The Venice Biennale is a 125-year-old ceremony that recognizes living artists who have exhibited their work during the biennial. In a historic move, the Venice Biennale awarded its Golden Lion prize to four late artistic directors this year, and among them is the 15th Sharjah Biennial’s curator Okwui Enwezor.
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Nigerian-born artist Okwui passed away in March last year. He organized the Venice Biennale in 2015 and conceived the 15th Sharjah Biennial under the theme ‘Thinking Historically in the Present, with Sharjah Art Foundation president Hoor Al Qasimi in 2018. Sharjah Biennal 15 is now scheduled for March 2022.
Sharjah Biennial 7
Along with Okwui, Italian art curator Germano Celant, architect Vittrio Gregotti and art historian Maurizio Calevsi, who all passed away this year, have been awarded the Golden Lion. Germano worked as the biennale’s artistic director in 1997. Vittrio designed the Olympic stadium and was a part of the biennial in 1975 and 1976, while Maurizio was positioned as the biennial’s artistic director in 1984 and 1986.
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The awards will be presented today, on Tuesday, 1 September in Venice, Italy’s Giardini della Biennale following the opening of a group exhibition on the biennial’s history titled ‘The Disquieted Muses: When the Biennale Meets History’.
Image credit: Coolhunting.com and Sharjahart.org
