(openPR) - The sixth edition of the Florence Biennale of Contemporary Art will take place at the historic Fortezza da Basso from 1st - 9th December, 2007. 840 artists coming from 76 countries will be exhibiting more than 2,500 artworks and there will be an extraordinary meeting of cultures, languages and diverse artistic styles. The actress Anne Archer, Ambassador of the association Artists for Human Rights is coming to Florence to award the Biennale for its support of the Untied Nations program “Dialogue between civilizations”, to which the Biennale has officially adhered since 2001.

The Biennale will also see the presence of important artists: Gilbert & George will receive the “Lorenzo il Magnifico" prize for their career. In the 2005 edition, it was conferred to Christo and Jeanne-Claude and to Richard Anuszkiewicz and in 2003 to David Hockney. On the wave of the exceptional success dedicated to their work at the Tate Gallery in London, Gilbert & George will come to Florence together with Tim Marlow, Exhibitions Director of the White Cube Gallery London, founder of the Tate Magazine, and currently a collaborator on Channel Five, writing for important British newspapers such as The Times, The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, Art Monthly, etc.

The art and life of Frida Kalho and of Tina Modotti will be presented in two conferences given by Gregorio Luke, past Director of the MOLAA of Long Beach and member of the International Jury of the Biennale.

Ars Electronica Center from Linz, Austria is a museum dedicated to digital art. They organize the Prix Ars Electronica, the Ars Electronica Festival and the Ars Electronica Futurelab. Ars Electronica will have a 300m2 digital art and interactive video space at the Biennale where they will be inviting the visitors to enter into a virtual reality.

Calendar of Events

Saturday 1 December
11.30 Opening Ceremony
5pm Concert, written and conducted by Carol Worthey

Sunday 2 December
11.30 Lecture “Abstraction in painting and drawing” - by Paul Lorenz
4pm Performance by artist Nam-Hong
5pm Presentation of the Ars Electronica Center, Linz, by Maurizio Vanni and Gerfied Stocker

Monday 3 December
3pm Master Class “Investing in Art” - presented by Sergei Skaterchikov, from Hermitage Magazine and "Skate's”
5pm Conference on Tina Modotti given by Gregorio Luke

Tuesday 4 December
3pm Film "The World of Gilbert & George"
5pm Gilbert & George receive the "Lorenzo il Magnifico" career award. Tim Marlow, Exhibitions Director of the White Cube Gallery, London, will also be present.

Wednesday 5 December
3.30pm Conference "Let there be the light", by David Rubin
5pm Presentation of installation art work, by artist Les Christensen at St James Church, via Rucellai 9.

Thursday 6 December
5pm Film "The World of Gilbert & George"

Friday 7 December
11.30 Conference "Abstraction in sculpture", by Paul Lorenz
5pm Concert
6pm Performance by artist Nam-Hong

Saturday 8 December
11.30 Lecture on Frida Kalho, by Gregorio Luke
3.30pm Presentation “Artists for human rights Association” by Anne Archer
5pm Presentation “Passion for Life”, by Antoine Gaber
9pm Gala Dinner

Sunday 9 December
3.30pm Award Ceremony

For further information: www.florencebiennale.org

Press Office:
Studio Abba, Corso Italia, 6 - 50123 Firenze Italy
tel./fax +39 055292082
press@florencebiennale.org

Vito Abba
Studio Abba
Corso Italia, 6
50123 Florence
Italy
tel. +39 055292082
fax +39 055292082
press@florencebiennale.org
www.florencebiennale.org

Arte Studio began the succession of international contemporary art exhibitions that gave birth to the first edition of the Florence Biennale in 1997. Thanks to the organizational efforts of Pasquale and Piero Celona, the International Jury and the International Scientific Committee, the Florence Biennale has reached its fifth edition.