Manifesta 7 posters look very much in place at Bolzano train station.
Kompromat Blog
11 trains, 4 towns and 3 days
Manifesta 7 Professional preview , July 17-19
People waiting for Manifesta shuttle bus. In vain. -
Buses in South Tyrol are much less reliable than trains.
Instead of a political hot spot, the one and only European nomadic biennial takes place in a tourist paradise of Trentino/South Tyrol this time. Many Dutch people went there to escape from the rain at home...
Manifesta founder and director Hedwig Fijen is happy that it's finally happening. -
Hedwig slept less than 4 hours the night before.
-Actually we have 4 biennials opening these days, in 4 different cities.
Ex Manifesta Marieke van Hal lives in Greece nowadays. -
She met her Greek sweetheart during her directorship at the Athens biennial.
Van Abbe museum director Charles Esche is watching the videos very attentively. -
Concentration requires a lot of courage with the extreme heat and the lack of air in the former Post and Communication building in Trento.
Even for Dutch artist Praneet Soi it feels too warm today. -
In spite of the fact that he spends half of his time in India.
Yara Bubnova -
Co-curator of Manifesta 4 and Moscow biennial 1. Yara was born in Moscow and speak better Russian than the Russians themselves. She seems very skeptical about Manifesta 7...
Manifesta's Saskia van der Kroef with Kai van Hasselt from Shinsekai Analysis. -
Since her student times, Saskia has been a faithful Manifesta employee. Kai is helping architects with their projects abroad, especially in Japan. He doesn't dare to go to Russia yet, but we assured him he should try it one day.
Fleur van Muiswinkel is a nice girl with red hair. -
That's why we took this picture of her. Fleur used to work for W139 in Amsterdam; she lives in Norway now. Fleur likes skiing in spite of occasionally breaking her bodyparts while doing it.
At the Trento opening party, all alcohol was finished after 45 min. -
They can drink, those professionals...
Suzanne van de Ven is an international art professional. -
(oh-oh, what a term. Kompromat spends too much time on LinkedIn lately.)
Just off her train from Berlin, Suzanne is taken hostage of by Manifesta girls.
Another member of the Fijen clan- Hedwig's sister Brigitta Fijen
Some more Dutch faces in Trento. -
(L)Annette Mullink, Montevideo's business director and ex Mondriaan foundation and
(M) Toos Arends, curator of contemporary art at the Fries museum in Leeuwarden.
Curator Angela Serino feels at home at Trentino. -
However, she decided to stay in Amsterdam after her curatorial studies at De Appel.
Fleurie Kloostra is looking for Flemish connections everywhere. -
As exhibition programmer of Flemish Cultural Centre Brakke Grond in Amsterdam, she needs to stay in touch with her colleagues from Flanders.
De Appel director Ann Demeester (r)- the Flemish lady of Amsterdam.
We have no idea who this lady is. -
But we saw her everywhere and we thought her outfit was kind of cool.
The opening of Fortezza - another Manifesta 7 location. -
At 10:30 a.m. it's already crowded outside.
Eastern Europeans speak very fast. -
Curator from Gdansk explains to the audience why the next Manifesta should take place in her city. The Italian translator is trying to catch up with her talk.
Enjoy the silence. -
Inside the fortress, there isn't a soul.
One of the few people we met in Fortezza corridors this morning is Mauruzio Bortolotti. -
Curator and writer for the Domus magazine.
Manifesta crowds in front of Museion - the brand new contemporary art museum in Bolzano. -
It was opened in May, 2008. Such a big museum for such a small place.
Succesful young curator Krist Gruythuysen is explaining Manifesta 7 concept with great enthusiasm. -
Especially the exhibition in Rovereto, where he worked as curatorial advisor for Adam Budak.
No place in Europe without Russian gastarbeiders. -
Vladimir Grachov, our friendly receptionist at Citta Hotel in Bolzano. Vladimir assured us we should take a taxi to Ex-Alumix, where Manifesta party is being held tonight. "This is a no-go area"- he said. And added sadly: "Italy is not as it was before."
Party at Ex-Alumix factory. -
The watertower covered with graffiti by Polish M-City collective, looks like a nuclear mushroom in the dark.
Italian youth enjoying Manifesta beats.
Artist Richard Wright and production assistant Marianna Liosi definitely like each other -
Richard is a good artist.- Marianna tells Kompromat.- He's not been a pain in the ass like many other artists.
Finally we know how to distinguish a good artist from a bad one.
Paul Keller seems jealous of his girlfriend Sara Kolster. -
Have you sent any secret messages with your pigeons lately? Do you have Something to hide?
Martine van Kampen en Theo Tegelaers from SKOR are enjoying the party.
