The international Cairo Biennale comes back with 13th edition after about eight years pause. Cairo Biennale has returned and is open to the public from June 10 to August 10, 2019.
Throughout the years Cairo Biennale has become a very unique and different event in its field that brings together the art creations from all over the world.
Eyes East Bound
Despite the years of pause, The Biennale is returning back strongly and different. This year’s title is an open invitation to all talented artists from all the globe to admire the Eastern civilization and to visit Egypt and explore its Culture, Arts, and Civilization. And set their eyes, minds, and hearts towards the East and its charm that affected all the arts through years.
‘Thanks go to every artist who has played a part in reviving this international event. Welcome to all the participating artists and distinguished guests of Egypt on its good land, which has been and will remain the cradle of civilization and the crosswords of culture.’- Prof. Inas Abdel Dayem, Minister of Culture.
Also Ehab El Labban ‘Artistic Director of the Cairo Biennale 19’ said that Eyes from every corner of the globe are currently directing their scrutinizing regards towards the East; an East with an ancient and deeply rooted cultural overload, in the core of which is our Middle East, that part of the planet that is immersed in – rather “overwhelmed by – an infinite number of social, political and economic issues, all aggravating and disseminating intricately to entangle – and concern – the whole world.”
He also added that the 13th Cairo Biennale, in a quest for an authentic dialogue alternative to what is proposed in cliche channels today, and while not attempting to dictate, guide or direct creators towards particular approaches, extends its invitation to artists to set their compasses to the East, their eyes to an alternative Orient, examine with us the four pillars that are our perceived reality, and probe with us all possible horizons in every possible medium of expression.
Curatorial Advisor
Dr. Henry Woo (M.A. Columbia, Ph.D. CASS)
Dr. Woo is an independent curator who has managed contemporary art projects in South Korea, China, South-East Asia, and Egypt. He is currently based in Cairo. His motive is to encourage an international dialogue about different viewpoints by bringing together artists and their works from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
He exhibited Filipino artists in Egypt at Something Else 2nd edition / Off-Biennale (Cairo, 2018) with Simon Njami as the head curator and Moataz Nasr as creative director. Dr. Woo is a guest curator at Darb 1718, a contemporary art center in Cairo; and sits on the Dean’s Advisory Board at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, New York, USA.
Guest of Honor
Gerard Garouste from France
Garouste was born in Paris in 1946, who is working in Paris and Normandy. He is a leading artist in French Art. He is mainly obsessed with eastern culture and its origins.
In addition to that, he is well known as both Sculptor and Painter.
Garouste has exhibited internationally in Solo Exhibitions as Gerard Garouste and the School of the Prophets, Place of Memory, France in 2019, At the Crossroads, Museum of Fine Arts in Mons, Belgium in 2016, The Donkey and The Fig, Templon Gallery, Paris, France in 2006 and More of amazing work throughout the years.
Know more about the International Jury
Felicitas Thun-Hohenstein- Chairwoman
She is a professor at the Institute of Art Theory and Cultural Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. In addition, she is a curator and art historian. Felicitas is the author and editor of several texts and publications.
She has been fixated on themes of Arts-based research, feminist theories, modern and contemporary arts.
Catherine David
Catherin was born and raised in Paris. She was the first woman to curate Documenta X in Kassel in Germany from 21st June to 28th September ’97. She is now a deputy director of the National Museum of Modern Art at the Centre Georges Pompidou.
Amelia Jones
A leading feminist art historian who was born July 14, 1961, in Durham, North Carolina.
Jones is an author of many articles and books that include seeing differently: A History and Theory of Identification and the Visual Arts (2012), Self/Image: Technology, Representation, and the Contemporary Subject (2006), Irrational Modernism: A Neurasthenic History of New York Dada (2004), and Body Art/Performing the Subject (1998), and the editor or co-editor of anthologies including the Feminism and Visual Culture Reader (new edition 2010) and Sexuality (2014) in the Whitechapel “Documents” series and Otherwise: Imagining Queer Feminist Art Histories (2015).
Teresa Grandas
She is an Exhibitions Curator at MACBA, who has curated Projects some of them are: Domènec. Ni aquí ni enlloc ” (MACBA 2018; Ateneo Art Gallery, Manila, 2019); “Poe- sia Brossa”, co-curated with Pedro G. Romero (MACBA, 2017-2018; ARTIUM, Vitoria, 2018; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, 2019); “Gelatina dura. Historias escamoteadas de los ochenta” (MACBA 2016-2017; Sala de Armas, Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, Pamplo- na, 2018); “Video-nou” (Van Abbe, Eindhoven, 2016); “La pasión según Carol Rama”, co-curat- ed with Paul B. Preciado (MACBA, 2014-2015; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 2015; EMMA, Espoo, 2015-2016; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 2016.
Annabelle Ténèze
She is a historian of French Art and Curator of heritage. Ténèze was born in 1979 . She is the director of Abattoirs-FRAC Midi-Pyrénées ( Toulouse ) since 2016. In her work, she seeks to make contemporary art accessible to as many people as possible.
Artists Participated in the Cairo Biennale ‘19
This year 80 artists from 50 countries in different continents are participating in the Cairo International Biennial. The artistic works of the event will be hosted in The Palace of Arts, The Museum of Modern Egyptian Art and The Zamalek Art Complex from June 10 to August 10.
Among these talented artists is the Egyptian artist Ahmed Badry who won the Cairo International Biennale Award, which is worth LE 150,000.
Badry has a Master’s degree in medium and material based art from Oslo National Academy of Arts om Norway. In 2003, he graduated from the Faculty of Arts Education, Helwan University in Cairo, Egypt.
He participated in art residences at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris, France. Gallen in Rome and Delfina Foundation in London, the UK. He has exhibited internationally, including his solo exhibitions at Kasko, Basel, Egypt in 2014 and Letita Gallery in Beirut, Lebanon in 2018 beside his other group exhibitions.
NO COMMENT