The international Juri of the 48th International Exhibition of Contemporary Art composed of Zdenka Badovinac, Okwui Enwezor, Ida Gianelli, Yuko Hasegawa and Rosa Martinez, awarded the following prizes:
"The Venice Biennale International Award" to DOUG AITKEN,
because he recuperates the narrative form and the experimental research of cinema negated by the economic values of the commercial film industry. Hid installation is perfect and articulated with intellectual clarity.
"The Venice Biennale International Award" to CAI GUO-QIANG,
whose work is strong and surprising and perfectly balanced in its space. The artist questions the history, function and the epic of art through temporal and physical contextual isolation.
"The Venice Biennale International Award" to SHIRIN NESHAT,
because the critical and emotional power of the artist's work contrasts the socially established cultural model with the energy of another model which has been silent until now and shortenes its distances.
"Golden Lion for the best national participation" to the Italia Pavilion (MONICA BONVIVINI, BRUNA ESPOSITO, LUISA LAMBRI, PAOLA PIVI, GRAZIA TODERI),
because it demonstrates a new attitude, reinventing the traditional territory of the pavilions. It expresses the spirit of generosity and openness which has been the real proposal of this Biennale. The energy visible in the works is critical and new.
"Honorable mention" to GEORGES ADEAGBO,
because he occupies an intermediate space between global and local. The disorganized effect of his work contains the poetic vision of an individual voice and the capacity to work on the margins of two divided worlds: the public and the private.
"Honorable mention" to EIJA-LIISA AHTILA,
whose work is driven and punctuates the importance of video and film as a strategic and critical means of analyzing personal and social rituals.
"Honorable mention" to KATARZYNA KOZYRA,
because she explores and controls the authoritarian dominion of male territory and unites the elements of performance and "mise en scene".
"Honorable mention" to LEE BUL,
because she creates critical metaphors of the female situation in Asia with a style that goes from kitsch to cybernetic and through her work shows psychological isolation and the joy of a possible change.
"Golden Lions" to two masters of contemporary art decided by La Biennale which this year go to LOUISE BOURGEOIS and BRUCE NAUMAN.
Unofficial Prize
"Unesco Prize" for the promotion of arts to GHADA AMER.
