The Scottish presentation in Venice is initiated and supported by the Scottish Arts Council and the British Council.
Quick links: Map to both venues; Information sheet in English and Italian (both pdf documents suitable for printing)
Zenomap — Premiere of Scotland's independent participation at the Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale, held every two years, is the most prestigious international art event in the world. In 2001, some 65 countries participated, each spotlighting their artists in dedicated national pavilion or exhibition space. A total of around 400,000 visitors came to see the central exhibition and a wide range of associated exhibitions spread all over the city.
What will it be?
Zenomap will include an exhibition in Venice for the five-month duration of the Biennale, for which the artists invited will be commissioned to make new work. Selection of the artists will take place during December 2002, following a six-month period of research across the country, from Berwick to Lewis, of over 200 artists' work. Zenomap will also produce a series of events during the opening week in mid-June 2003 and will include written and virtual participation via publications in the form of a catalogue, flyers/posters/cards, and online works accessible via this web-site. The exhibition and associated work will return to various venues in Scotland in 2004 and possibly beyond.
Who is doing what?
Francis McKee and Kay Pallister were appointed to co-curate the Zenomap project. Francis is Head of Digital Art and New Media at CCA in Glasgow and is a research lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art where he teaches on the MFA course. He has curated many exhibitions including "Words and Things" for the relaunch of CCA, Glasgow in 2001. For the past ten years he has written extensively on the work of Scottish artists such as Christine Borland, Ross Sinclair, Douglas Gordon and Simon Starling.
Kay Pallister has worked as a curator for ten years in both non-profit institutions and commercial galleries. Kay recently moved back to the UK (based in Glasgow) having worked in New York and mainland Europe over the last ten years. Since 1997 she has worked as a curator at Gagosian Gallery, New York and London on major productions with artists such as Richard Wright, Douglas Gordon and Vanessa Beecroft. She is currently setting up a new website called Open Frequency for Visual Associations, an agency of the Arts Council England, Arts Council Wales and Scottish Arts Council that hosts information on-line about UK contemporary artists.
Gerrie van Noord has supported the Zenomap project as Project Manager. She previously worked for Artangel, London as Head Publishing, for De Appel Foundation, Amsterdam and the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, and she works as a free-lance editor.
