The directors board of the Venice Biennale, presided by Paolo Baratta, has announced the appointment of Okwui Enwezor as Visual Arts Director, specifically responsible for curating the art exhibit for 2015. In Baratta's words, "Enwezor has investigated, in particular, the complex phenomenon of globalization in connection with local roots. His experience is a definite starting point in the geographic range of his analysis, given the temporal depth of recent developments in the arts and the diverse richness that exists today".
Okwui Enwezor was born in Nigeria in 1963. A curator, art critic, editor, and writer, since 2011 he has worked as a Director of the Haus der Junst in Munich, Artistic Director of the 2nd Johannesburg Biennial (196-1998), Documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany (1998-2002), the International Contemporary Art Biennial in Seville, Spain (2005-2007), the 7th Gwangju Biennial in South Korea (2008), and the Triennal d'Art Contemporain at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2012).
The new curator stated that "No contemporary art event or exhibition has existed in the midst of the confluence of so many historic shifts in the fields f art, politics, technology, and economy as the Venice Biennale. This biennial is the ideal spot for exploring the dialectics between these fields of reference and the very institution of the Biennale will be a source of inspiration for the show".
Enwezor wide field of expertise includes international exhibitions, work with museums, academic works, and publishing. In 1994 he founded "NKA: The Journal of Contemporary African Art", published by Duke University Press. He is also the author of numerous essays and books, among them Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art (2008).
After thanking the curator for the previous edition for the excellent results of the 55th Biennale, Baratta said: "We closed an extraordinary research exhibition helmed with great success by Massimiliano Gioni, which reached a record attendance especially by young visitors. Such success demonstrates the broadening of the audience for the cultural and sensible experience provided by the Biennale. We now move into the next edition, with a person of great renown and experience and an extensive track record of activities and studies in the art field".
The next Venice Biennale will be held between May 9th and November 22nd, 2015.
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