Francesco Urbano Ragazzi to curate 2022 Lofoten International Art Festival

Francesco Urbano Ragazzi, a Paris-based curator duo, will lead the 2022 Lofoten International Art Festival (LIAF) in Norway's Lofoten archipelago. They described the islands as a peaceful yet extreme ecosystem where humans have historically navigated isolation and environmental balance. LIAF 2022 aims to push reality's boundaries by engaging with contemporary ghosts, drawing on local wisdom and communities. The duo has collaborated since 2008, exploring narratives of connectivity. They organized the Internet Pavilion in 2011 and 2013, later launching The Internet Saga, a research and exhibition series that began with a Jonas Mekas solo show at the 2015 Venice Biennale. This initiated ongoing work with Mekas, including curating exhibitions, publications, and screenings globally. Notable projects include Mekas's first Asian retrospective, 'Again, Again It All Comes Back to Me in Brief Glimpses,' at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul in 2018, and his final solo exhibition at Ásmundarsalur during the Reykjavik International Film Festival in 2018. They also published 'Transcript 04 44' 14": Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR' with Humboldt Books in 2020. Since 2017, they have managed the Church of Chiara Fumai, overseeing the archive and estate of the Italian feminist artist. The festival is a biennial contemporary art event set in a remote Norwegian location.