Manifesta is pleased to announce the Host Region and the curatorial team of Manifesta 9, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, taking place in Limburg, Belgium, in 2012. Cuauhtémoc Medina has been appointed curator and has composed the curatorial team by selecting Katerina Gregos and Dawn Ades as associate curators.
The Province of Limburg, Belgium has been selected as Host Region for Manifesta 9 in 2012. The former mining region spearheaded their Bid for Manifesta by emphasizing regional issues such as the social repositioning of a postindustrial society, finding new possibilities to deal with material and immaterial cultural heritage and the search for a joint European identity and forms of collaboration, while at the same time not letting go of one’s own distinctiveness. These are issues which, according to Manifesta, form a complex and interesting point of departure for the project, and are relevant both within the Host Region and within a European context at large. The newly elected Host of Manifesta responded with great enthusiasm to the decision of the Manifesta Foundation board.
Following an extensive period of research and talks, culminating in a period of on-site research by three final candidates, the board and the director of the Manifesta Foundation selected Cuauhtémoc Medina. Medina impressed the board with a striking proposal which—in line with Manifesta’s aims—opens up possibilities to develop innovative working models for the display and production of contemporary art, while strengthening the links between artistic practice, culture heritage and the socio political landscape.
Cuauhtémoc Medina is an international curator, art critic and historian and is based in Mexico City, Mexico. He holds a PhD in Art History and Theory from the University of Essex, UK. Medina is a researcher at the Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas at the National University of Mexico and was the first Associate Curator of Latin American Art Collections at Tate Modern in London.
Manifesta and Cuauhtémoc Medina are glad to announce the other members of the curatorial team of Manifesta 9: Katerina Gregos and Dawn Ades.
Katerina Gregos is a curator and writer based in Brussels, Belgium. Amongst other projects she is currently curator of the Danish Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale. Previously, she served as artistic director of Argos – Centre for Art & Media, Brussels, and director of the Deste Foundation, Centre for Contemporary Art, Athens, as well as curator of numerous international large-scale exhibitions.
Dawn Ades is a fellow of the British Academy, a former trustee of Tate and was awarded an Order of the British Empire in 2002 for her services to art history. Ades was responsible for some of the most important exhibitions in London and overseas over the past thirty years, including “Dada and Surrealism Reviewed”, “Art in Latin America” and “Francis Bacon”.
Manifesta, the European Biennial of Contemporary art, changes its location every two years and purposely strives to keep its distance from what are often seen as the dominant centers of artistic production, instead seeking fresh and fertile terrain for the mapping of a new cultural topography. This includes innovations in curatorial practices, exhibition models and education. Each Manifesta Biennial aims to investigate and reflect on emerging developments in contemporary art, culture and society, set within a European context.