Daya Cahen (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)


Daya Cahen’s work investigates the suggestive and manipulative powers of the media. Representation of political icons, symbols of power, and foremost the functioning of propaganda play an important role. Cahen is interested in the interaction between the media and the spectator, how images are perceived and how they influence our views. Important aspects of Daya’s work are the extracting, quoting, re-using and redefining recognizable images, which can raise doubt about their original meaning or the interpretation of that meaning. By linking the political with the everyday and personal, combining archive material with contemporary images and blurring the border between fact and fiction, the complexity of manipulation by the media is explored. Cahen uses different media such as photography, video, found footage, newspapers and the internet, often turning to subjects that are very difficult to obtain access to.
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Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky (Bern, Switzerland)


Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky’s unusual photography is all about playing games. It’s about imagination and free association. Yet these games are not like the ones we played when we were children. Though Kovacovsky’s pictures and collages can be viewed as playful or funny, there is a distinct feel of gravity to them. The artist herself seems to take her work very seriously, just as a child would take his games very seriously. With her pictures, Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky shows us a glimpse of a world that is our own invention. This unreal universe is caught in the borders of a photograph, never to exist outside of the moment that Kovacovsky took the picture. (Text: Basje Boer)
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Marianne Vierø (Copenhagen, Denmark)


Marianne Vierø works primarily in the field of photography and installation, usually as one inseparable entity, where even the flat surface of the photograph expresses spatial properties. Ambiguity of status and the distance between ideal and illusion are returning themes in her work. Through continuous examination of structures, patterns and a subtle distortion of perceptual preconceptions, she investigates constructs of meaning. Vierø’s work often involves laborious processes of which the effect is almost unnoticeable. She utilises ordinary and mundane objects, but presents them in contexts that invite a renegotiation of our premise for understanding them, and seem to suggest that the most significant differences should be found in the smallest details.
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Idan Hayosh (Tel Aviv, Israel)


Evolving over a period of several years Idan’s process of working is a reaction both directly and indirectly in response to visual Images whose essences convey striking visual conductivity. Most interesting to the artist are aggressive and intimidating Images which imply danger suggested in their inherent symbolic (and actual) function, or further, through their elaborate arrangement. Searching for the confrontation and threat in images, Idan seeks and collects those that qualify as visually striking. Inspired from these collected images, he constructs temporary sculptures and stage them for video pieces as well as install them in a space. An integral part of this construction is the synergy between the image and its own sound amplified but otherwise unaltered. The sound always used is a recording of the objects composing the work.
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Gerrit Rietveld Academie


The Gerrit Rietveld Academie is an independent school for higher vocational education which is attended by some 950 students. The Executive Board manages all matters concerning the Academie.

The Rietveld Academie offers a wide range of graduation courses that are grouped together within departments. These are managed by co-ordinators, who are responsible for the course programme and day-to-day affairs. Around 160 part-time teachers work for the Academie, most of who are also working as independent artists or designers. Some departments have their own workshop where students have the opportunity to learn and develop certain skills. Next to these there are general workshops for computers, wood, metal and graphic techniques.

Sandberg Instituut


The Sandberg Instituut, affiliated with the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, is named after Willem Sandberg, former director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, designer and charismatic champion of all things new and different in art. Since 1995, the Sandberg Instituut contains the master programmes of the Rietveld Academy in Fine Arts, Applied Arts and Design. Before 1995, the Sandberg Instituut was primarily concerned with the organization of post-academic activities such as seminars and exhibitions. This outward orientation is still a cornerstone of the Institute’s philosophy, visible in projects like The One Minutes and the non commercial artfair Art Pie (aka Kunstvlaai). Director and Head of the Fine Arts department is Jos Houweling.

The One Minutes Foundation


The One Minutes is a brand name for moving images that last exactly one minute. It fits well in their world of looking quickly, understanding immediately and it is a response to the influence of commercials, video clips and the increased affordability of cameras, computers and access to Internet. The limited time frame forces the maker to think critically about what he/she would like to show us. The flexibility of the formula and the diversity of dissemination from the street to galleries, TV and festivals make it an attractive and accessible contemporary art form for a broad audience.

The One Minutes were launched in 1998 and by now have developed into a global network with makers from 100 countries and an archive of 10000 video works that are shown (inter) nationally on many podia.

Venice Biennale


The Venice Biennale has for over a century been one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Ever since its foundation in 1895, it has been in the avant-garde, promoting new artistic trends and organising international events in the contemporary arts in accordance with a multi-disciplinary model which characterises its unique nature.

The 53rd International Art Exhibition, entitled Making Words, is directed by Daniel Birnbaum, will open to the public from 7th June to 22nd November 2009 in the Giardini and the Arsenale exhibition venues, as well as in various other locations around the city.