René Block curates The Nordic Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia 52nd Art Exhibition
The Nordic Committee (FRAME The Finnish Fund for Art Exchange, Office for Contemporary Art Norway, and Moderna Museet, Sweden) has invited René Block, director of Kunsthalle Museum Fridericianum in Kassel, to curate The Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2007. The biennale will be open from June 10 through November 21, 2007.
René Block has acted as the artistic director and curator of numerous international exhibitions such as The Readymade Boomerang, 8th Biennial of Sydney (1990), Orient/ation, 4th International Istanbul Biennial (1995), The Song of the Earth (Kassel 2000), Lost and Found (New York 2001), Man and Space, 3rd Kwangju Biennial/Africa, Europe (2000), In the Gorges of the Balkans. A Report (Kassel 2003), Love It or Leave It, 5th Cetinje Biennial (Montenegro 2004 together with Natasha Ilic). His particular curatorial focus has been on the possible future forms of international art events and biennials.
Throughout his career as a gallerist, independent curator and director of various organizations René Block has influenced and shaped current art discourse. While having been working for his international projects he has developed a comprehensive knowledge of the arts situation also within the Nordic countries, having demonstrated an interest not only in contemporary art but in the broader cultural and historical background of the region. This year, he curates Art, Life & Confusion, the Belgrade Biennial (October 2006), with an emphasis on establishing links between the Balkans and the Nordic countries.
Rene Block’s unique experience in contemporary art gives a particular perspective for his forthcoming project around Nordic art to the Venice biennale.
The Nordic Pavilion
The cooperation between Finland, Norway and Sweden in Venice was initiated in 1962 after the completion of the Nordic Pavilion, designed by the Norwegian architect Sverre Fehn. The Pavilion was intended to provide a platform for dialogue of various artistic positions between the three countries. The responsibility for representation in each Biennale alternates between the collaborative countries. Marketta Seppälä, Director of FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange, is the commissioner for the 2007 edition.
See further information about the curator and his connections with the Nordic countries on
Contact: info@frame-fund.fi
