http://www.worldexpo2015.it
http://www.expo2015.org/
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_2015

EXPO. BOERI: “PARCO AGROALIMENTARE PROGETTO DI INTERESSE COLLETTIVO”

Milano, 29 giugno 2011 – L’assessore alla Cultura con delega all’Expo Stefano Boeri, a seguito dell’incontro con il segretario generale del BIE Vicente Loscertales, ha dichiarato: “Come ha detto il segretario generale del Bie Loscertales, il parco agroalimentare contenuto nel Masterplan di Expo 2015 è un grande progetto di interesse collettivo, che deve restare sul sito anche dopo la conclusione dell’evento. Come ha ben chiarito il Sindaco Pisapia, il parco non è un paesaggio bucolico, ma un grande sistema di campi coltivati, serre ad alta tecnologia, orti botanici, padiglioni e servizi ricettivi ed espositivi che ha come scopo la valorizzazione delle filiere agroalimentari dei Paesi del mondo e di quella italiana in particolare”.

http://www.zayednationalmuseum.ae/
http://www.artsabudhabi.ae/en/

Zayed National Museum Set to Further Raise UAE’s Profile on the World’s Cultural Map

In memory of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the museum will reflect his life and work as well as the rich history of the UAE

• Design of UAE’s first major national cultural institution unveiled.
• Zayed National Museum is part of the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, central to the plan to build Abu Dhabi’s reputation as an international centre of culture.
• A narrative that presents the life of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan‎, his achievements and core values, in the context of the rich history of the UAE and the connections of the nation to the wider world.
• Environmental sustainability, a key element in the Museum’s design and architecture.
• Construction of the museum is scheduled for completion in 2014.

Abu Dhabi, 25 November 2010: Today, the design and program of the Zayed National Museum was presented in Abu Dhabi. This is the UAE’s first national museum that will feature the life and achievements of the founding President of the United Arab Emirates, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The museum, which will bring to life the UAE’s rich history, will also serve as a memorial to Sheikh Zayed and is set to stand alongside the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the Louvre Abu Dhabi
amongst the iconic Saadiyat Island Cultural District’s institutions.

The design for the Zayed National Museum was officially unveiled today by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Set amongst lush gardens, the design features five soaring pavilions, representing the feathers of a falcon’s wing, reaching a height of 124 metres, towering over the glittering waters of the Arabian Gulf.

Commenting on the launch, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE said: “The Zayed National Museum is destined to become an inspiring permanent reminder of the vision handed down to us from the father of our nation, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to unite all Emiratis and build a strong and prosperous nation. As a fitting memorial and a national institution, the museum will serve as a symbol of our historic cultural roots and of the many
achievements of our country, providing us with an incentive to continue building our country with the same will and determination.”

Scheduled for completion in 2014, the Zayed National Museum also stands as a symbol of the modernity of the UAE, and its rapid progression over the past forty years. The spirit of excellence and endeavour and great faith in the future of the Emirati people has been behind the fundamental growth in economic, social, education and health sectors, and the museum will help ensure that future generations can appreciate the enormity of these changes.

At the unveiling today, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai stated: “The Zayed National Museum, named after our beloved leader, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, will be a template of the UAE’s cultural traditions, set in the midst of our nation’s glorious heritage. It is with great pride that we keep his memory alive and close to our hearts.“

The museum will showcase Sheikh Zayed’s story and the lasting influence of his reforms. Sheikh Zayed’s concept of a modernised nation determined by strong guiding principles of education, culture, faith and the protection of the environment made him one of the world’s most respected leaders.

Commenting on the museum His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown  Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces said: “The Zayed  National Museum will serve as an educational testimonial for generations to come, enlightening many  of our rich and varied past, and providing a glimpse to our future prospects, to be achieved through  wise leadership that will hold a strong will and vision.  Sheikh Zayed was a father, a leader and an  inspiration to the people of the UAE and the world, and here lies the importance of the ‘Zayed  National Museum’ which will not only represent a reference and testament to these achievements but  also an incentive towards further prosperity and progress to the people of the UAE and the world.  His Highness added that every visitor of the museum will carry the unique attributes of Sheikh Zayed’s  values that inspired the entire humanity through his kindness and forgiveness as well as his  achievements.”

The museum, designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect, Lord Norman Foster of Foster + Partners, following an international competition, is being developed by Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), the master developer of Saadiyat Island. The Zayed National Museum utilises sophisticated architectural techniques with a special focus on environmental sustainability, which was an essential element of Sheikh Zayed’s worldview.

The museum emerges from a landscaped oasis, which celebrates Sheikh Zayed’s legacy of ‘greening the desert’. While it is designed in harmony with its surrounding environment it is indeed an iconic reflection of Sheikh Zayed’s powerful vision.

The design of the museum draws inspiration from falconry, a powerful symbol in the UAE and part of its cultural heritage and way of life, with five towers reminiscent of the wing tips of the birds. The design also serves to deliver environmental advantages, as the buildings are positioned to channel air through the museum, reducing the energy demands required to cool the complex. The towers are also designed to take advantage of the regions constant sunshine, with carefully positioned openings drawing light in to illuminate the interior spaces in a creative manner.

In 2009, TDIC also signed an agreement with the British Museum to provide expert advice and counsel on the development of the Zayed National Museum and help realise the vision of this museum in translating the values of Sheikh Zayed in an interpretive plan that will enhance the core messages of a national museum.

The visitor experience will begin outside the Museum in the gardens, where landscaping, planting and installations will translate the timeline and key moments in the life of Sheikh Zayed and his transformation of Abu Dhabi and the UAE. The Museum atrium will provide an anchor for every visitor experience, as it will be a starting pointing for the national story and a meeting point that will guide the visitor experience.

The heart of the museum lies in the Sheikh Zayed: Life and Times gallery. Here the life story of Sheikh Zayed and his unification of the UAE will be told through film, audio and multimedia with artefacts drawn from collections in Abu Dhabi, the UAE and abroad. Visitors will come to know Sheikh Zayed and experience at first-hand his challenges and triumphs as he successfully worked to forge the nation.

The Sheikh Zayed Library is the natural complement to the Sheikh Zayed: Life and Times Gallery.
The gallery will present the principal narrative of man and state, and the library will enable visitors to learn more about Sheikh Zayed and his transformative role in the history of Abu Dhabi. Research facilities will provide access to original and electronic historical and cultural sources and will link the museum to worldwide research centres.

A gallery devoted to Falconry and Conservation will focus on Sheikh Zayed’s appreciation of the natural world, its conservation and preservation, as well as his passion for falconry.
Falconry has been practised for thousands of years, not just in the Middle East but across the world.
Arising as a way of hunting in the desert, it eventually evolved into a pastime enjoyed by many. Its  popularity brought increasing awareness of the need to manage the natural environment.

Sheikh Zayed understood the importance of the conservation of wildlife and the land, which became a central tenet of his philosophy.

The core values of Sheikh Zayed introduced in the narrative of the lower floor galleries will be carried through in more detail in the upper floor galleries:

Land and Water: Archaeological, historical material and interactive displays will show how people in the past learned to use, cultivate and trade the region’s key resources. The good husbandry of land and water was admired by Sheikh Zayed, and alongside his wise use of oil and water resources, visitors will learn how he built a framework that has established the UAE as a leader in sustainable development.

People and Heritage: Sheikh Zayed understood the importance of the values and heritage of his people. Traditional values are at the heart of the UAE’s political and cultural life. Success in the modern world had been underpinned by an emphasis on human relationships and connections between different groups. Patterns established in the pre-oil era, when lives were closely identified with the seasons and the landscape, have produced a social cohesion that invigorates the country today.

History and Society: Sheikh Zayed was instrumental in the discovery of major archaeological sites in the UAE that fundamentally rewrote the history of the region and its connections with the wider world.
The land that makes up the modern UAE has a long history of human settlement. Home to Stone Age peoples 200,000 years ago, the region eventually saw, around 5000 BC, the emergence of maritime trade with Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq) and later with India and Pakistan. Also, Emirati sailors reached China 2000 years ago. Archaeological evidence shows that the region has played a major part in the development of Middle Eastern civilisations.

Rich archaeological material and historical documents drawn from across the UAE, and set alongside contextual objects from around the globe, will chart this long history from 200,000 BC to the creation of the modern state by Sheikh Zayed who recognised the importance of such unity. Drawing on model states of the past, he led the UAE to federation and established the country as a significant player on the global stage.

Science and Learning: Sheikh Zayed was passionate about education; he transformed a society based on traditional learning to a nation where widespread literacy and numeracy lead to a fully fledged contemporary knowledge society.

The value of education that inspired him drew on a long tradition of Middle Eastern scholarship.
Language and literature, navigation and medicine are among the many disciplines in which knowledge in the Islamic world would revolutionise what we know and the way we think.

Visitors to this gallery will encounter fascinating artefacts from the fields of science and learning.
Interactive exhibits will also permit them to engage directly with scientific tools and techniques, trying their hand at historical mechanisms for telling the time or using traditional methods to navigate the sea and the desert.

Faith and Islam: Sheikh Zayed was a profoundly religious leader and his humanitarianism was based on the tenets of Islam. Providing a contemplative space, the displays will encourage visitors to learn not just the meaning of Islam, as conveyed through the life and actions of Sheikh Zayed, but its history, practice and place among the many faiths in the modern UAE.

Islam has been an essential element of continuity in a region that has witnessed extraordinarily rapid change. Longstanding religious practice will be demonstrated through beautifully calligraphed manuscripts, models of mosques and other honoured objects, while contemporary photography, voices and film will convey the expression of Islam today, where faith infuses every aspect of life in the modern UAE.

The Zayed National Museum has been founded in the spirit of Sheikh Zayed’s work on behalf of Emiratis and people everywhere. It will be a place for all, reflecting Sheikh Zayed’s renowned warmth that he extended to people from all walks of life.

Realization: 2013
National Museum of Qatar
www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/arts/design/23doha.htm
www.jeannouvel.com

The museum’s architecture and structure symbolise the mysteries of the desert’s concretions and crystallisations, suggesting the interlocking pattern of the bladelike petals of the desert rose.
Designers: Jean Nouvel
Studio: Ateliers Jean Nouvel

27 October 2010
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, has expressed interest in purchasing Christie‘s auction house.

Frieze Art Fair 2010 in Regent's Park, London. Photo by Linda Nylind for Frieze. 17/10/2010

Frieze Art Fair
Randall’s Island Park, New York
11–14 October 2012
Regent’s Park, London – Tel: +44 (0)20 3372 6111
http://www.friezeartfair.com/
http://www.friezefoundation.org/

The Emdash Award 2012: Call for Entries

Frieze Art Fair announced today the call for entries to the Emdash Award 2012. The Emdash Award is open to artists living outside of the UK, up to five years from graduating from an undergraduate or postgraduate degree or under 35 years of age. The Emdash Award is part of the Frieze Projects programme, produced by Frieze Foundation, supported by the Emdash Foundation and presented in collaboration with Gasworks.
The recipient of the prize will have the unique opportunity to present their work at Frieze Art Fair 2012 to a significant international audience. Additionally the prize will cover production costs of up to £10,000, an artist’s fee, per diems, travel expenses and a studio residency at Gasworks in London from August to October 2012.
Entrance to the award is by open submission and the winner will be selected by an international panel of artists and curators. The selection committee for 2012 will be: Andrea Dibelius (Emdash Foundation), Ryan Gander (Artist), Rowan Geddis (Residencies Co-ordinator, Gasworks), Udo Kittelmann (Director of the National Gallery, Berlin), Sarah McCrory (Curator, Frieze Foundation), Dr. Matthias
Muhling (Curator of the Lenbachhaus Kunstbau, Munich) and Amelie von Wedel (Emdash Foundation).
The closing date for applications is 9 January 2012. The winner of the award will be announced in May 2012.
Proposals for work can take the form of site-specific installations; performance; film; video or print work. Applicants will be judged on the innovative nature of their proposal and its suitability for realisation at Frieze Art Fair.
The Emdash Award winner in 2011 was Anahita Razmi, whose work Roof Piece Tehran was launched at Frieze Art Fair 2011 to significant critical acclaim.

BERLINER LISTE
Bundesallee 88, 12161 Berlin
t +49 30 77 008 993 – f + 49 30 77 008 995
info@berliner-liste.org – www.berliner-liste.org

The 9th Gwangju Biennale ‘ROUNDTABLE’
September 7 – November 11, 2012
http://www.gb.or.kr

The Gwangju Biennale Foundation is pleased to announce ‘ROUNDTABLE’ as the theme of the 9th Gwangju Biennale (September 7 – November 11, 2012). The team of six co-artistic directors appointed to organize the upcoming biennale have chosen ‘ROUNDTABLE’ as a theme to explore the possibility of democratic and non-hierarchical exchange concerning global cultural production, through various forms of collective endeavour, research into historic entanglements among societies, and the exploration of diverse contexts of belonging.

In a statement, the co-artistic directors have said, ‘ROUNDTABLE’ allows us to reflect on our shared contemporaneity at a time when the tremendous momentum of ecological, political and economic change has radically transformed our global reality. This theme was derived initially from our working method of being geographically distant but brought together through different media of communication. No one sits at the head of the round table, no linear narrative drives its deliberations, and it becomes the seed-bed for the future. The image of the round table is associated with the political summit, where various urgent agendas are brought together and its participants convene to reach a renewal of understanding. It could also evoke the traditional Korean image of the round table, the duriban, around which people eat communally.

‘We propose to convene ‘ROUNDTABLE’ as a locus for various intersecting urgencies:

‘Transient Encounters: We recognize the temporary nature of the biennale format, as well as the mutable boundaries of the notions it proposes to address. Life is not about the solid stabilities suggested by historical constructs. Living requires facing continuous changes and the openness to experience the significance of chance, passing encounters.

‘Forms of Collectivity and their Critique: Neither the individual nor the collective is a self-enclosed given. Both are constructs, subject to mutation. How do we signalize those sparking points in cultural practice, where an interplay between artistic choice and civic volition could bring about a burst of critical agency? While some artists camouflage themselves as fictional collectives or use heteronyms, others distance themselves from ascribed or inherited formations; yet others subscribe or affiliate themselves to collective projects, artistic and political.

‘Individual Spirit in Identifying Alternative Logics and Horizons of Connectivity: The debordering and loosening of economic, sovereign, social, cultural and historic frameworks by digitization, global trade and political movements are breaking the cages of our ideological and national logics. It’s time to consider the conditions in which transformative forces inspired and motivated by individual spirit are incubated on a societal, philosophical and artistic level.

‘Belonging and Anonymity: The May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement in 1980 resulted in a massacre of the protestors by the military regime and since 1995, the Gwangju Biennale has been Asia’s oldest and most prestigious biennale of contemporary art. Modern Gwangju has mostly been constructed through definitions that tend to establish specific protagonists and largely operates within the realm of grand narratives. We will look beyond such grand political and social narrativesa` to reveal overlooked histories and traces of the lives of its inhabitants.

‘Re-visiting History: “To write of depicting or representing history is to imply that history is some kind of object with identifiable boundaries that distinguish it from other objects…” (Jean Fisher) How is history used? Re-used? What is our relationship to history? How do we remember things? Why do we remember them? Is using history as an ‘object’ a way in which we define ourselves in the world today, with all the dramatic changes (earthquakes, tsunamis and civil uprisings)? Why do we go back in history to remember when and why these happened before?

‘Impact of Mobility on Space and Time: The idea of a modern-day odyssey arises from a reflection on the global phenomenon of mobility in both its spatial and temporal dimensions. We would like to invite artists to investigate this situation by reflecting on how they can go beyond geo-political borders and explore terra incognita, going back and forth between the past and the future, towards a new horizon for what Thomas Friedman calls our “ ‘flat’ world.”

‘ROUNDTABLE’ will consist of diverse programs throughout the project, and not be limited to the exhibition as a final outcome. Further issues and agendas will be developed as other participants join the ‘ROUNDTABLE’ through programs such as Workstations, E-journals, Residencies and New Commissions, and allied activities conducted via the 9th Gwangju Biennale website and other social networking media.

Six co-artistic directors are from Korea, China, Japan, India, Indonesia, and Qatar. Nancy Adajania is a Bombay-based cultural theorist and independent curator; she is also research scholar-in-residence at BAK, Utrecht. Wassan Al-Khudhairi is the Director and Chief curator at Mathaf : Arab Museum of Art, Doha, Qatar. Mami Kataoka is a curator and writer and the Chief Curator of the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo. Sunjung Kim is a Seoul-based independent curator and professor at the Korea National University of Arts. Carol Yinghua Lu is an art critic and curator who lives and works in Beijing. She is a contributing editor for Frieze. Alia Swastika is a curator, project manager, and writer based in Jakarta ; she curated Jogia Biennale  XI (2011).

3rd edition

Download press release Beirut Art Fair 20121: cp1_baf_dec2011-en

http://www.menasart-fair.com/

Menasart-Fair (BEIRUT ART FAIR) takes place for the third time at the Beirut International Exhibition Leisure Center (BIEL), under the leadership of Laure d’Hauteville, Pascal Odille and Jean-Marc Decrop, and becomes BEIRUT ART FAIR.
Our mission remains unchanged: it is the only modern and contemporary art fair to provide an exchange platform entirely dedicated to artists of the ME.NA.SA. (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia) region.

18th BIENNALE OF SYDNEY 2012
www.biennaleofsydney.com.au
Tuesday, 26 June – Sunday, 1 July 2012

Download:

• THE BIENNALE OF SYDNEY ANNOUNCES THE APPOINTMENT OF ANTHONY HAYWARD AND EMILY MCDANIEL AS PART OF THE NSW ABORIGINAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM – Friday, 25 November 2011
• MR_Biennale_of_Sydney_+announces_projects_in_association_with_Carriageworks

6 October 2010. The Biennale has announced the appointment of Catherine de Zegher and Gerald McMaster as Joint Artistic Directors of the 18^th Biennale of Sydney, which will be held from Wednesday, 27 June – Sunday, 16 September 2012.

2012 Penelope Seidler new Board Director_2010.12.16
2012 Artistic_Director_Announcement_2010.10.06

Contact:
Biennale of Sydney
43-51 Cowper Wharf Road
Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
Australia
T 61 2 84848700 – F +61 2 9368 1617
art@biennaleofsydney.com.eu

Yoko Ono with her installation: Sky Ladders 2007 in her exhibition Sognare, Museo di Santa Caterina, Treviso, Italy Photo by Stephan Crasneanscki/©Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono
19 June – 9 September 2012
Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London, W2 3XA
http://www.serpentinegallery.org 

In Summer 2012 the Serpentine Gallery will present a major exhibition of the work of celebrated artist Yoko Ono for the London 2012 Festival, which will include SMILE, a large-scale participatory project.

The Serpentine’s timely exhibition will reflect upon the enormous impact that Yoko Ono has made on contemporary art, exploring her influential role in art, music, film and performance. Her first exhibition in a London public institution for more than a decade, Ono will present new and existing works, some of which have rarely been shown in the UK. These will include installations, films and performances, as well as architectural alterations to the galleries.

As a part of her exhibition, Ono will present SMILE, a large-scale project which will be exhibited at the Serpentine Gallery and online for the London 2012 Festival.

Conceived as a way of connecting people across the world, the project invites people to upload and send an image of their smiles, to create a global anthology of portraits.

Ono envisions that ‘all of the smiles… that are collected will be kept by the Serpentine Gallery as a record for the planet Earth. When people take part in the SMILE, they will receive their own smile to take home.’

Working as an artist, film-maker, poet, musician, writer, performance artist and peace activist for over five decades, Yoko Ono has influenced generations of artists and received numerous prestigious awards. In her prolific career, she has embraced a wide range of media, defying traditional boundaries and creating new forms of artistic expression. Born in 1933 in Tokyo, she is a pioneer of conceptual art. Her work has been presented internationally in major exhibitions and performances.

Yoko Ono at the Serpentine Gallery will be part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week UK-wide celebration featuring world leading artists from Midsummer’s Day on 21 June to the final day of the Paralympic Games on 9 September 2012. For more information on the programme visit www.london2012.com/festival.

For press information contact:

Tom Coupe, 020 7298 1544, tomc@serpentinegallery.org
Rose Dempsey, 020 7298 1520, rosed@serpentinegallery.org
Press images at www.serpentinegallery.org/press

Gallery open 10am to 6pm daily. Admission free

Art 43 Basel
From June 14 to June 17, 2012
Messe Basel
Messeplatz – 4005 Basel
http://www.artbasel.com/go/id/ss/

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