New dates: The International Art Exhibition has been postponed and will be held from 23.4. to 27.11.2022!
Stuttgart/Berlin, 04.05.2020 – Yilmaz Dziewior, Director of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, was appointed curator of the official German contribution to the 59th Venice Biennale 2021 by Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. 'Yilmaz Dziewior is an internationally acclaimed, innovative curator who addresses current issues of the contemporary world and develops exhibitions which open up new perspectives on art, thanks to their experimental and interdisciplinary approach. We’re delighted about this excellent choice and look forward to good cooperation with him', says Ulrich Raulff, President of ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), which is supervising the German Pavilion in the function of commissioner.
Dr. Yilmaz Dziewior has been Director of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne since 2015. He was Director of the Kunstverein Hamburg from 2001-2008 and Director of the Kunsthaus Bregenz from 2009-2015 and has worked as a freelance curator on a number of art projects.
The German Pavilion
The Venice Biennale is one of the most important exhibitions of contemporary art. For years, the German Pavilion has been one of the highlights on the grounds of the Giardini della Biennale. In 2019, it was visited by some 361,000 art aficionados.
Since 1971, ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) has been responsible for the coordination and implementation of Germany's contribution to the Venice Biennale on behalf of the Federal Foreign Office. Internationally acclaimed artists such as Gerhard Richter, Joseph Beuys, Jochen Gerz, Ulrich Rückriem, Hanne Darboven, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Hans Haacke, Nam June Paik, Katharina Fritsch, Gerhard Merz, Rosemarie Trockel, Martin Kippenberger, Candida Höfer, Tino Sehgal, Isa Genzken and Ai Weiwei have presented their works at the German Pavilion at the Biennale di Venezia. The German contribution has already won the Golden Lion for best national pavilion six times: In 1984, it went to Lothar Baumgarten and A. R. Penck (commisioner: Johannes Cladders), in 1986 to Sigmar Polke (commissioner: Dierk Stemmler), in 1993 to Hans Haacke and Nam June Paik (commissioner: Klaus Bußmann), in 2001 to Gregor Schneider (commissioner: Udo Kittelmann), in 2011 to Christoph Schlingensief (curator: Susanne Gaensheimer) and in 2017 to Anne Imhof (curator: Susanne Pfeffer). In 2019, Natascha Süder Happelmann designed the German contribution, which was curated by Franciska Zolyóm.
About ifa
ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) is Germany's oldest intermediary organisation for international cultural relations. It promotes a peaceful and enriching coexistence between peoples and cultures worldwide. ifa supports artistic and cultural exchange in exhibition, dialogue and conference programmes, and it acts as a centre of excellence for international cultural and educational policy. It is part of a global network and relies on sustainable, long-term partnerships.
In the area of contemporary art, ifa supports exhibitions of the works of artists living in Germany, and is involved in international networks and academic discussions on artistic and cultural exchange. As part of its funding programme for exhibitions, ifa enables German artists and other artists living in Germany to participate in biennales around the world and artists from developing countries and countries in transition to participate in biennales in Germany.
ifa is supported by the Federal Foreign Office, the state of Baden-Württemberg and its capital Stuttgart. www.ifa.de
Press contact
Miriam Kahrmann, Tel. 0711.2225.105, presse(at)ifa.de, www.ifa.de