Manifesta

MANIFESTA 7
The European Biennial of Contemporary Art
Trentino - South Tirol, Italy
19 July - 2 November 2008

Curators:
Adam Budak
Anselm Franke
Hila Peleg

Manifesta 7, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, which for the first time took place in Italy, formally came to an end on November 2, 2008 after a period of 111 days of intense activity. Manifesta 7 was curated as a collaborative effort by three teams, consisting of Adam Budak, Anselm Franke / Hila Peleg and Raqs Media Collective, and was organised by a large international team, which was managed by Hedwig Fijen, Andreas Hapkemeyer and Fabio Cavallucci. Manifesta 7 attracted more than 108,000 visitors.

The positive response to Manifesta 7 has been confirmed by the presence of numerous, different audience groups, as well as the widespread coverage in the local, national and international press. Art critics have described this edition as the best Manifesta so far. 1,615 journalists from Italy and abroad registered to visit the Manifesta 7 exhibitions. These events showcased painting, sculpture, video, installation and sound works, the majority of which were specially conceived for the occasion by 230 participating artists, architects and writers from around the world.

Artists:

Adam Leech
Adriana Cavarero
Adrien Tirtiaux
Alexander Vaindorf
ALTERAZIONI VIDEO
Althea Thauberger
Anawana Haloba in collaboration with Francesca Grilli
Anders Kreuger
Andreas Duscha
Andreas Müller with David Bennewith
Andree Korpys and Markus Löffler
Angela Melitopoulos
Anna Faroqhi
Anna Witt
Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven
Ant Hampton
Arundhati Roy
Attila Bruni
Auditory Epode
Azra Aksamija
Barbara Visser
Barbora Klimova
Bernadette Corporation
Bernd Ribbeck
Beth Campbell
Brave New Alps
BURGHARD
Büro für kognitiven urbanismus/Office for cognitive urbanism
CandidaTV
Charles Lim Li Yong
Christian Mayer
Christian Philipp Müller
Christoph Ruckhäberle
Claire Fontaine
contemporary culture indexBased in San Francisco, US
Danh Vo
Daniel Knorr
Daria Martin
Darius Ziura
David Adjaye
Dayanita Singh
Deborah Ligorio
Didier Fiuza Faustino
Emre Hüner
etoy.CORPORATION
Eveli ̄na Deicˇmane
Ewa Partum
Eyal Sivan
Eyal Weizman
Famed
Francesco Gennari
Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio
Gianni Pettena
Glen Neath
Graham Harwood
Graham Harwood, Richard Wright and Matsuko Yokokoji
Guido van der Werve
Hannes Hoelzl
Hansa Thapliyal
Harold de Bree
Heide Hinrichs
Heidrun Holzfeind
Hélène Binet
Hiwa K.
I. Helen Jilavu
Igor Eškinja
Ivana Franke
Jaime Pitarch
Janek Simon
Javier Tellez
Joachim Koester
João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva
Johannes Vogl
Jorge Otero-Pailos
Jörgen Svensson
Jos De Gruyter and Harald Thys
Josef Strau
Judi Werthein
Kamen Stoyanov
Karl Holmqvist
KateRˇina Šedá
Keren Cytter
Klaus Weber
Knut Åsdam
Kristina Bræin
Latifa Echakhch
Lawrence Liang
Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson
Luca Trevisani
Luigi Ontani
m-city
manifeSTATION
Marcos Chaves
Marcus Coates
Margareth Obexer
Margrét H. Blöndal
Martin Pichlmair
Martino Gamper
MATTER OF FACT
Matthew Fuller
Mazzoni’s Trento Palace: To the Return of Color
Meg Stuart
Melati Suryodarmo
Michał Budny
Michelangelo Antonioni
Miklós Erhardt and Little Warsaw
Miks Mitrevics
Mladen Dolar
Mobile Academy, Hannah Hurtzig, Chris Kondek, in collaboration with Karin Harrasser
Nader Ahriman
Natascha Sadr Haghighian
Neil Cummings & Marysia Lewandowska
Nico Vascellari
Nikolaus Hirsch & Michel Müller
Nina Canell
Omer Fast
Oskar Dawicki
Pamela Rosenkranz
Peter Coffin
Peter Friedl
Philippe Rahm
Philippe Rahm
Pietro Roccasalva
Piratbyrån (The Bureau of Piracy)
Professor Bad Trip (Gianluca Lerici)
Rä di Martino
Rabih Mroué
RADIO PAPESSE
Ragnar Kjartansson
Ranu Ghosh
Reinhard Kropf & Siv Helene Stangeland
Renée Green
Ria Pacquée
Ricardo Jacinto
Riccardo Previdi
Roee Rosen
Rosalind Nashashibi
Runa Islam
Rupali Gupte & Prasad Shetty
Saadi Yousef
Sanjay Kak
Saskia Sassen
Shahid Amin
Social Art Praxis
Sonia Leimer
Stefano Bernardi
Stephen Willats
TABULA RASA
Tamy Ben-Tor
Tatiana Trouvé
Teresa Margolles
TEUFELSgroup
The Museum for Franco Basaglia
The Museum of European Normality
the Museum of Learning Things
The Museum of projective personality Testing
the Museum of the Stealing of Souls
Thomas Meinecke
Tim Etchells
Timo Kahlen
Tom Holert with Claudia Honecker
Uqbar Foundation
Valérie Mréjen
Walter Niedermayr
Xisco Mensua
Yane Calovski
Zilvinas Kempinas
ZimmerFrei
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Manifesta 7, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art is hosted by the Trentino – South Tyrol Region from July 19 to November 2. It takes place in Italy for the first time, stretching across an entire regional territory, encompassing venues in four cities along a course of 150 kilometers joining the north and south of Europe along the Brenner axis: Fortezza (Bressanone), ex Alumix in Bolzano, the Palazzo delle Poste in Trento, Manifattura Tabacchi, ex Peterlini and the train station in Rovereto.

The exhibitions of Manifesta 7 in Fortezza, Bolzano, Trento and Rovereto, including a number of special projects, host more than 230 artists, architects, writers and experts from around the world and the majority of the paintings, sculptures, videos, installations and sound works on show have been specially created for Manifesta 7.

In Rovereto, Adam Budak develops his exhibition Principle Hope in both the 20th Century industrial building of the ex Peterlini and the 19th Century Manifattura Tabacchi and manifestation, curated by the Office for Cognitive Urbanism, takes place at the train station of Rovereto.

Anselm Franke/Hila Peleg in Trento curate the exhibition THE SOUL (or, Much Trouble in the Transportation of Souls) at the Palazzo delle Poste, a functionalist building from the 1930s.

Raqs Media Collective, formed by Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula & Shuddhabrata Sengupta, present their exhibition The Rest of Now in Bolzano at the ex Alumix, another industrial building from the early 20th Century; a series of events entitled Tabula Rasa, by Denis Isaia in conversation with Raqs Media Collective, is presented over the 111 opening days in Room 124 of the ex Alumix.

The entire curatorial team works together at the final exhibition venue, the Austrian fortress of Fortezza, with Scenarios, a project exploring the concept of the immaterial dimension.

Particular attention is dedicated to educational activities throughout the entire region, with a special didactic program linking all the various exhibitions. The didactic team invites people to approach contemporary art in a way that freely shows their own personality and imagination, to build a hospitable place where opinions can be recognized and re-valued. Guided tours in English, Italian and German are available during opening hours, as well as a range of special projects, education materials and activities for school classes.

Silvana Editoriale has published three catalogues for Manifesta 7: INDEX, a guide book dedicated to the four exhibitions and the participating artists (in Italian, German and English); COMPANION, a volume of critical and theoretical studies about the shows and artistic projects (in English); SCENARIOS, a monograph edition dedicated to the Fortezza project (in Italian, German, English).

Together with Manifesta 7, many Parallel Events take place throughout the two provinces: a selected program incorporating 48 events in South Tyrol and 50 in Trentino. This includes exhibitions, events, performances and concerts supported by many of the numerous institutions and associations that have made of this region into such a dynamic territory for contemporary art.