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Awards - 56th International Art Exhibition

The Jury of the 56th International Art Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia was comprised of Naomi Beckwith (USA), Sabine Breitwieser (Austria), Mario Codognato (Italy), Ranjit Hoskote (India), and Yongwoo Lee (South Korea).

Golden Lion for Best National Participation:
Republic of Armenia

Armenity / Haiyutioun. Contemporary artists from the Armenian Diaspora

Commissioner: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia

Deputy Commissioners: Art for the World Europa, Mekhitarist Congregation of San Lazzaro Island, Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Italy, Vartan Karapetian

Curator: Adelina Cüberyan von Fürstenberg

Artists:
Haig Aivazian, Nigol Bezjian, Anna Boghiguian, Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, Ayreen Anastas & René Gabri, Mekhitar Garabedian, Aikaterini Gegisian, Yervant Gianikian & Angela Ricci Lucchi, Aram Jibilian, Nina Katchadourian, Melik Ohanian, Mikayel Ohanjanyan, Rosana Palazyan, Sarkis, Hrair Sarkissian

Venue: Monastery and Island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni

Motivation: "… for forming a pavilion based on a people in diaspora, each artist engaging their specific locality as well as their heritage. The pavilion took the form of a palimpsest, with contemporary positions inserted into a site of historic preservation. In a year that witnesses a significant milestone for the Armenian people, this pavilion marks the resilience of trans-cultural confluence and exchanges."

Golden Lion for Best Artist:
Adrian Piper

The Golden Lion for the Best Artist in the International Exhibition All the World’s Futures goes to Adrian Piper (* 1948 USA) for her work:
The Probable Trust Registry: The Rules of the Game #1–3
Exhibited at the Arsenale, Corderie.

Motivation: "A pioneering artist, Piper has reformed conceptual practice to include personal subjectivity—of herself, her audience and the publics in general. Her presentations invite us to engage in a life-long performance of personal responsibility and calls out attention to ephemeral and transitional character of value systems."

Silver Lion for a promising young artist:
Im Heung-Soon

The Silver Lion for a promising young artist in the International Exhibition All the World’s Futures goes to Im Heung-Soon (* 1969 South Korea) for his work:
Factory Complex
Exhibited at the Arsenale, Artiglierie.

Motivation: "… for a moving video work that probes the nature of precarity in relation to the conditions of labor for women across Asia. Factory Complex takes the form of a documentary but with a direct, lightly mediated, encounter with his subjects and their working conditions."

Special Mentions

The Jury has also decided to assign three Special Mentions to artists of the International Exhibition All the World’s Futures:

Harun Farocki
(* 1944 Nový Jičín, Czech Republic. + 2014 near Berlin.
Works at Corderie, Arsenale.)
Motivation: "…a seminal figure in post-war cinema. This presentation makes his entire body of highly influential work accessible to a larger public."

Abounaddara collective
(Founded in 2010, Syria/Palestine, based in Damascus, Syria.
Video at Giardino delle Vergini, Arsenale)
Motivation: "Another special mention goes to the incredibly brave Abounaddara collective for documenting the current political strife and human struggle for survival in Syria, without taking sides."

Massinissa Selmani
(* 1980 Algeria. Drawings at Corderie, Arsenale.)
Motivation: "… for working in a modest medium which has the capacity to act beyond its scale."

The Jury has also wished to honor with a special mention the United States of America for their presentation of Joan Jonas, an artist of significant oeuvre and influence:

Joan Jonas: They Come to Us Without a Word
Commissioner: Paul C. Ha.
Deputy Commissioner: MIT List Visual Arts Center.
Curators: Ute Meta Bauer, Paul C. Ha.
Venue: Pavilion at Giardini

The Awards Ceremony of the 56th International Art Exhibition took place on May 9th 2015 at Ca’ Giustinian, 12.30 am. The Board of la Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, also awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to El Anatsui (Ghana), and a Special Golden Lion for Services to the Arts to Susanne Ghez (USA), both under director Okwui Enwezor’s proposal.

(Based on press information from 9 May 2015)

56th International Art Exhibition
La Biennale di Venezia

9 May - 22 November 2015

Preview days: 6 - 8 May 2014

Curator: Okwui Enwezor

Title: All the World's Futures

Please see also:

El Anatsui
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement
Incl. some of his works presented in UiU

International Jury
Incl. biographical data

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