ROME.- On 27th November the Board of Directors of the Rome Quadriennale, chaired by Franco Bernabč, appointed Sarah Cosulich as Artistic Director of the Foundation.

The Quadriennale is the foremost historical institution dedicated to the promotion of Italian contemporary art, overseen by central Italian and local Roman authorities.

Sarah Cosulich has been entrusted with the task of coordinating the Quadriennale’s next three years, culminating in the 17th edition of the Art Quadrennial Exhibition, the main event in Italy’s cultural agenda for Italian art and emerging artists. Cosulich’s involvement marks a radical change in the Quadriennale’s strategy, aimed at strengthening the role of Italian artists abroad.

“Our choice was guided by the content of Cosulich’s project as well as by its international and sustainable ambition” commented Franco Bernabč, President of the Quadriennale Foundation.

Sarah Cosulich commented, “I am honored to be able to contribute to the development of such an historic and prestigious institution. In the following three years I will implement with coherence, continuity and motivation a programme aimed at both strengthening the Italian art system as well as the international visibility of its artists”.

Sarah Cosulich (1974) obtained her degree in art history in Washington D.C and a masters in contemporary art in London. Her first collaborations in Berlin, at the Jewish Museum as well as alternative spaces in the city, were followed by an experience at London Tate Modern in 2001. Cosulich worked with Francesco Bonami on the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003 and from 2004 to 2008 she was curator of the Villa Manin Centre for Contemporary Art. From 2012 to 2017 she was Director of Artissima, the International Fair for Contemporary Art in Turin.

Recently Cosulich has been working as development advisor of Manifesta 12 in Palermo and collaborates with Mutina, a company for which she has created a programme of support, production and presentation of contemporary art.

Sarah Cosulich was selected through an articulated open call procedure that lasted six months. 116 applications were received and examined by a Commission composed of Quadriennale President, Franco Bernabč; Quadriennale General Director, Ilaria Della Torre; Umberto Croppi and Cristiana Collu, Director of Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea.

The Rome Quadriennale was established in 1927 as part of an ambitious plan for the reorganization of cultural initiatives throughout Italy. The idea was to bring together the most representative trends in Italian art in a single group show to be held every four years. The Rome Quadriennale belongs to the same family as the Venice Biennale and the Milan Triennale, each coordinated by the Italian central government and each with a distinctive purpose. The Venice Biennale aims at encouraging the knowledge of contemporary art from other countries; the Milan Triennale is dedicated to design and architecture; the Rome Quadriennale is devoted to Italian contemporary visual arts.

So far 17 editions of the Art Quadrennials have been held, the latest one at Palazzo delle Esposizioni, from October 2016 to January 2017. On the whole some 6,000 artists have attended the Art Quadrennials. All major Italian artists have taken part in at least one edition and for some their careers were launched here when they were very young, such as Luciano Fontana who was 36 at the 1935 Quadrennial, Emilio Vedova who was 24 at the 1943 Quadrennial or, more recently, Vanessa Beecroft who was 27 at the 1996 Art Quadrennial and Rossella Biscotti who was 26 at the 2003 Art Quadrennial.