MANIFESTA 10
The European Biennial of Contemporary Art
28 June–31 October, 2014
State Hermitage Museum and other venues
St. Petersburg
Russia
MANIFESTA 10, curated by Kasper König, is now open at primary venues the Winter Palace and the General Staff Building of the State Hermitage Museum, as well as various sites around the city of St. Petersburg. The exhibition features over 50 artists from nearly 30 countries and is complemented by an array of performances, public programs, and education projects designed to further engage audiences with the history of St. Petersburg and its sociopolitical and cultural context.
MANIFESTA 10 includes over 20 commissioned works from artists such as Francis Alÿs, Karla Black, Guy Ben-Ner, Lado Darakhvelidze, Rineke Dijkstra, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Alevtina Kakhidze, Elena Kovylina, Erik van Lieshout, Yasumasa Morimura, Deimantas Narkevičius, Tatzu Nishi, Susan Phillipsz, and Otto Zitko, withThomas Hirschhorn’s 14-meter-high installation spilling out into the inner courtyard of the new General Staff Building.
The exhibition also relocates some works from the Winter Palace to the General Staff Building, including five rooms of paintings by Henri Matisse in juxtaposition with two rooms dedicated to Wolfgang Tillmans. Correspondingly, the Winter Palace will host among its collection works by such artists as Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Marlene Dumas, Lara Favaretto, Katharina Fritsch, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi.
A recent addition to the exhibition is a new commission by Hans-Peter Feldmann, titled Venus Medici.
Of the exhibition, Kasper König commented:
“MANIFESTA 10 is a complex entity and one that invites both its artists and visitors to assume their own positions, raise questions, and indeed voices. It runs the gamut of the intricacy and contradiction that art has to offer, and shows us the ways that art can provoke engagement while opposing the simplifications of our times. I believe that the presence of critical contemporary art in the Hermitage and in the city will contribute to pluralistic and healthy debate on complexity, ethics, and aesthetics and also produce conditions for us to deeply consider and challenge ourselves. I congratulate the artists on their achievements and express my gratitude to Prof. Mikhail Piotrovsky for his generosity, camaraderie, and vision.”
Prof. Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director General of the State Hermitage Museum said of MANIFESTA 10:
“Under Kasper König’s curatorial direction, MANIFESTA 10 provides an inspiring, challenging, beautiful, and critical exhibition. It has come together in a significant time and place: St. Petersburg in 2014. We are delighted to welcome MANIFESTA 10 along with the many artists who have created works that will enchant and engage visitors to the Museum in this, our 250th anniversary year.”
Hedwig Fijen, Founding Director of Manifesta said:
“This edition of Manifesta, which has been born from a Shakespearean dilemma and questions about whether to engage or disengage, stands for the spirit of independence and expression that informed Manifesta’s beginnings. It is partly inspired by Russian artists, writers, and intellectuals, past and present, who it stands by. While our work may be conducted in realms of debate, negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy, it has achieved its result: providing a stage for art to present criticality, complexity, and nuance.”
MANIFESTA 10 branches out further into the city of St. Petersburg via the performances, exhibitions, and events comprising the Public Program, curated by Joanna Warsza, and through its Education and Mediation Programs, created by Sepake Angiama. Unlooped—KINO, the official film program of MANIFESTA 10 devised by Nathalie Hoyos and Rainald Schumacher from Office for Art (Berlin), presents over 70 individual time-based (film and video) works from 1970 to the present.
For the full announcement and public and education program details, visit manifesta10.org.
Russian media:
Dina Grigoreva, dinagrigoreva [at] manifesta.org
Marina Bachurova, marinabachurova [at] manifesta.org
International media:
Rhiannon Pickles, rhiannonpickles [at] manifesta.org
German-speaking media:
Kathrin Luz, kathrinluz [at] manifesta.org
*Thomas Hirschhorn with his work ABSCHLAG, 2014. Installation view, MANIFESTA 10, General Staff Building, State Hermitage Museum, 2014. Scaffolding construction, 16.5 × 9.36 × 3.25 m. Cardboard sheets, packing tape, wood, plywood boards, rolls of aluminum foil, polyethylene electric pipes, metal (Inox) pipes, acrylic, spray, styrofoam, foam blocks. Furniture for the room: 6 tables, 6 beds, 6 chairs, 12 beside chests, 6 bureaus, 6 chairs, 6 heaters, 6 closets, 6 chandeliers, 6 table lamps. Paintings by Kazimir Malevich, Pavel Filonov and Olga Rozanova from the collection of the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. Commissioned by MANIFESTA 10, St. Petersburg. With the support of the LUMA Foundation and the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.
