++++ The curators of Manifesta 4 have now introduced themselves to the press for the first time. Without at this stage naming the concrete contents or the participating artists at the biennial for contemporary art which will open in Frankfurt on 24 May 2002, Iara Boubnova, Nuria Enguita Mayo and Stéphanie Moisdon Trembly presented the current stage of their work. At the moment they are travelling to a total of fifteen European cities in which they will make contact with young artists and intermediating instances such as art critics and local curators. To date about six hundred artists’ dossiers have been submitted to them for evaluation.
It is planned that the chosen artists will be given the opportunity before the opening of getting acquainted with Frankfurt and of developing their own works in line with the available exhibition spaces. These spaces include Schirn, Kunstverein, Portikus and Städel, but also public spaces as well as other venues which up until now have not had any association with contemporary art.
On the whole, the three curators and the general co-ordinator, Martin Fritz, underscored that the planning as well as the biennial itself are open processes which will not have been concluded even after the opening. The aims of Manifesta, they say, are not a classic depiction of national art but rather communication and cultural discourse.