The Paris-based Turkish artist Nil Yalter has been awarded the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement by the Venice Biennale, along with Brazilian artist Anna Maria Maiolino. The award has been given for their enduring influence and significant contributions to contemporary art. Both artists will be celebrated at the 60th edition of the biennale, titled Foreigners Everywhere, during the opening ceremony on April 20, 2024.
Statement from curator Adriano Pedrosa:
This decision is particularly meaningful given the title and framework of my Exhibition, focused as it is on artists who have traveled and migrated between North and South, Europe and beyond, and vice versa. In this sense, my choice rests upon two extraordinary, pioneering women artists who are also migrants and who embody in many ways the spirit of Stranieri Ovunque—Foreigners Everywhere: Anna Maria Maiolino (Scalea, Italy, 1942, lives in São Paulo, Brazil), who migrated from Italy to South America, first to Venezuela and later to Brazil, where she lives today; Nil Yalter (Cairo, Egypt, 1938, lives in Paris, France), a Turkish who migrated from Cairo to Istanbul and finally to Paris, where she is based.
April 5, 2024
