Cecilia Alemani will direct the Venice Biennale 2021: she is the first Italian woman to receive the appointment

Cecilia Alemani will be the Director of the Visual Arts Sector of the 59th edition of the Venice Biennale, to be held in 2021. The appointment was confirmed by the president of the Biennale, Paolo Baratta, after the board meeting on the morning of January 10. Alemani, who had curated the Italian Pavilion at the 2017 Biennale (bringing to Venice the works of Roberto Cuoghi, Giorgio Andreotta Calò and Adelita Husny-Bey, and enjoying great success), is the first Italian woman to receive the prestigious post and will therefore succeed Ralph Rugoff, curator of May you live in interesting times in 2019, and Christine Macel, curator of Viva arte viva in 2017.

Cecilia Alemani, born in Milan in 1977, a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Statale University in 2001 and a master’s degree in curatorial studies for contemporary art from Bard College in New York, has a long experience incontemporary art: she is head and chief curator of High Line Art in New York (since 2011: she is the first under 40 to have directed the important U.S. space), has been curator of Frieze Projects (also in New York), and has curated exhibitions at Tate Modern in London, MoMA/PS1 in New York, and at other major institutions, especially in the United States, where she has resided for nearly two decades. Alemani has worked with artists such as John Baldessari, El Anatsui, Olafur Eliasson, Barbara Kruger, Paola Pivi, and several others. In 2018, he curated, in collaboration with the city of Buenos Aires and Art Basel Cities, the exhibition Hopscotch (The Game of the World), a public art exhibition that celebrated the rich cultural ecosystem of the Argentine city. From 2009 to 2010 he directed the experimental space X Initiative in New York, where he organized exhibitions by Keren Cytter, Hans Haacke, Derek Jarman, Tris Vonna-Michell and many others.

“It is a great honor to be able to take on this role in one of the most prestigious and recognized Italian institutions in the world,” comments Cecilia Alemani warmly. “As the first Italian woman to hold this position, I understand and appreciate the responsibility and also the opportunity offered to me, and I promise to give voice to women artists to realize unique projects that reflect their visions and our society.”

Satisfaction from the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Dario Franceschini: “the choice of Cecilia Alemani as curator of the 59. International Art Exhibition confirms the visionary capacity of the presidency of Paolo Baratta who, in entrusting for the first time to an Italian woman the entire artistic design, continues the work of innovation and revitalization of one of the most important cultural institutions by increasing its already considerable international prestige consolidated through careful and enlightened management. Cecilia Alemani curated the Italian Pavilion in 2017 and I am sure that her new project will be equally courageous and innovative.”

Pictured: Cecilia Alemani. Ph. Timothy Schenk

Cecilia Alemani will direct the Venice Biennale 2021: she is the first Italian woman to receive the appointment

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