Part I: Anawana Haloba in Conversation with Gavin Jantjes
18:00 – 19:00

The artist Anawana Haloba, selected by curator Daniel Birnbaum to participate in 'Fare Mondi//Making Worlds...', the 53rd International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2009, and Gavin Jantjes, Curator for International Contemporary Art at The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo, will discuss Haloba's work for the upcoming Venice Biennale. The conversation will also address previous projects made by Haloba for other biennials, such as the Sharjah Biennial, Manifesta 7 and the 16th Biennale of Sydney in 2008, for which the artist created a video and sound installation that explored women's revolutionary passage from the private to the public realm. Commenting on political matters through a personal perspective, Haloba has made a number of works negotiating cultural barriers. Within 'Fare Mondi//Making Worlds...' Haloba will exhibit The Greater G8 (GG8) AD MARKET, which follows the logic and desires of a political dreamscape in which the artist rewrites the rules of financial exchange by offering Third World fair-trade goods imbued with a sense of futility.

Anawana Haloba (born in Zambia 1978, lives and works in Oslo, Norway) completed her studies at the National Academy of Fine Art, Oslo, in 2006. She is a graduate of the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2008). Haloba has participated in CAPE 2007, the Sharjah Biennial (2007), Manifesta 7 (2008) and the 16th Biennale of Sydney (2008), among other international exhibitions.

'The Collectors': Curated by Elmgreen & Dragset for the Nordic and Danish Pavilions

Part II: Elmgreen & Dragset will discuss 'The Collectors' with participating artists Thora Dolven Balke, Laura Horelli, Martin Jacobson, Jani Leinonen, Nina Saunders and Vibeke Slyngstad
19:00 – 21:00

The artists' duo and curators of the Nordic and Danish Pavilions in the 2009 Venice Biennale, Elmgreen & Dragset, will discuss their exhibition project 'The Collectors', introduce the selected artists and elaborate on their curatorial approach. As the title of the show indicates, the curators will approach the topic of collecting, and the psychology behind the practice of expressing oneself through physical objects, addressing questions such as 'why do we gather items and surround ourselves with them in our everyday lives?' or 'which mechanisms of desire trigger our selection?' The curators will also elaborate on the nature of their architectural intervention in the pavilions and their collaboration with the participating artists. Following their presentation, participating artists Thora Dolven Balke, Laura Horelli, Martin Jacobsen, Jani Leinonen, Nina Saunders and Vibeke Slyngstad will join Elmgreen & Dragset for a roundtable discussion about their views on 'The Collectors'.

Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset have been collaborating as an artists' duo since 1995, and have exhibited in art institutions around the world, including Tate Modern and the Serpentine Gallery in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt am Main, and the Palais de Tokyo and the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, both in Paris.

The Artists

Thora Dolven Balke
Thora Dolven Balke (born in Oslo, Norway, 1982, lives and works in Oslo, Norway) completed her studies at the National Academy of Fine Art, Oslo, in 2006. Dolven Balke's recent exhibitions include 'Galleri rød E', Byrom i et portrom, Oslo, where she participated with the sound-piece And Then What, 'Alone in the Dark', Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo (2008), 'Re* Doubting Telling Objects', Verftet USF, Bergen (2008) and 'Lights On', Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo (2008).

Laura Horelli
Laura Horelli (born 1976, Helsinki, Finland, lives and works in Berlin, Germany) trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki and at Staedelschule, Frankfurt a.M., Germany. Horelli has earned several grants and residencies; in 2007 she was an artist-in-residency at Villa Aurora, Los Angeles, USA. Horelli's recent exhibitions include 'Diagonale' (with Gerhard Friedl), Graz, Austria (2009), 'I have been considering making a video about a ski resort in Northern Finland and showing it in a gallery in Berlin', Darkroom, Turku Art Museum, Turku, Finland, 'History Acts', Göteborgs konsthall, Gothenburg, 'Anti-festival', (with Anu Pennanen), Kuopio, Finland, 'Elmgreen & Dragset: Home is the Place You Left', Trondheim Kunstmuseum, Trondheim, Norway (all 2008) and a solo show at Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin, (2007).

Martin Jacobson
Martin Jacobson (born 1978 in Stockholm, Sweden, lives and works in Malmö, Sweden) graduated from Malmö Art Academy in 2005. Recent exhibitions include Andréhn-Schiptjenko, Stockholm (2008), 'Re:tur', Östergötlands länsmuseum, Linköping (2007) and Arnstedt & Kullgren, Båstad (2007). Jacobson has received grants from Ellen Trotzigs fond, Malmö Art Museum, Sweden and Konstnärsnämnden (the Swedish Arts Council).

Jani Leinonen
Jani Leinonen (born 1978 in Hyvinkää, Finland, lives and works in Helsinki) is a graduate from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki, Finland. His recent exhibitions include 'Pimp My Painting', Larm Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2009), 'Jani's and Riiko's Free World', Amos Anderson Art Museum, Finland (2009), 'Rejected Ideas for Cap'n Crunch Advertisements', Gallery Moeller Snow, New York, USA (2009), 'On the Right Track', Contemporary Art Museum Kiasma, Helsinki (2009) and 'Sampo', 4mula Gallery, St. Petersburg, Russia (2008).

Nina Saunders
Nina Saunders (born in Odense, Denmark in 1958, lives and works in London) trained at Central St Martins College of Art & Design, London. Recent exhibitions include 'Katy's Convoy', Horsens Kunstmuseum, Horsens, Denmark, (2009), 'Autumn Flowers', Site specific installation, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK, (2008) 'Drømmerier', Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen (2008) and 'Sincerely Yours', Galleri Specta, Copenhagen (2007). Saunders's works are represented in several public collections including the Arts Council Collection, Sweden, the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden, the Esbjerg Kunstmuseum, Denmark and the Saatchi Collection, London.

Vibeke Slyngstad
Vibeke Slyngstad (born 1968 in Ålesund, Norway, lives and works in Oslo) attended the National Academy of Art in Oslo, the MRDH Film School in Volda, (Documentary and Animation) and the Meisterschule f¨r Malerei, HTL Graz, Austria. Recent solo exhibitions include 'Vibeke Slyngstad', Galleri MGM, Oslo, (2008) Galleri Gann, Sandnes, Norway (2008), and Galleri Boulou, Bergen, Norway (2007).

This event has been initiated by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway. The Danish Arts Council has generously provided financial support for the travel and accommodation of the artist Nina Saunders. Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden, has funded Martin Jacobson's participation. 'The Collectors' is a group exhibition curated by Elmgreen & Dragset for the Nordic and Danish Pavilions commissioned by Danish Arts Council's Committee for International Visual Art and the Office for Contemporary Art Norway, for the Nordic Committee.

Press contact

For press enquiries relating to Anawana Haloba's participation in 'Fare Mondi//Making Worlds...', please contact Marthe Tveitan at marthe.tveitan@oca.no.

For additional information on the Nordic and Danish Pavilions, please visit: www.danish-nordic-pavilions.com. For press enquiries related to the Nordic and Danish Pavilions, and for interviews with the artists and curators, please contact the following:
For Norwegian press: Marthe Tveitan marthe.tveitan@oca.no.
For international press: Brian Phillips/Black Frame at bphillips@framenoir.com.