Three artists; Lara Baladi (Egypt), Adel El-Siwi (Egypt) and Khaled D. Ramadan (Denmark/Lebanon), were awarded by the 11th Cairo International Biennale's committee. Kaarina Kaikkonen (b. 1952) was cited for an honourable mention for her site-specific installation And It Was Empty (2008).

As is the case with many of her other works, Kaikkonen build in situ and created the work out of men's suit jackets of different colours, which all merged together, vanishing into the horizon and at the same time taking the entire situation into their embrace. Kaikkonen, once again, brought out the beauty amid the threadbare, the everyday; flashes of colour peep through, ochre-yellow and red velvet jacket.

The other Finnish artists in the Cairo Biennale were Adel Abidin (b. 1973), Eija-Liisa Ahtila (b. 1959), Lauri Nykopp (b. 1957) and Stiina Saaristo (b. 1976).

The 11th Cairo International Biennale award committee was chaired by Dan Cameron. Other members included Irma Arestizábal, Adrian von Roques, Karin Adam Hanien, Chus Martinez, Danilo Maestosi, and Martina Corgnati. The biennale is on view from 20 December 2008 through 20 February 2009, and it focuses on probing into perceptions of the ‘other' through the works of the invited artists who explore the realms of the other within and without.

Further information:

Curator Marita Muukkonen: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , +358 (0)50 575 8504
Cairo Biennale: http://www.cairobiennale.gov.eg
Curator Ehab-El Laban: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it