The curator of the 60th Venice Biennale, Adriano Pedrosa, has revealed his plans for the world’s most prestigious exhibition which launches in April. There are 331 artists in total in the main international exhibition, entitled Foreigners Everywhere, which takes place in a “world rife with crises concerning movement of people across borders”, Pedrosa said in a press briefing held this morning.
“Wherever you go, you will always encounter foreigners… no matter where you find yourself, you are always deep down inside a foreigner,” said Pedrosa. The thesis expresses “differences and disparities conditioned by [issues such as] race, sexuality and wealth etc.”, he added.
Pedrosa says that he feels his own experiences are reflected in the theme. “I have lived abroad and been fortunate to travel extensively,” he said, stressing that he has often been treated as a “third-world foreigner” even though he holds “one of the highest-ranking passports of the Global South. [Pedrosa is Brazilian]” Crucially, he said: “I also identify as queer, the first openly queer curator [of the Biennale].”
The theme especially takes on extra resonance in Venice, he added. “At one point, Venice was the most important centre for trade in Mediterranean. The population [today] consists of 50,000; this may reach 165,000 during peak seasons due to enormous numbers of tourists… foreigners of a privileged kind.”
New Zealand's Mataaho, a collective of four Māori women artists / Mataaho in front of AKA (2019), exhibited in Àbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu Continuel, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
Photo courtesy of National Gallery of Canada
He also said that the theme can be considered as “a call to action. This assumes critical significance around Europe when the number of forcibly displaced people hit its highest in 2022 at 108 million; this is expected to grow in 2023.”
The aesthetic thread underpinning the Biennale comes from the Paris-based collective Claire Fontaine who made a number of neon sculptures rendering the phrase "Stranieri Ovunque" or “Foreigners Everywhere” (the phrase initially derives from the name of a Turin collective who fought racism and xenophobia in Italy in the early 2000s). Several sculptures by Claire Fontaine will be shown around the Arsenale exhibition site (the former shipyards in Venice).
Indigenous artists will have a strong “emblematic” presence in the show, said Pedrosa. The Mahku collective, who come from the border of Brazil and Peru, will paint a monumental mural on the façade of the Central Pavilion in the Giardini. In the Arsenale, the Mataaho collective from New Zealand will present a large installation in the first room.
Dean Sameshima's Secret Historian (no. 2), 2010; Dean Sameshima is just one of several queer artists whose work will be shown in the nucleo contemporaneo
Courtesy the artist and Soft Opening, London
Queer artists will feature in one of the nucleo contemporaneo (contemporary nuclei) including Erica Rutherford; Isaac Chong Wai; Elyla; Violeta Quispe; Louis Fratino and Dean Sameshima. A room devoted to “queer abstraction” will feature works by China-born Evelyn Taocheng Wang.
There will also be a special section devoted to the Disobedience Archive, established by Marco Scotini which is described on the organisation's website as a “user’s guide to four decades of social disobedience seen through history and geography”.
There will be a focus on textiles, with works by the Chilean sewing collective Bordadoras de Isla Negra as well as artists Dana Awartini, Frieda Toranzo-Jaeger, Liz Collins, Pacita Abad and Yinka Shonibare. A section also concentrates on “artists related by blood” including Susanne Wenger and her adopted son, Sangodare Gbadegesin Ajala. This part will also include Lorna Selim and Jewad Selim.
The Biennale will also feature a Nucleo Storico (historical nuclei), a section comprising works by 20th-century artists from Latin America, Africa, the Arab world, and Asia dating from 1905 to 1990. “European modernism travelled far beyond Europe throughout the 20th century, often intertwined with colonialism, and many artists in the Global South travelled to Europe to be exposed to it. Yet modernism was appropriated, devoured and cannibalised in the Global South, repeatedly taking on radically new shapes and forms in dialogue with local and indigenous references,” Pedrosa said earlier this year.
The Nucleo Storico will be divided into three sections: portraits, abstraction and the Italian diaspora which comprises one work per artist, spread across the Central Pavilion and the Arsenale. The portraits section will feature 112 artists including Selwyn Wilson, Cícero Dias, Yêdamaria, Laura Rodig, Rómulo Rozo, Inji Aflatoun, Grace Salome Kwami, Lee Quede and Gerard Sekoto.
“Abstraction” will feature Sandy Adsett, Fanny Sanín, Etel Adnan, Eduardo Terrazas and Samia Halaby. The section devoted to the worldwide Italian artistic diaspora in the 20th century features artists such as Lidy Prati, Nenne Sanguineti Poggi, Gianni Bertini and Lina Bo Bardi.
The outgoing president of the Biennale, Roberto Cicutto, highlighted the political dimension of the Venice Biennale. The last Biennale in 2022 was “prophetic given the tragic events over the past four years… [against the backdrop of] Russian aggression in Ukraine, the Hamas attack and the tragic consequences [of Israel's bombardment] of the Gaza strip.” The Biennale is a “privileged vantage point [from which one] can curate the world”, he added. Cicutto is set to be replaced by the right-wing commentator Pietrangelo Buttafuoco.
Full list of invited artists
1. Pacita Abad
2. Mariam Abdel-Aleem
3. Etel Adnan
4. Sandy Adsett
5. Affandi
6. Zubeida Agha
7. Dia al-Azzawi
8. Claudia Alarcón & Silät
9. Rafa al-Nasiri
10. Miguel Alandia Pantoja
11. Aloïse
12. Giulia Andreani
13. Claudia Andujar
14. María Aranís Valdivia
15. Aravani Art Project
16. Iván Argote
17. Karimah Ashadu
18. Dana Awartani
19. Aycoobo (Wilson Rodríguez)
20. Margarita Azurdia
21. Leilah Babirye
22. Libero Badii
23. Ezekiel Baroukh
24. Baya
25. Aly Ben Salem
26. Semiha Berksoy
27. Gianni Bertini
28. Lina Bo Bardi
29. Maria Bonomi
30. Bordadoras de Isla Negra
31. Victor Brecheret
32. Huguette Caland
33. Sol Calero
34. Elda Cerrato
35. Mohammed Chebaa
36. Georgette Chen
37. Galileo Chini
38. Kudzanai Chiurai
39. Isaac Chong Wai
40. Saloua Raouda Choucair
41. Chaouki Choukini
42. Chua Mia Tee
43. Claire Fontaine
44. Manauara Clandestina
45. River Claure
46. Julia Codesido
47. Liz Collins
48. Jaime Colson
49. Waldemar Cordeiro
50. Monika Correa
51. Beatriz Cortez
52. Olga Costa
53. Miguel Covarrubias
54. Victor Juan Cúnsolo
55. Andrés Curruchich
56. Rosa Elena Curruchich
57. Djanira da Motta e Silva
58. Olga De Amaral
59. Filippo de Pisis
60. Juan Del Prete
61. Pablo Delano
62. Emiliano Di Cavalcanti
63. Danilo Di Prete
64. Cícero Dias
65 - 104. Disobedience Archive – Marco Scotini
with Ursula Biemann, Black Audio-Film Collective, Seba Calfuqueo, Simone Cangelosi, Cinéastes pour les sans-papiers, Critical Art Ensemble, Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing, Marcelo Expósito, Maria Galindo & Mujeres Creando, Barbara Hammer, mixrice, Khaled Jarrar, Sara Jordenö, Bani Khoshnoudi, Maria Kourkouta & Niki Giannari, Pedro Lemebel, LIMINAL & Border Forensics, Angela Melitopoulos, Jota Mombaça, Carlos Motta, Zanele Muholi, Pınar Öğrenci, Daniela Ortiz, Thunska Pansittivorakul, Anand Patwardhan, Pilot TV Collective, Queerocracy, Oliver Ressler and Zanny Begg, Carole Roussopoulos, Güliz Sağlam, Irwan Ahmett & Tita Salina, Tejal Shah, Chi Yin Sim, Hito Steyerl, Sweatmother, Raphaël Grisey and Bouba Touré, Nguyễn Trinh Thi, James Wentzy, Želimir Žilnik
105. Juana Elena Diz
106. Tarsila do Amaral
107. Saliba Douaihy
108. Dullah
109. Inji Efflatoun
110. Uzo Egonu
111. Mohammad Ehsaei
112. Hatem El Mekki
113. Aref El Rayess
114. Ibrahim El-Salahi
115. Elyla
116. Ben Enwonwu
117. Romany Eveleigh
118. Hamed Ewais
119. Dumile Feni
120. Alessandra Ferrini
121. Cesare Ferro Milone
122. Raquel Forner
123. Simone Forti
124. Victor Fotso Nyie
125. Louis Fratino
126. Paolo Gasparini
127. Sàngódáre Gbádégesin Àjàlá
128. Umberto Giangrandi
129. Madge Gill
130. Marlene Gilson
131. Luigi Domenico Gismondi
132. Domenico Gnoli
133. Gabrielle Goliath
134. Brett Graham
135. Fred Graham
136. Enrique Grau Araújo
137. Oswaldo Guayasamín
138. Nedda Guidi
139. Hendra Gunawan
140. Antonio Jose Guzman & Iva Jankovic
141. Marie Hadad
142. Samia Halaby
143. Tahia Halim
144. Lauren Halsey
145. Nazek Hamdi
146. Mohamed Hamidi
147. Faik Hassan
148. Kadhim Hayder
149. Gilberto Hernández Ortega
150. Carmen Herrera
151. Evan Ifekoya
152. Julia Isídrez
153. Mohammed Issiakhem
154. Elena Izcue Cobián
155. María Izquierdo
156. Nour Jaouda
157. Rindon Johnson
158. Joyce Joumaa*
159. Mohammed Kacimi
160. Frida Kahlo
161. Nazira Karimi*
162. George Keyt
163. Bhupen Khakhar
164. Bouchra Khalili
165. Kiluanji Kia Henda
166. Linda Kohen
167. Shalom Kufakwatenzi
168. Ram Kumar
169. Fred Kuwornu
170. Grace Salome Kwami
171. Lai Foong Moi
172. Wifredo Lam
173. Judith Lauand
174. Maggie Laubser
175. Simon Lekgetho
176. Celia Leyton Vidal
177. Lim Mu Hue
178. Romualdo Locatelli
179. Bertina Lopes
180. Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato
181. Anita Magsaysay-Ho
182. MAHKU (Movimento dos Artistas Huni Kuin)
183. Esther Mahlangu
184. Anna Maria Maiolino
185. Anita Malfatti
186. Ernest Mancoba
187. Edna Manley
188. Josiah Manzi
189. Teresa Margolles
190. Maria Martins
191. María Martorell
192. Mataaho Collective
193. Naminapu Maymuru-White
194. Mohamed Melehi
195. Carlos Mérida
196. Gladys Mgudlandlu
197. Omar Mismar
198. Sabelo Mlangeni
199. Tina Modotti
200. Bahman Mohasses
201. Roberto Montenegro
202. Camilo Mori Serrano
203. Ahmed Morsi
204. Effat Naghi
205. Ismael Nery
206. Malangatana Valente Ngwenya
207. Paula Nicho
208. Costantino Nivola
209. Taylor Nkomo
210. Marina Núñez del Prado
211. Philomé Obin
212. Sénèque Obin
213. Alejandro Obregón
214. Tomie Ohtake
215. Uche Okeke
216. Marco Ospina
217. Samia Osseiran Junblatt
218. Daniel Otero Torres
219. Lydia Ourahmane
220. Pan Yuliang
221. Dalton Paula
222. Amelia Peláez
223. George Pemba
224. Fulvio Pennacchi
225. Claudio Perna
226. Emilio Pettoruti
227. Lê Phổ
228. Bona Pieyre De Mandiargues
229. Ester Pilone
230. La Chola Poblete
231. Charmaine Poh
232. Maria Polo
233. Candido Portinari
234. Sandra Poulson*
235. B. Prabha
236. Lidy Prati
237. Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo)
238. Lee Qoede
239. Agnes Questionmark*
240. Violeta Quispe
241. Alfredo Ramos Martinez
242. Sayed Haider Raza
243. Armando Reverón
244. Emma Reyes
245. Diego Rivera
246. Juana Marta Rodas
247. Laura Rodig Pizarro
248. Abel Rodríguez
249. Aydeé Rodriguez Lopez
250. Freddy Rodriguez
251. Miguel Ángel Rojas
252. Rosa Rolanda
253. Jamini Roy
254. Rómulo Rozo
255. Erica Rutherford
256. José Sabogal
257. Mahmoud Sabri
258. Syed Sadequain
259. Nena Saguil
260. Mahmoud Saïd
261. Kazuya Sakai
262. Ione Saldanha
263. Dean Sameshima
264. Zilia Sánchez
265. Bárbara Sánchez-Kane
266. Nenne Sanguineti Poggi
267. Fanny Sanín
268. Aligi Sassu
269. Greta Schödl
270. Ana Segovia
271. Gerard Sekoto
272. Jewad Selim
273. Lorna Selim
274. Joshua Serafin
275. Kang Seung Lee
276. Gino Severini
277. Amrita Sher-Gil
278. Anwar Jalal Shemza
279. Yinka Shonibare
280. Doreen Sibanda
281. Fadjar Sidik
282. Gazbia Sirry
283. Lucas Sithole
284. Francis Newton Souza
285. Joseph Stella
286. Irma Stern
287. Leopold Strobl
288. Emiria Sunassa
289. Superflex
290. Armodio Tamayo
291. Maria Taniguchi
292. Evelyn Taocheng Wang
293. Lucy Tejada
294. Mariana Telleria
295. Güneş Terkol
296. Eduardo Terrazas
297. Clorindo Testa
298. Salman Toor
299. Frieda Toranzo Jaeger
300. Horacio Torres
301. Joaquin Torres-Garcìa
302. Mario Tozzi
303. Twins Seven Seven
304. Ahmed Umar
305. Unidentified Chilean women artists, Arpillera
306. Rubem Valentim
307. Edoardo Daniele Villa
308. Eliseu Visconti
309. Alfredo Volpi
310. Kay WalkingStick
311. WangShui
312. Agnes Waruguru
313. Barrington Watson
314. Osmond Watson
315. Susanne Wenger
316. Emmi Whitehorse
317. Selwyn Wilson
318. Chang Woosoung
319. Celeste Woss y Gil
320. Xiyadie
321. Rember Yahuarcani
322. Santiago Yahuarcani
323. Nil Yalter
324. Joseca Mokahesi Yanomami
325. André Taniki Yanomami
326. Yêdamaria
327. Ramses Younan
328. Kim YunShin
329. Fahrelnissa Zeid
330. Anna Zemánková
331. Bibi Zogbé