Venice Biennale Releases Artist List for the 58th International Art Exhibition

Slated to open on May 11, the 58th Venice Biennale’s international art exhibition will feature 79 artists and collectives. Curated by Ralph Rugoff, director of London’s Hayward Gallery, the show is titled “May You Live in Interesting Times”—a statement that has been misattributed as a Chinese curse. Presented across the Giardini and at the Arsenale in Venice, the exhibition will propose and pivot around new ways to live and think amid the world’s current socio-political conditions. In his statement, released in July 2018, Rugoff explained that the show “aspires to the ideal that what is most important about an exhibition is not what it puts on display, but how audiences can use their experience of the exhibition afterwards, to confront everyday realities from expanded viewpoints and with new energies.”

Among the 79 participants are 29 artists from or working in the Asia-Pacific region, including Lee Bul, Shilpa Gupta, Liu Wei, Danh Vō, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Tsuyoshi Hisakado. 

The full list of artists is as follows:

Lawrence Abu Hamdan (Jordan / Beirut)

Njideka Akunyili Crosby (Nigeria / USA)

Halil Altındere (Turkey)

Michael Armitage (Kenya / UK)

Korakrit Arunanondchai (Thailand / USA)

Alex Gvojic (USA)

Ed Atkins (UK / Germany / Denmark)

Tarek Atoui (Lebanon / France)

Darren Bader (USA)

Nairy Baghramian (Iran / Germany)

Neïl Beloufa (France)

Alexandra Bircken (Germany)

Carol Bove (Switzerland / USA)

Christoph Büchel (Switzerland / Iceland)

Ludovica Carbotta (Italy / Barcelona)

Antoine Catala (France / USA)

Ian Cheng (USA)

George Condo (USA)

Alex Da Corte (USA)

Jesse Darling (UK / Germany)

Stan Douglas (Canada)

Jimmie Durham (USA / Germany)

Nicole Eisenman (France / USA)

Haris Epaminonda (Cyprus / Germany)

Lara Favaretto (Italy)

Cyprien Gaillard (France / Germany)

Gauri Gill (India)

Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster (France)

Shilpa Gupta (India)

Soham Gupta (India)

Martine Gutierrez (USA)

Rula Halawani (Palestine)

Anthea Hamilton (UK)

Jeppe Hein (Denmark / Germany)

Anthony Hernandez (USA)

Ryoji Ikeda (Japan / France)

Arthur Jafa (USA)

Cameron Jamie (USA / France / Germany)

Kahlil Joseph (USA)

Zhanna Kadyrova (Ukraine)

Suki Seokyeong Kang (South Korea)

Mari Katayama (Japan)

Lee Bul (South Korea)

Liu Wei (China)

Maria Loboda (Poland / Germany)

Andreas Lolis (Albania / Greece)

Christian Marclay (USA / London)

Teresa Margolles (Mexico / Spain)

Julie Mehretu (Ethiopia / USA)

Ad Minoliti (Argentina)

Jean-Luc Moulène (France)

Zanele Muholi (South Africa)

Jill Mulleady (Uruguay / USA)

Ulrike Müller (Austria / USA)

Nabuqi (China)

Otobong Nkanga (Nigeria / Belgium)

Khyentse Norbu (Bhutan / India)

Frida Orupabo (Norway)

Jon Rafman (Canada)

Gabriel Rico (Mexico)

Handiwirman Saputra (Indonesia)

Tomás Saraceno (Argentina / Germany)

Augustas Serapinas (Lithuania)

Avery Singer (USA)

Slavs and Tatars (Germany)

Michael E. Smith (USA)

Hito Steyerl (Germany)

Tavares Strachan (Bahamas / USA)

Sun Yuan and Peng Yu (China)

Henry Taylor (USA)

Rosemarie Trockel (Germany)

Kaari Upson (USA)

Andra Ursuţa (Romania)

Danh Vō (Vietnam / Mexico)

Kemang Wa Lehulere (South Africa)

Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand) and Tsuyoshi Hisakado (Japan)

Margaret Wertheim and Christine Wertheim (Australia / USA)  

Anicka Yi (South Korea/ USA)

Yin Xiuzhen (China)

Yu Ji (China / Austria)

Pamela Wong is the assistant editor of ArtAsiaPacific.

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