Hedwig Fijen, director of Manifesta, the European Nomadic Biennial responded with an open letter released in May to some of the questions we have been asking biennial directors and curators over the past few weeks. In her passionate words we find a poetic but also complex balance between the reality of a Europe still in lockdown and the will to remain true to one of Manifesta’s key pillars: the movement of artists and people within the European context to stimulate cultural dialogue.
Born in a context in which the east-west divide in Europe was all too real after 50 years of forced separation, the project of Manifesta was always rooted in fostering a dialogue of regions rather than nation states. And much in the same way, the current 13th edition held in Marseille is proof of this will to create cultural bridges. Less marking the former iron curtain and more opening to new critical geographies such as the mediterranean area. It feels not pure chance that Marseille follows from Palermo two years ago.
In the meantime we know that Manifesta did manage to open, be it with dire limitations due to the circumstances in the whole of South France, but the will to do so transpired already in Fijen’s words as you can read in the letter that we are publishing here in full as an attachment:
Manifesta 13 will remain open to visitors till November 29th 2020 in various locations across Marseille. More information can be found at the following web address: http://manifesta13.org/
