User:Adelina von Fürstenberg

Adelina Cüberyan von Fürstenberg

Adelina Cüberyan von Fürstenberg, an international and renowned curator, is one of the field’s pioneers in broadening contemporary art. Swiss citizen, Armenian born in Istanbul, married to the photographer Graf Franz Egon von Fürstenberg, she is one of the first curators who showed an interest in non-European artists, thus opening the way for a multicultural approach in art. She is also a curator who took a more global and flexible approach to contemporary art exhibitions. Her objective is to create a new context for visual art and make it a more vigorous part of our lives, create a more vivid dialogue for it with other arts, and relate it more to worldwide social issues.

During her studies of Political Sciences at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, Adelina von Fürstenberg founded the Centre d’Art Contemporain in Geneva, which she directed until 1989, presenting several solo shows of artists such as Luciano Fabro, Christian Boltanski, Daniel Buren, Francesco Clemente, Sol LeWitt, Andy Warhol, Joseph Kosuth and Marina Abramovic. During the same period she organized performances with John Cage, Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Joan Jonas, Trisha Brown, Robert Wilson and many group exhibitions, among them the well known open air exhibition Promenades (1985), on the Lake Léman shores at Parc Lullin, Genthod. In 1989 she organized large exhibitions in the Geneva headquarters of international organisations such as the ILO (International Labour Organization), where she presented The Line of Fire a model by the American architect Daniel Libeskind, scale 1/1, that would later become the Museum of Holocaust in Berlin. From 1989 to 1994, she directed Le Magasin, Centre d’Art Contemporain of Grenoble, France, where she curated large solo exhibitions of many artists, such as Gino De Dominicis, Vito Acconci, Per Kirkeby, Alighiero Boetti and Ilya Kabakov, as well as symposia and lectures on architecture, science and art. Furthermore, for five years she has directed the Ecole du Magasin (School of Curators). In 1993 for the 45th Venice Biennale she co-curated the Italian Pavilion and the Russian Pavilion (Ilya Kabakov). She also curated the exhibition Trésors du Voyage on the Island of San Lazzaro. On this occasion the international Jury of the Biennale awarded her a prize for her direction of Le Magasin and her work at the School of Curators.

In 1995, on the occasion of the UN 50th Anniversary, she was invited to concieve and curate the exhibition Dialogues of Peace, an international exhibition presented at the UN Headquarters, in Geneva. Chen Zhen, Kcho, Tadashi Kawamata, Nari Ward, Robert Rauschenberg, Alfredo Jaar, Kingelez are some of the 60 artists who contributed to the exhibition. In 1996 she founded ART for The World, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) associate to the UN Department of Public Information for the diffusion and promotion of the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through art, the organization of exhibitions and events around the world. Adelina von Füstenberg has curated with ART for The World, at the occasion of the Venice Biennales, at the Armenian Monastery of San Lazzaro in Venice, one man shows of Robert Rauschenberg (1997), Philip Johnson (1999), Jannis Kounellis (2003) and Joseph Kosuth (2007). In Milan at Hangar Bicocca, she has organized the world avant-première Balkan Epic by Marina Abramovic (2006) and two large group shows COLLATERAL When Art Looks at Cinema (2007, with Philippe Parreno, Mike Kelly, Pierre Huyghe, etc.) and ''URBAN MANNERS. 15 Contemporary Artists from India'' (2007, with Suboth Gupta, Sheba Chhachhi, Rangubir Singh,etc.).

Adelina von Fürstenberg initiated and curated the 1st and the 2nd edition of Contemporary Art on the Lake Maggiore, inviting Jannis Kounellis in 2005, and the artists William Kentridge, Liliana Moro and Robert Wilson with he composer Michael Galasso, in 2006 to create new Works for the botanical garden and  the Palazzo of  the Borromeo Island, Isola Madre.

Since 1998, she collaborate with the Regional Direction of SESC Sao Paulo, Brazil, in curating large exhibitions, among others Balkan Erotic Epic by Marina Abramovic (2006) at SESC Pinheiros, Mulher, Mulheres and Collateral (2007) at SESC Paulista, Voom Portraits by Robert Wilson(2008) at SESC Pinheiros and URBAN MANNERS 2 during January-April 2010 at SESC Pompeia. She continued her collaboration with SESC in curating THE MEDITERRANEAN APPROACH presented in the Venice Biennale (2011) and later at MAC Marseille (2012); in 2014 at SESC Pinheiros São Paulo, FOOD Reflections on Mother Earth, Agriculture and Nutrition after having been inaugurated at the Ariana Museum in Geneva (2012-2013) and traveling in France, at the MuCEM, Marseille (2014 -2015).

She worked with African artists around the show ICI L’AFRIQUE/ HERE AFICA at Château de Penthes in Geneva (2014), and with the title A AQUI ÀFRICA, in Brazil at SESC Belenzinho, São Paulo, Brazil (2015- 2016). This project was exhibited later in 2017 at PAC Milan under the title of AFRICA Raccontare un Mondo. In 2017 she conceived and curated the traveling show on the issues of sweet and marine water  AQUA at Château de Penthes Geneva at SESC Sao Paulo Belenzhino and on the Island of Pescatori, Borromeo Islands, Italia. In the same year in the context of the 1st Triennale of Armenia, Standart the show THE MOUNT ANALOGUE (2017) in Yerevan, and Gyumri, Armenia. In 2018, one man show of the Benin artist George Adéagbo at Maison Tavel/MAH and the UN, Geneva. In 2019 the one man show of the Swiss artist Augustin Rebetez in Sao Paulo at SESC Consolaçao and Assab One, Milan and in Venice in 2021, during Covid-19, the one man show of the photos on people with disability by Christian Tasso and on the awarded project by the Italian Council of Stefano Boccalini LA RAGIONE DELLE MANI at the Maison Tavel/MAH, Geneva.

Adelina von Fürstenberg shares the common belief that art and cinema are two of the strongest catalysts that can facilitate human relations, especially within the context of political, ideological or religious spheres. Knowing that cinema is peculiarly potent to familiarize cultures to each other, to create endless possibilities that regenerate and enrich our social lives, in 2008, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), she created and produced a long feature film inspired by the UDHR and composed a series of short movies directed by 22 prominent video artists and filmmakers from all over the world and screened in more than 50 film festivals. Currently she is working with the Burkinabe filmmaker Idrissa Ouédraogo on the production of a new long feature film, The Mango Tree, and with Alliance of Civilisations of the UN on a new series of short films Then & Now : Beyond Borders and Differences in involving independent well known filmmakers from the five continents to promote tolerance and encourage inclusiveness by creating films stories highlighting the long-standing historical spiritual and cultural links across cultures and beliefs despite the current tensions.

In 2019, she produced Interdependence, an anthology composed of eleven short films with the participation of Silvio Soldini, Faouzi Bensaïdi, and Leon Wang, among others, under the patronage of the UN and the City of Milan. It was awarded in 2021 at the ILEEF (London Eco Film Festival). It also was awarded in 2020 at VIFF (Vienna Independent Film Festival) with Bettina Oberli's short film productions Kingdom, and with Daniela Thomas' Tua Ingugu shot in Amazonia awarded for best Brazilian short film in 2020 at SPFF (Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival.

In 2022, she produced INTERACTIONS, an anthology of twelve short films illustrating the pressing needs of wildlife in diverse bio-geographical and marine regions, as well as the capacity for adaptation that species must develop in order to survive. INTERACTIONS is as an excellent example of sustainability, cross-cultural cooperation between public and civil society and the partners of the film project. With the participation of FAOUZI BENSAÏDI (Morocco), CLEMENTE BICOCCHI (Italy), ANNE DE CARBUCCIA (France/USA), TAKUMÃ KUIKURO (Amazonia/Brazil), OSKAR METSAVAHT (Brazil), ERIC NAZARIAN (Armenia/USA), BETTINA OBERLI (Switzerland), IDRISSA OUEDRAOGO (Burkina Faso), YULENE OLAIZOLA and RUBÉN IMAZ (Mexico), NILA MADHAB PANDA (India), JANIS RAFA (Greece), ISABELLA ROSSELLINI (USA).

AWARDS: 2021 - ILEEF (London Eco Film Festival) Award for Interdependence, the Best Narrative Feature Film. 2016- Swiss Grand Award for Art / Prix Meret Oppenheim, conferred by the Federal Office of Culture, Swiss Confederation. 2015- Medal of Merit conferred by the Republic of Armenia 2015- Golden Lion for the Best National Participation of the National Pavilion of Armenia at the 56th Biennale di Venezia. 2008- the label of Cultural Event 2008 by the Council of Europe for ART for The World’s film production of Stories on Human Rights, in recognition of a handful of exceptional and innovative artistic projects organized in Europe. 1993- Special Mention of the Jury of the 45th Biennale of Venice for the School of Curators of Le Magasin - Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Grenoble.