57th Venice Biennale gets jury

Francesca Alfano Miglietti (Italy), Manuel J. Borja-Villel (Spain), Amy Cheng (Taiwan), Ntone Edjabe (Cameroon) and Mark Godfrey (Great Britain) have been announced as the Jury for the 57th Venice Bienniale, holding in Italy from May 13 -November 26 2017.

Nigeria is participating at the event as a debutant country, showing the works of artists Peju Alatise, Victor Ehikhamenor and dance dramatist- performance artist, Qudus Onikeku.

According to a statement received from Visual Art Press Office La Biennale di Venezia, the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, appointed members of the Jury.

The appointments, the organisers said, were made based on the recommendation by the Artistic Director of the biennale event, Christine Macel. However, Borja-Villel has been announced as President of the Jury.

Meet the Jury: Borja-Villel is the director of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS), and former director of the Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona and the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA).

Miglietti is Milan-based curator of exhibitions, shows, and conferences. His research focuses on the issues connected with contemporary changes, as well as an art theorist and lecturer

Chen is a Taipei-based curator and writer, co-founder of TheCube Project Space, which serves as an independent art space devoted to the research, production and presentation of contemporary art.

Edjabe is a journalist and DJ, founder of Chimurenga (a pan-African publication of art, culture, and politics based in Cape Town) and the Pan African Space Station (PASS), and winner of the Principal Award of the Prince Claus Awards in 2011.

Godfrey is Senior Curator, International Art at Tate Modern. He has organised several exhibitions on Sigmar Polke, Francis Alys, Richard Hamilton, and Abraham Cruzvillegas’s Turbine Hall commission. He won the 2015 Absolut Art Writing prize.

The Jury will award the under listed prizes: · Golden Lion for best National Participation
· Golden Lion for best artist in the International Exhibition Viva Arte Viva
· Silver Lion for a promising young artist in the International Exhibition Viva Arte Viva

The Jury will also have the opportunity of awarding: a maximum of one special mention to National Participations; a maximum of two special mentions to the artists

The Ceremony will take place during the official opening of the 57th Exhibition, Saturday May 13th, 2017 at Ca’ Giustinian, the headquarters of La Biennale di Venezia. The Exhibition will be open to the public from 10 am on that same day.