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Euronews
6 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
Nomadic biennial Manifesta to land in Coimbra for its 2028 edition
Manifesta, Europe's nomadic biennial of contemporary art and urban practice, will be held in Coimbra, Portugal in 2028 – the first time the country will host the influential event. Manifesta 17 will be a collaborative edition developed with Anozero, a biennial co-organised by the Municipality of Coimbra and the University of Coimbra. Announcing the decision in a statement this week, Portugal's Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, said: 'Bringing Manifesta to Coimbra is a strategic opportunity that reflects the government's commitment to culture in its various dimensions and across the entire territory.' 'This decision is of great significance,' she added, 'as it recognises the value of a transformative dialogue between art and society, bringing to the city, the region and the country a major cultural event with proven economic return and strong tourism potential.' Founded in 1996, Manifesta takes place every two years in a different European host city or region, with the aim of engaging local contexts and communities in collaborative cultural production. Past editions have taken place in cities such as Palermo, Marseille, Rotterdam, and most recently, Barcelona in 2024. The decision to bring Manifesta to Coimbra reflects the organisers' ambition to work more closely with local initiatives, particularly those embedded in rich historical and academic contexts. Hedwig Fijen, the director and founding head of Manifesta, highlighted this shift: 'Manifesta is entering a new phase of cross-cultural collaboration within the European arts and architecture landscape by partnering with the Coimbra-based biennial Anozero.' According to Fijen, Anozero, led by Carlos Antunes and Désirée Pedro, 'reflects a shared commitment to working together across institutions and contexts.' She affirmed that such collaborative practices 'not only essential but may well represent the future of the art world.' The 2028 edition will be supported by a network of national partners, including Portugal's Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Tourism. The biennial will be shaped by a combination of Manifesta's international team and local experts from Coimbra, as well as Portuguese cultural practitioners. Known for its Romanesque architecture and academic legacy, Coimbra is home to several key heritage sites. Among them is the Old Cathedral (Sé Velha), dating back to 1117, and the University of Coimbra, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2013. These historical landmarks, alongside the city's dynamic artistic community, are expected to serve as both backdrop and inspiration for Manifesta 17. Manifesta 16 will precede the Portuguese edition, taking place in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, from 21 June to 4 October 2026. That edition, spread across multiple post-industrial cities, will continue the biennial's exploration of art as a tool for civic transformation and speculative futures.
STV News
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- STV News
Turner Prize shortlist includes artist who uses 'salvaged' antique dolls in work
An artist who uses dolls 'salvaged' from thrift shops and online in their work and another who uses VHS tape are among those on the shortlist for the Turner Prize 2025. Peterborough artist Rene Matic was among the four shortlisted artists announced at the Tate Britain on Wednesday for their first institutional solo exhibition, called As Opposed To The Truth, which touches on ideas of the rise of right-wing populism and identities. Alongside Matic were three fellow London-based artists, Glasgow-born Nnena Kalu, Mohammed Sami, who first moved to Sweden after leaving Iraq, and Canada-born Zadie Xa. Matic, 27, was praised by the jury for expressing 'concerns around belonging and identity, conveying broader experiences of a young generation and their community through an intimate and compelling body of work'. PA Media Rene Matic (Diana Pfammatter; Courtesy the Artist and Arcadia Missa, London) Their work looks at themes including 'the constructed self through the lens of rudeness', which they have taken from rudeboy culture, a Jamaican subculture in the UK. It includes personal photographs of family and friends in stacked frames, paired with sound, banners, and an installation at the Centre for Contemporary Arts Berlin, Germany. They also have an ongoing collection called Restoration, which focuses on 'antique black dolls salvaged by the artist' and a flag quoting political leaders who called for 'no place for violence' in the wake of the attempted assassination of US President Donald Trump. Kalu, born in Glasgow in 1966, is a resident artist at ActionSpace's studio, which supports learning disabled artists across London, at Studio Voltaire. She creates large-scale abstract sculptures and drawings that hang down from the wall or ceiling. PA Media Nnena Kalu's work at Manifesta (Ivan Erofeev/Manifesta) The items are made from colourful streams of repurposed fabric, rope, parcel tape, cling film, paper and reels of VHS tape. Kalu is nominated for her installation Hanging Sculpture 1-10, which Manifesta 15 Barcelona commissioned her to create at a disused power station, and her presentation in Conversations, a group exhibition at Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. The works contain ten large brightly coloured sculptures that hung among the grey concrete pillars of the industrial site, and a work in pen, graphite and chalk pen on two pieces of paper. She was commended for 'her unique command of material, colour and gesture and her highly attuned responses to architectural space'. PA Media Rene Matic's work in Berlin (Diana Pfammatter/CCA Berlin) Xa, 41, who studied at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver and the Royal College of Art in London, is influenced by her Korean background and its 'spiritual rituals, shamanism, folk traditions and textile practices'. She is nominated for Moonlit Confessions Across Deep Sea Echoes: Your Ancestors Are Whales, and Earth Remembers Everything (2025), which was created with Spanish artist Benito Mayor Vallejo and shown at the United Arab Emirates' Sharjah Biennial. It has a sound element inspired by Salpuri, a Korean exorcism dance, and a mobile sculpture inspired by seashell wind chimes and Korean shamanic rattles, which has 650 brass bells that make harmonised sounds. Painter Sami, 40, born in Baghdad, has studied at the Belfast School of Art and Goldsmiths College, London. PA Media Mohammed Sami's After the Storm at Blenheim Palace (Tom Lindboe/Blenheim Palace) He says: 'My paintings seek to capture the state of confusion that occurs because of the cut thread between reality and the imagination; between war narrated and war witnessed.' Sami was given the nod for After the Storm: Mohammed Sami at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, which has 14 paintings that respond to the history of Sir Winston Churchill's birthplace, and contain 'hints and references to conflict in Iraq'. The paintings do not have human figures, while one shows the 'shadow of a helicopter blade over a table and empty chairs', and another appears to suggest body bags. An exhibition of works will be held at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery from September 27 2025 to February 22 2026 during the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture celebrations. The winner will be announced on December 9 2025 at an award ceremony in Bradford. Last year, Scottish artist Jasleen Kaur, who put a doily on a car, won the prestigious art prize, which awards £25,000 to its winner and £10,000 to the other shortlisted artists. Previous recipients include sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor (1991), artist Damien Hirst (1995), and filmmaker Sir Steve McQueen (1999). Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
