Weekly News Roundup: March 18, 2022

Levitating at the Hong Kong Pavilion at Venice

On March 14, the West Kowloon Cultural District and Authority announced “Arise” as the title of Angela Su’s presentation in the Hong Kong Pavilion at the upcoming Venice Biennale. Curated by Freya Chou, with consulting curator Ying Kwok, Su’s new project features the video The Magnificent Levitation Act of Lauren O (2022), which revolves around the story of a character named Lauren O, who believes she can float in the air and becomes involved in Laden Raven, a 1960s anti-war US activist group. “Arise” will also showcase Su’s drawings, moving-image works, embroideries, and installations, which will document and uncover the activities of both Lauren O and Laden Raven. Through this assemblage of works, the exhibition seeks to convey “how an individual can confront a changed or changing world.”

Melbourne Reveals Plans for Massive NGV Contemporary

Melbourne’s cultural minister, Danny Pearson, revealed on March 15 the details of the winning design by Angelo Candalepas and Associates for NGV Contemporary, the new building at the National Gallery of Victoria. The new museum will have 13,000-square meters of exhibition space, a 40-meter-high spherical exhibition hall that can house large-scale installations, scientific labs for conservation, a rooftop terrace, and a restaurant. The building will face new public parklands connecting St Kilda Road in Southbank to Melbourne’s riverfront. Pearson said that the new building will be an “absolute gamechanger” for Melbourne: “It’s going to put us on the world map as being a destination for great creative and cultural events.” Construction will begin next year and is expected to be completed in 2028.

Atong Atem Wins the First La Prairie Art Award

Ethiopian-born, Melbourne-based multimedia artist Atong Atem has been selected as the winner of the first La Prairie Art Award, with her latest series of photographs A yellow dress, a bouquet (2022). The winning work, acquired by Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales, features herself in close-up, with her face painted in vibrant colors and herself dressed in yellow. Her postures and the composition of the image suggest elements in the classical western painting traditions, but she retained what she calls a “decidedly African, postcolonial aesthetic style” through the colors and textures of the work. As the recipient of the Award, she will join an international artist residency and travel to Zurich to attend the upcoming Art Basel as a VIP guest. A partnership between Sydney’s AGNSW and the Swiss skincare brand La Prairie, the Award celebrates the work of Australian women artists.

Singapore Names Upcoming Biennale “Natasha”

The organizers of the Singapore Biennale 2022 have decided to give a name to the upcoming edition: “Natasha.” The festival is slated to run from October 18, 2022, to March 19, 2023. While the announcement did not include many other details, the curators explained: “A curious event unfolds when a name is given. Everything might seem the same, yet what it was is now different. A place transforms into home. A figure becomes familiar. The formless finds shape. It’s only a name, but with it a world comes into being. As it is spoken, it forges relations with what is around.” Co-directed by Binna Choi, Nida Ghouse, June Yap, and Ala Younis, this is the first Singapore Biennale led by an all-women team.

Dubai-based Collective Receives Inaugural BMC Prize

The artist collective Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, and Hesam Rahmanian has been awarded the BMC Prize, a new USD 20,000 grant launched by Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center (BMCM+AC) in North Carolina. Their works and projects celebrate coexistence and the spirit of collaboration by infusing individual skills and practices, while acknowledging the contributions by other participants such as other artists, technicians, thinkers, and caretakers. Ramin, Rokni, and Hesam are selected as winners for “working in the spirit of Black Mountain College” and will also visit the BMC campus at Lake Eden for a four-day stay and a guided tour at the campus and museum. BMC was a private liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina, that operated from 1933 to 1957, and was co-founded by scholars John Andrew Rice and Theodore Dreier out of an urge for progressive education.

First Winner of 2021 Richard Mille Art Prize at Louvre Abu Dhabi

Bahraini-American artist Nasser Alzayani, who is based in Abu Dhabi, won the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s first Richard Mille Art Prize, receiving USD 50,000 at a ceremony on March 10. With a research-driven practice, Alzayani uses found objects and explores ideas of archeology in his projects. Alzayani was selected by a jury comprising Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, chairman of UAE Unlimited; the Centre Pompidou’s chief curator Christine Macel; Hala Wardé, founding architect of HW Architecture, and Souraya Noujaim, the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s scientific, curatorial, and collections management director.