The upcoming Venice Art Biennale will take place from 23 April to 27 November with a preopening event scheduled on 20, 21, and 22 April.

Curated by Italian artist Cecilia Alemani, the 59th edition of the Biennale carries the theme ‘The Milk of Dreams.’ The organisers explained that the name is taken from a book by surrealist artist Leonora Carrington (1917-2011), in which the stories “describe a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something or someone else. But it is also the allegory of a century that imposed intolerable pressure on the individual.”

The Egyptian trio — El-Masry, Shoukry, and El-Shaer — are among the most prominent Egyptian contemporary artists, each carrying a large portfolio of creative activities.

Born in 1976, El-Masry is an Egyptian Cairo-based multi-award-winning painter who also explores photography, animation, and installation. She has exhibited her works at dozens of local and international galleries, festivals, and biennales, including the 5th Beijing International Art Biennale in 2012 (China), the One Minute Film and Video Festival in Aarau in 2008 (Switzerland), and The Egyptian Museum of Contemporary Art. El-Masry is also the former director at Di-Egy Festival and a curator and owner of Easel and Camera gallery.

Shoukry was also born in 1976 and received his PhD from the Faculty of Applied Arts in video sculpture. He has exhibited his art in various international art venues, including Galerie der Kunstler in Munich in 2017 (Germany), the Sharjah Art Museum in 2016 (The UAE), DAK’ART 2014 — 11ème Biennale de l’Art African (Senegal), and the F+F Schule für Kunst und Mediendesign in Zurich (Switzerland). He also works as an adjunct assistant professor at the American University in Cairo.

Born in 1981, El-Shaer is a multi-disciplinary artist with creative activities touching on installation, photography, sound, and the moving image with a particular interest in digital technologies. 

His videos combine Machinima, stock footage, 3D animation, and experimental soundscapes, and have been shown at international venues, including the Venice Biennale, Bamako Biennale, Cairotronica, the Guggenheim, the Museum of the Moving Image, and Casa Arabe in Madrid.

For the 59th Venice Biennale, the artists will work on a project titled Eden Like Garden. The project has been chosen to represent Egypt by the Ministry of Culture through the Supreme Council of Culture headed by Hisham Azmy. 

The door for submissions for the works to represent Egypt closed in mid-November 2021 and the final choice was announced this week.

According to information provided by the Council, Eden Like Garden has received unanimous approval from the jury committee. Details about the project that will be exhibited at the 59th Biennale are yet to be revealed.