We, the members of the international jury for “In Minor Keys,” the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, are honored to have been selected for this role by Koyo Kouoh, the artistic director. We are committed to contributing to her project by designating the artists for the Golden and Silver Lion, from among the one hundred and ten artists Kouoh selected to be part of the exhibition. By doing so, we recognize the work of her curatorial team, which includes Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Marie Hélène Pereira, Rasha Salti, Siddhartha Mitter, and Rory Tsapayi.
As members of the jury, we also have a responsibility towards the historical role of the Biennale as a platform that connects art to the urgencies of its time. We acknowledge the complex relationship between artistic practice and nation-state representation that provides a central structure for the Venice Biennale, particularly the way this relation binds artists’ work with the actions of the state they represent. At this edition of the Biennale, we wish to set out our intention—to express our commitment to the defense of human rights and to the spirit of Koyo Kouoh’s curatorial project. Consequently, this jury will refrain from considering those countries whose leaders are currently charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
In this, we stand in solidarity to embrace Koyo Kouoh’s own curatorial statement:
In refusing the spectacle of horror, the time has come to listen to the minor keys, to tune in sotto voce to the whispers, to the lower frequencies; to find the oases, the islands, where the dignity of all living beings is safeguarded.
Signed:
Members of the International Jury
Solange Farkas, Chair
Zoe Butt
Elvira Dyangani Ose
Marta Kuzma
Giovanna Zapperi
