A historic participation

This unprecedented participation of Madagascar in the Venice Biennale shows to the eyes of the world the artistic potential overflowing in the country and spotlights the resurgence of Madagascan art. It is also a milestone for the Venice Biennale, which for the first time welcomes the participation of Madagascar, thus recognizing Madagascar’s artistic maturity finding its place in the world’s art scene.

Madagascar thus reinforces Africa’s presence at the Venice Biennale, revealing the effervescence and creative strength of the continent, far from the clichés that are still too-often attributed to it. The Filatex Group, with this significant support of this exemplary event, contributes to this revelation. A decisive step for the group that precedes several equally decisive actions that will be upheld by the Managing Director, Hasnaine Yavarhoussen, and implemented by the Executive Director of the Arts & Culture Fund, Romy Andrianarisoa Voos, and all the dedicated teams. The Filatex Group with its new Arts & Culture Fund intends to promote and feature Malagasy art in Madagascar and in the eyes of the world; convinced that art and culture are the essential pillars for the development and establishment of sustainable and inclusive growth, a growth in which the Filatex Group actively participates. A commitment to its resurgence of cultural pride, driven by its singular identity that the Filatex Group wants to transmit to the new generations, thus contributing to building the future.

An access to a globalized market

“Increasing growth, a lifestyle that is swinging into modernity, a geographical location favorable to trade: Madagascar offers undeniable advantages. The goal of the Filatex Group is to arouse this potential”— Hasnaine Yavarhoussen Managing Director 

 The Filatex Group has been supporting the development of Madagascar for 40 years. A designer of innovative real estate projects, the leading private energy producer on the big island and a progressive player in the hotel, restaurant and wellness sectors, the Filatex Group is contributing to Madagascar’s access to a globalized market. Responsible and pragmatic, the Filatex Group relies on trustworthy performance in developing its strategies. These actions stem from a desire to always give a positive impetus to the country. Throughout its history, the Filatex Group has demonstrated its support through its many development works: roads, highways, lighting … Public actions to boost the Malagasy territory and promote job creation. Ensuring the proper functioning of its expertise, while respecting people and the environment, allows the Group to foster multiple fields of activity: real estate, infrastructure, free-trade zones, energy and services.

Renewal, revitalization and modernization are the Group’s values in the emergence of new neighborhoods. Today, all decision-making is bearing fruit, allowing us to go even further in the design of innovative projects. A responsible commitment, which the Group wishes to pass on to the next generations through public actions that facilitate access to education along with a significant support in Art to promote the singularity of Malagasy creativity and innovation.

 

The 58th Venice Biennale will take place from 11 May to 24 November 2019.

www.labiennale.org

 

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It is with a deep sadness that we heard the death of Okwui Enwezor at 55. He had been battling cancer for years. Among the first to share news of his passing was the Venice Biennale, whose 56th edition he curated in 2015.

Okwui Enwezor was a Nigerian curator, art critic, writer, poet, and educator specialized in art history. In 2014, he was ranked 24 in the ArtReview list of the 100 most powerful people of the art world. He was also known for his incisive, free-thinking, great eloquence and his more inclusive and less Eurocentric, curatorial focus on a more international view of contemporary art and art history.

Enwezor was the first African-born curator to organize the Venice Biennale, a show that began in 1895, and the first non-European to oversee Documenta, the every-five-years show in Kassel, Germany, which he staged in 2002. That latter show, Documenta XI, defined his curatorial sensibilities: venturesome, unabashedly intellectual, and intent on rethinking how institutions operate.

In the run-up to the opening of Documenta in June of 2002, Enwezor staged what he termed platforms—conferences, seminars, and other projects—in Berlin, Vienna, New Delhi, St. Lucia, and Lagos, Nigeria, and for the main exhibition showcased artists from beyond Europe and the United States, areas that had historically dominated the show.

“When I started, I always had what I thought was a change agenda,” Enwezor told Melissa Chiu in an interview at the Asia Society in New York in 2014.

“The art world was very Eurocentric and very Western-centric, and it needed strong curators to change it,” Els van der Plas, the general director of the Dutch National Opera & Ballet, told the Wall Street Journal in 2014. “Enwezor positioned several projects in a very strong way, which gave a different view of the world and different views on the history of post-colonialism, of what Africa contributed to the world’s development, and of how different countries in Africa are positioned in the world debate.”

Venice and Documenta were but two in a long string of prestigious, closely watched shows he presented—a list that also includes the 1996 Johannesburg Biennale and the 2008 Gwangju Biennale in South Korea.

From 2011, he was director of the Munich Haus der Kunst for 7 years. In June 2018, he signed a operation agreement there, three years before the end of his original term. Last August, in the  Conversations e-flux, Enwezor talked about his departure from the Munich Haus der Kunst by saying “(…) But even if I had been healthier, I would probably have missed what the perspective in Munich was. Because, yes, I got the impression that I was no longer wanted. You know, as the director of such an institution, you need not only financial but also moral support….”

To read the full content please visit Art News

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Finally, can we consider that Africa is no longer a focus in major events in the art world ?

“National pavilions from eight of Africa’s 54 countries are expected in Venice this year, after several years when African art has been a particular focus of the global art scene. South Africa will work with other countries in the Africa Art in Venice forum.”

“Mawande Ka Zenzile, Dineo Seshee Bopape and Tracey Rose will explore themes of social, political and economic resilience in post-Apartheid South Africa”

Read the full article on the Art Newspaper

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The Architect David Adjaye will design Ghana’s first Venice biennale Pavillon.

Here is an extract of the article.

“Being able to show the diversity and creativity of Ghana on an international scale is an incredible achievement,” said the British architect in a statement. It also showcases the breadth of the nation’s artistic talent, he continued. Adjaye himself is no stranger to pavilion design, having created nearly 10 in recent years; his first at the Biennale was a 2003 collaboration with artist Chris Ofili for Britain. In 2017, AD revealed a backyard pavilion he designed for Design Miami founder Craig Robins’s home in South Beach, Florida. And most recently, he put out a call for augmented-reality architecture proposals to run alongside this year’s annual Serpentine Pavilion in London, to be built by Japanese architect Junya Ishigami. (Adjaye is a Serpentine trustee and was part of the team that selected West African architect Diébédo Francis Kéré for the 2017 design.)

Read the full article –> Architectural Digest

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