From the Mondriaan Fund's press release:

"A broad-based international jury selected Bonajo from a long list of artists and curators who had applied to take part in earlier versions of the biennale. Those selected were invited to submit an overall plan within a short space of time. A month later, these plans were presented to the jury, which was unanimous in determining that Melanie Bonajo would be representing the Netherlands. (...)

In making its choice, the jury took not only the quality of the work into consideration, but also the impact that it will have on the international stage that is the Venice Biennale. The jury is confident that Bonajo will create a presentation that both impresses and inspires."

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Melanie Bonajo studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (1998-2002) and completed residencies at the Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunst in Amsterdam (2009-10) and at ISCP in New York (2014).