Cecilia Alemani to Curate Italy Pavilion at 2017 Venice Biennale

Cecilia Alemani, director and chief curator of High Line Art in New York, has been appointed curator of the Italy Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale Arte. The announcement was made by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage (Mibact), which selected her from ten candidates who submitted project proposals. Alemani is the first woman to lead the pavilion solo since Ida Giannelli; Beatrice Buscaroli previously co-curated in 2009. Alemani's husband, Massimiliano Gioni, directed the 2013 edition of the Biennale. Since 2014, Alemani has overseen New York's High Line Art public program, and since 2012 she has curated the non-profit section of Frieze New York. She has also collaborated with institutions such as Tate Modern, MoMA PS1, and Palazzo Grassi. The Italy Pavilion series began in 2007 with a dual exhibition of Francesco Vezzoli and Giuseppe Penone, followed by Buscaroli (2009), Vittorio Sgarbi (2011), Bartolomeo Pietromarchi (2013), and Vincenzo Trione (2015). The specific project for Alemani's pavilion has not yet been revealed. Meanwhile, the United States has selected Mark Bradford and Great Britain has chosen Phyllida Barlow for their respective national pavilions.