07 May 2013
The Arts Council of Creative New Zealand has confirmed its commitment to New Zealand’s presence at the 2015 Venice Biennale.
“The Venice Biennale is widely recognised as the world’s pre-eminent international contemporary art exhibition, providing an unparalleled opportunity for our artists to show their work on the world stage,” says Chair of the Arts Council, Dr Dick Grant. “Our presence there is crucial to engaging audiences, curators, writers and collectors with the contemporary New Zealand art scene.”
Creative New Zealand’s financial commitment will be $650,000 over two financial years, the same as for the 2013 Biennale.
The project is also supported by the patrons of the Venice Biennale, led by Dayle Mace and Leigh Melville, who have raised more than $350,000 to support the 2013 exhibition.
New Zealand has taken part in the Venice Biennale since 2001 and it continues to be a cornerstone of Creative New Zealand’s international visual arts programme. Artists who have previously represented New Zealand are: Peter Robinson and Jacqueline Fraser (2001), Michael Stevenson (2003), et al. (2005), Judy Millar and Francis Upritchard (2009) and Michael Parekowhai (2011).
New Zealand sculptor, photographer and installation artist Bill Culbert is New Zealand’s official representative at the 2013 Biennale, opening on 1 June.
Background
The Venice Biennale is the largest international art exhibition in the world. It features exhibitions by more than 80 countries and attracts more than 30,000 key international curators, critics, collectors and artists to the three-day Vernissage (preview) period alone. In 2011, 440,000 visitors attended the six-month exhibition.
Bill Culbert’s work will be shown at the New Zealand Pavilion, the Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà (La Pietà), on the busy pedestrian thoroughfare between Piazza San Marco and the Giardini, the main venue of the Biennale. Culbert’s career spans 50 years and more than 100 solo shows in New Zealand and internationally. He creates elegant, poetic and often dazzling sculptural installations using lights and found materials.
For further information and interview requests, please contact:
Rebecca Lancashire | Senior Communications Adviser
T +64 4 473 0880 | DDI +64 4 498 0725| M +64 (0) 27 677 8070
rebecca.lancashire@creativenz.govt.nz
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