Venice Biennale

CheckList has been selected to represent African contemporary art in the Artiglierie space of the Arsenale. The winning project will be curated by Fernando Alvim and Simon Njam, and will be drawn from works in the Sindika Dokolo African Collection of Contemporary Art (Luanda, Angola).

The 52nd International Art Exhibition (running from June 10 to November 21, 2007) will host in the core of its international section a special area dedicated to AFRICA. The main purpose of the project, which will be seen in spaces made available to it by the Biennale in the Arsenale Artiglierie, is to present an informed and distinctive perspective on current art from Africa and the African Diaspora. In making their selection, the jury not only praised the project’s curatorial strengths and those of the Sindika Dokolo Collection overall, but sought to draw attention to the Sindika Dokolo initiative as a signal undertaking within the context of art patronage in Africa generally.

The Sindika Dokolo African Collection of Contemporary Art was created in Luanda (Angola) in 2004 by the Congolese businessman and art collector Sindika Dokolo, together with the Angolan artist Fernando Alvim. The Collection’s aim is to promote the knowledge of the contemporary art scene throughout the African continent. The Sindika Dokolo Collection is comprised of 500 works by 140 artists from 28 different nations. Every year about 100 works are purchased in order to update and improve its holdings.

The panel of experts invited by Director Robert Storr consisted of Meskerem Assegued, Ekow Eshun,Lyle Ashton Harris, Kellie Jones, Bisi Silva.

Culled from the website