Yilmaz Dziewior, director of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, has been invited to curate the German pavilion at the Fifty-Ninth Venice Biennale in 2021. The veteran director has also helmed the Kunstverein Hamburg, from 2001 to 2008, and the Kunsthaus Bregenz, from 2009 to 2015, and curated the Austrian pavilion in 2015.

“Yilmaz Dziewior is an internationally acclaimed, innovative curator who addresses current issues of the contemporary world and develops exhibitions which open up new perspectives on art, thanks to their experimental and interdisciplinary approach,” said Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. Ulrich Raulff, president of ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), which serves as commissioner of the pavilion, added: “We’re delighted about this excellent choice and look forward to good cooperation with him.”

The announcement of the country’s contribution is typically closely watched. Germany has won the prestigious Golden Lion six times—in 1984, 1986, 2001, 2011, and 2017, when Anne Imhof won over the biennial jury with a five-hour production, titled Faust. In 2019, artist Natascha Süder Happelmann received the commission, which was curated by Franciska Zolyóm.