Tania Bruguera detained in Cuba
Cuban artist and activist Tania Bruguera was stopped and detained by Cuban authorities with her partner Oscar Casanella as they were driving out of Havana to deliver humanitarian aid to those affected by Hurricane Matthew last week.
According to Bruguera’s sister Deborah, Casanella was physically attacked during his detention, whilst Tania was questioned for six hours by counterintelligence officers. The reason of their detention remains unknown, but the two were forbidden to deliver the goods. Bruguera was expected to return to Boston to teach her class at Harvard University last week, but it remains uncertain whether Cuban authorities have allowed her to leave the country. More information via Hyperallergic.
Is Auctionata Paddle8 in trouble?
Berlin-based startup Auctionata | Paddle8 — born from the merger of the two companies last May — might be in financial difficulties.
According to an email obtained by WirtschaftsWoche, the company has failed to pay its employees their December salary; the startup has dismissed the allegation as mere “rumors and speculations”. However, the company has confirmed that founder Georg Untersalmberger will resign at the end of February, citing a desire to focus on new projects. Auctionata acquired Paddle8 last May. Read more on Artsy.
Changes in artistic directorship at the Walker Art Center
Fionn Meade, artistic director of the Walker Art Center since 2015, has resigned from his role.
As artistic director of the institution — a role which was created especially for Meade — he was responsible for curating the first US solo exhibitions of Andrea Büttner, and he oversaw the museum’s visual arts, performing arts, moving image, design, and education and public programs departments. In the past, Meade had also worked at the SculptureCenter in New York and at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle.
Fionn Meade — Photo by Tom Wallace
A facelift for the Centre Pompidou
On occasion of its 40-year anniversary, Paris’ Centre Pompidou has announced plans for a $108 million renovation.
Whilst the appearance of the institution will remain largely unchanged, the museum’s outside escalator — known as “the caterpillar” will be replaced. Serge Lasvignes, president of the institution, has said that the Centre Pompidou will not close during the two-year renovation works, which will begin in 2018. The Guardian has more information.
Biennials
Ukraine’s ministry of culture has announced that artist Boris Mikhailov will represent his country at the 57th Venice Biennale, running from May 13 to November 26, 2017.
Mikhailov’s Venice project will feature his ongoing series “Parliament”, focusing on the current media landscape. The pavilion will be co-curated by The Dallas Contemporary’s director Peter Doroshenko and Lilia Kudelia. Read more on Artforum.
Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro will curate the 33rd edition of the São Paulo biennial, set to take place in 2018.
Pérez-Barreiro is currently chief curator of the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, based in New York and Caracas. He will succeed to Jochen Volz, who curated the 32nd edition of the Bienal, titled “Live uncertainty”. The São Paulo biennial is yet to confirm the appointment. More on artnet news.
Fairs
Poppositions has announced that its 2017 edition — running from April 20 through 23, in parallel to Art Brussels — will take place at the Ing Art Center, located off Brussels’ Place Royale, in the city’s museum quarter. Furthermore, the open call for galleries, project spaces and artist initiatives has been extended to January 20. More information is available via Poppositions’ official website.
Poppositions 2016
Awards
Performance artist Aye Ko is the recipient of the 2017 Joseph Balestier Award for the Freedom of Art.
Established in 2015 by Art Stage Singapore and the US Embassy in Singapore, the award — endowed with $15,000 — is given annually to a Southeast Asian artist or curator who ‘advocates freedom’. From 1990 to 1993, the artist was jailed as a political prisoner, having participated in the student revolution and having been involved in the underground movement for democracy. In 2008, he co-founded non-profit visual art organisation New Zero Art Space. More via Artforum.
New artist representations
Artist Brice Marden is joining Gagosian gallery after 20 years with art dealer Matthew Marks.
The artist cited a desire for “change” as the reason for his choice, whilst Larry Gagosian has spoken of Marden as “one of the greatest living artists.” Marden’s inaugural show with the gallery will open in October at Gagosian’s outpost on Grosvenor Hill in London. More on The New York Times.
