Over 35s not allowed: Moscow Biennale for Young Art turns to emerging curators
Curator Nadim Samman will choose participating artists through a “transparent” selection procedure
Nadim Samman. Courtesy of the 5th Moscow International Biennale for Young Art press office
The organisers of the fifth Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, due to open next year (1 July-10 August 2016), say they are breaking with tradition by inviting emerging—rather than established—curators to organise the exhibition, which is only open to artists aged under 35.
Ekaterina Kibovskaya, the biennial commissioner, says in a statement that she “has decided to take a risk and invite as many young professionals to the team as possible”. These include the curator of the biennial’s main exhibition, the UK-born Nadim Samman, 32, who co-organised the fourth Marrakech Biennale in 2012.
“I’m looking forward to being surprised, and so should the audience,” Samman says
He was also a curator at the TBA-21 Academy, an offshoot of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Contemporary foundation in Vienna, and oversaw the Antarctic Pavilion at the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale last year. Samman was previously a correspondent at The Art Newspaper.
The Moscow biennial’s theme, Deep Inside, “is inspired by the fields of biology and communication technologies, the blurring of real and virtual space, and our present ecological situation,” Samman says. “It embraces short circuits, cryptology, occupation, mutation, acts of hybridisation and infection.”
The exhibition, to be held in the vast Trekhgornaya Manufactory, is distinguished by its global, open-call format (artists can apply by 10 December). “Previous editions have seen up to 3,000 entries. This means the review process will be a marathon, but that the exhibition will have a really broad scope. The focus is on emerging voices and new discoveries, with a transparent selection mechanism,” Samman says. “I’m looking forward to being surprised, and so should the audience.”
Both the Moscow-based National Center for Contemporary Art and the Moscow Museum of Modern art are responsible for the biennial budget. “The organisations administer funds granted by the National Ministry of Culture and the Moscow Ministry of Culture. The budget for 2016 will be comparable with previous editions, which were manifest as large-scale exhibition projects,” Samman says.
Trehgornaya Manufactory, building #5.
Photo: Courtesy of the 5th Moscow International Biennale for Young Art press office
