VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The opening of Manifesta 11, in Zurich, is still more than seven months away, but today reps from the roving European biennial announced that they have selected Palermo, Italy, on the island of Sicily, as the site of Manifesta 12, which will occur in 2018.
The last edition of Manifesta to be held in Italy was number seven, in 2008. That show, organized by Adam Budak, Anselm Franke/Hila Peleg, and Raqs Media Collective, occurred in the nation’s northern Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region.
Why Palermo? The Manifesta foundation explained in a release:
The City of Palermo was important for Manifesta’s selection board for its representation of two important themes that identify contemporary Europe: migration and climate changes and how these issues impact our cities. The multi-layered and deeply condensed history of Palermo—being occupied by almost every European civilization and having long-term connections with Northern Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean over the last 2,000 years—has left its traces throughout this multicultural society at the heart of the Mediterranean area.
The curatorial team for Manifesta 12 has not yet been named.
Manifest 11 will open in Zurich on June 11—right before the opening of Art Basel—and is being organized by Christian Jankowski.