Manifesta reveals names of participating artists

Jeremy Deller, Louise Bourgeois and Maria Lassnig are just some of the artists whose work will go on display at Manifesta 10, a European contemporary art biennial to be held next year at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. The biennial, entitled Since St Petersburg Regained its Name, will take place in both the Winter Palace and the General Staff building of the Hermitage museum. More than 50 artists have been invited to participate. Among the Russian artists to be exhibited are Pavel Pepperstein, Timur Novikov and Vlad Mamyshev-Monroe.

In August, a petition with close to 2,000 signatories urged Hedwig Fijen, the director of Manifesta, to change the location of the festival in protest of Russia’s anti-gay laws. Fijen responded with a statement that confirmed St Petersburg as the venue for the biennial. She said: “To withdraw would mean to ignore the voices of our contemporary and emerging gernations in Russia … We do not believe isolating Russia is the right decision to take, especially as it deprives younger people of access to a broader scope of voices and points of view.”