On Saturday at 12 noon, the jury of the 54th edition of the Venice Biennale - entitled ILLUMInations - announced the event's prestigious awards. The jury is headed by Egyptian artist and musician Hassan Khan and comprises Chinese curator and art critic Carol Yinghua Lu; Italian museologist Letizia Ragaglia; French art critic and curator Christine Macel; and American filmmaker and artist John Waters. It bestowed the international exhibition's highest honor, the Golden Lion for Best National Participation, to the German pavilion. The German pavilion was curated by Susanne Gaensheimer, and shows the work of artist, filmmaker and theater director Christoph Schlingensief, who passed away in August 2010. The Golden Lion for Best Artist and the Silver Lion for Promising Young Artist were awarded to American artist Christian Marclay and UK artist Haroon Mirza respectively. Marclay received the best artist award for his video installation “The Clock”, exhibited at the Frieze Art Fair in 2010. The jury also gave special mentions to Lithuanian artist Darius Mikšys and Swedish artist Klara Lidén.
