Adelina von Fürstenberg

Granddaughter of the Armenian architect Dikran Kalfa Cüberyan , Adelina Cüberyan von Fürstenberg is an international and renowed curator and one of the field's pioneers in broadening contemporary art. Swiss citizen, Armenian origin, born in Istanbul, married to the photographer Graf Franz Egon von Fürstenberg, she is one of the first curators who showed an interest in non-European artists, thus opening the way for a multicultural approach in art. She is also a curator who took a more global and flexible approach to contemporary art exhibitions. Her objective is to create a new context for visual art and make it a more vigorous part of our lives, create a more vivid dialogue for it with other arts, and relate it more to worldwide social issues.

Biography

During her studies of Political Sciences at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, Adelina Cüberyan von Fürstenberg founded the Centre d'Art Contemporain in Geneva [3], which she directed until 1989, presenting several solo shows of the pioneers of Pop Art, Fluxus, Conceptual Art, Minimal Art such as Christian Boltanski, Daniel Buren, Sol LeWitt, Andy Warhol, Laurence Weiner. In the same period she organized performances with John Cage, Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Joan Jonas, Trisha Brown, Marina Abramovic, Robert Wilson and many group exhibitions, among them the well known open-air exhibition Promenades (1985), on the Lake Leman shores at Parc Lullin, Genthod with the sculptures and site-specific installations with the Arte Povera artists.

During her stay in Geneva, she opened the door of many international organisations to contemporary culture. In 1989 she organized large exhibitions in the Geneva headquarters of international organisations such as the ILO (International Labour Organization), where she presented The Line of Fire a model by the American architect Daniel Libeskind, scale 1/1, that would later become the Jewish Museum Berlin [4].

From 1989 to 1994, she directed Le Magasin, Centre d’Art Contemporain of Grenoble, France [5], where she curated large solo exhibitions of major artists, such as Gino De Dominicis and Alighiero Boetti, as well as symposia and lectures on architecture, science and philosophy. Furthermore, for five years she has directed the Ecole du Magasin (School of Curators). In 1993 for the 45th Venice Biennale she co-curated the Italian Pavilion and the Russian Pavilion (Ilya Kabakov). She also curated the exhibition Trésors du Voyage on the Island of San Lazzaro. On this occasion, the international Jury of the Biennale awarded her a prize for her direction of Le Magasin and her work at the School of Curators.

In 1995, on the occasion of the United Nations 50th Anniversary, she was invited to conceive and curate the exhibition Dialogues of Peace, an international exhibition presented at the UN Headquarters, in Geneva. Chen Zhen, Tadashi Kawamata, Alfredo Jaar are some of the 60 artists from various continents who contributed to the exhibition. In 1996 she founded ART for The World, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) associate to the UN Department of Public Information for the diffusion and promotion of the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through the organization of exhibitions and events around the world.

Adelina von Fürstenberg has curated with ART for The World, at the occasion of the Venice Biennale at the Armenian Monastery of San Lazzaro, solo shows of Robert Rauschenberg (1997), Jannis Kounellis (2003) and Joseph Kosuth (2007) and in Palazzo Zenobio the Children Museum of the architect Philip Johnson. Since 2005, with Art for TheWorld Europa, in Milan, she has worked with Hangar Bicocca, in creating a series of shows, among them the world avant-première Balkan Epic by Marina Abramovic (2006).

Adelina von Fürstenberg initiated the 1st and the 2nd edition of Contemporary Art on the Lake Maggiore. In 2006, she invited Jannis Kounellis and the artists William Kentridge, Liliana Moro and Robert Wilson with the composer Michael Galasso, to create site-specific works for the botanical garden of Isola Madre. Since 1998, she works in partnership with the Regional Direction of SESC Sao Paulo, Brazil [6], in curating large exhibitions, among them The Overexcited Body. Art and Sport in Contemporary Art, Voom Portraits by Robert Wilson (2008), and, in 2010, Urban Manners 2 on Indian contemporary art, for the first time in South America.

Adelina von Fürstenberg shares the common belief that art and cinema are two of the strongest catalysts that can facilitate human relations, especially within the context of political, ideological or religious spheres. Knowing that cinema is peculiarly potent to familiarize cultures to each other, to create endless possibilities that regenerate and enrich our social lives, in 2008, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), she created and produced the long feature film Stories on Human Rights , inspired by the UDHR and composed a series of short movies directed by 22 prominent video artists and filmmakers from all over the world and screened in more than 50 film festivals. Currently she is working with the Burkinabe filmmaker Idrissa Ouédraogo on the production of a new long feature film, The Mango Tree, and with Alliance of Civilizations of the UN on a new series of short films Then & Now : Beyond Borders and Differences in involving independent well known filmmakers from the five continents to promote tolerance by creating films stories highlighting the long-standing historical, spiritual and cultural links across cultures and beliefs.

Bibliography

• Meditations, ART for The World, Geneva 1997
• The Edge of Awareness, Charta, Milan 1998
• Philip Johnson, Mondadori Electa, Milan 1999
• ART for The World (1996-2002), ART for The World, Geneva 2002
• The Overexcited Body. Art and Sport in Contemporary Society, ART for The World, Geneva 2002
• Jannis Kounellis, Mondadori Electa, Milan 2003
• Donna Donne, Giunti Editore, Florence-Milan 2005
• Jannis Kounellis. Santa Fe, Boroli Foundation, 2006
• Marina Abramovic. Balkan Epic, Skira, Milan 2006
• Collateral. When Art Looks at Cinema, Charta, Milan 2007
• William Kentridge, Liliana Moro, Robert Wilson & Michael Galasso, ART for The World, Milan 2007
• Urban Manners. 15 Contemporary Artists from India, Edizioni Zero, Milan 2007
• Stories on Human Rights by Filmmakers, Artists and Writers + DVD, Mondadori Electa, Milan 2008
• Joseph Kosuth, Mondadori, Electa, 2009
• Luca Pancrazzi. Stilllife, Trolleybooks, 2009
• Masbedo. Schegge d'incanto, Carlo Cambi Editore, Poggibonsi, 2010

Written in Portuguese:

• Marina Abramovic, Balkan Erotic Epic, SESC SP, São Paulo, Brazil 2006
• Mulher Mulheres, SESC SP, Sao Paulo, Brazil 2007
• Colateral 2. Quando a arte olha o cinema, SESC SP, São Paulo, Brazil 2008
• Robert Wilson. VOOM Portraits, SESC SP, Sao Paulo, Brazil 2008
• Urban Manners 2, SESC SP, Sao Paulo, Brazil 2010

External links

ART for The World

ART for The World's blog