the Paris-born and Palermo-based Claire Fontaine collective. The works consist of neon sculptures in different colours that render in a growing number of languages the words “Foreigners Everywhere”. The phrase comes, in turn, from the name of a Turin collective who fought racism and xenophobia in Italy in the early 2000s.
“The expression Stranieri Ovunque”, explains Adriano Pedrosa “has several meanings. First of all, that wherever you go and wherever you are you will always encounter foreigners— they/we are everywhere. Secondly, that no matter where you find yourself, you are always truly, and deep down inside, a foreigner.”
The Nucleo Storico, featuring works by de Amaral and Herrera, gathers works from 20th century Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Much has been written about global modernisms and modernisms in the Global South, and a number of rooms will feature works from these territories, much like an essay, a draft, a speculative curatorial exercise that seeks to question the boundaries and definitions of modernism.
Meanwhile, the Nucleo Contemporaneo will feature a special section in the Corderie of the Arsenale devoted to the 'Disobedience Archive', a project by Marco Scotini, which since 2005 has been developing a video archive focusing on the relationships between artistic practices and activism. In the Exhibition, the presentation of the Disobedience Archive is designed by Juliana Ziebell, and is divided into two main parts: Diaspora activism and Gender Disobedience. This section will include works by 39 artists and collectives made between 1975 and 2023, incuding the 1985 film Handsworth Songs by Black Audio Film Collective, of which John Akomfrah was a founding member.
Find further information via La Biennale.
