The Berlin Biennale has announced that Gabi Ngcobo will curate the 10th edition of the Berlin Biennale, set to take place in summer 2018.
The Berlin Biennale is an experimental platform, whose previous curator was the DIS Magazine collective, who had no prior curatorial experience on a biennial scale. In contrast, Ngcobo has spent years honing her curatorial prowess, most recently as co-curator of the 32nd Bienal de São Paulo.
The South-African curator was also previously Assistant Curator at the South African National Gallery in Cape Town, and head researcher at the Cape Africa Platform, where she curated the 2007 Cape07 Biennale.
She is a founding member of the collaborative, experimental art platforms NGO–NOTHING GETS ORGANISED, and Center for Historical Reenactments, both in Johannesburg. Ngcobo also teaches at the Wits School of Arts in Witswatersrand, South Africa.
2018 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Biennale, which was founded in 1998 and curated by Klaus Biesenbach, Nancy Spector, and Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Previously, Gabrielle Horn directed both the Berlin Biennale and Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, the biennale’s supporting institution, but thanks to a recent restructuring, Horn will direct solely the biennale, allowing for an increased professionalization and focus on the event, which is a staple on the art world calendar.