THE TEAM OF CENTRAL ASIA PAVILION

CURATOR: BERAL MADRA

Art critic and curator, lives and Works in Istanbul, director BM Contemporary Art Center (since 1984), operating as BM-SUMA, Contemporary Art Center, September 2007. Coordinated the 1st (1987) and the 2nd (1989) Istanbul Biennale, curated THE Pavilion of Turkey in 43rd, 45th, 49th , 50th and 51st Venice Biennale. Since 1984 she has organized solo and group exhibitions of local and international artists in her art center and in other official art spaces in Istanbul. Beral Madra is representing Istanbul Scholarship of Berlin Senate since 1995. She is founding member of Diyarbakır Art Centre (established September 2002 , founding member of AICA Turkey (2003) and was president, 2003-2008. Currently she is the Visual arts Director of Istanbul 2010 Culture Capital of Europe. Recent exhibitions: Check in Europe, European Patent Office, Munich, June-July 2006 / advisory curator for Sinopale, August 2006-2008 / “Neighbours in Dialogue”, Exhibition for the Collection of ars Aevi, Sarajevo, 2007-2008; “Captivated by Bakhchesaray”, Crimea, 2008; Istanbul Diptychs, Istanbul Center in Brussels (2008). Recent Books: “Neighbours in Dialogue” Editors: Beral Madra/Ayşe Orhun Gültekin, Norgunk Publishers, Istanbul, 2007/ “MAIDAN”, editor Beral Madra, BMCAC Yayınları, İstanbul, 2007

COMISSIONER: VITTORIO URBANI

Vittorio Urbani (born in Ferrara, Italy, in 1954) is an independent curator, based in Venice, Italy, who has been organizing contemporary exhibitions since 1993 as director of the non-profit organization Nuova Icona and at international venues. Nuova Icona is dedicated to the realization of projects by contemporary visual artists. Under Urbani’s artistic direction, Nuova Icona has held 180 shows in Italy and abroad and published 80 catalogues.

Since 1995 Nuova Icona has organized the national official participations of Ireland in the Venice Art Biennale. It has also collaborated with the national participations of Wales (2001, 2003, 2007, 2009), Turkey (2001, 2003 and 2005), Scotland (2003), USA (2003), Bulgaria (2008), Azerbaijan (2007 and 2009), Lebanon (2007), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, 2009), Palestine (2009).

The association takes special care of artistic projects concerning cultural exchanges with Turkey and the Middle East.

www.nuovaicona.org

ASSISTANT CURATOR: NAZIRA ALIMBAEVA

Born1981 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan , currently lives in Bishkek. She was educated 1999-2005 in Kyrgyz State University, Faculty of German language and Philology, had 2003-2004 Fellowship at the Institute Luebecker Volkshochschule, Germany. From July 2006 to present time she worked as manager of the UNESCO project at the International Foundation “Dialogue of Cultures and Civilizations”; as manager of the project “Women and Culture in Central Asia”; as assistant of chief-in-editor of Scientific-educational magazine “Central Asia and Culture of Peace” Asia-Pacific Regional Centre of the Culturelink Network (APRCCN) national focal point in Kyrgyzstan;as coordinator of cultural UNESCO Projects, Festivals, Exhibitions in Kyrgyzstan. She worked as volunteer project assistant at the 4th Bishkek International Exhibition of Contemporary Art, 2008.