New Zealand Well Represented in Venice
Media release
Date: 19 June 2005
New Zealand
Well Represented in Venice
Claims by a small number of New Zealand media that the artist representing New Zealand at the Venice Biennale, et al., is not fulfilling a representational role and not fronting the media are unfounded, misleading and downright mischievous, says Creative New Zealand Chair Peter Biggs.
“From the beginning when we started working on this project last year, we made it quite clear that the New Zealand team as a whole – comprising commissioner Greg Burke, curator Natasha Conland and the artist et al. – would carry out the required representational role with the media and other important audiences in Venice. We have delivered – and are delivering – on that.
“Et al. has responded to questions from the New Zealand print media. She has been available to the international media and has met with key figures in the international arts world, including the Director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
“The accusation that et al. is not fronting the media appears to be driven by the fact that she was unable to respond to FrontSeat within their deadline. She was unable to do this because she was involved with fine tuning the installation at the New Zealand pavilion and then flying home.
“The Venice Biennale and the New Zealand exhibition there runs until November and we expect media discussion of the work to continue for some time.”
“I have watched et al. work tremendously hard to create a contemporary art installation that has been extremely well received by the audience in Venice. It is my view that the artist and the rest of the team have done an excellent job, achieving an artistic and marketing success for New Zealand.”
ENDS