The Scottish artists representing Scotland at the prestigious 51st Venice Biennale, are packing up their work before departing for Italy later this week.

Alex Pollard, Joanne Tatham and Tom O'Sullivan and Cathy Wilkes will be exhibiting at the world's most important showcase for contemporary visual art in a show entitled Selective Memory.

More than 60 countries will be represented at the Venice Biennale and over 400,000 people are expected to visit the international art festival, which runs from 12 June until 6 November 2005. The opening week will see leading visual arts specialists from around the world converge in the city and the Scottish artists will have an opportunity to meet with some of the world's most influential curators and gallery owners.

Speaking about finishing his work for the exhibition, Alex Pollard says: 'I've been working on this for seven months so I'm really pleased that I've finally completed my work and I can now look forward to going out to Venice and getting ready for the opening. The Venice Biennale is such a huge event, that it will be amazing to be part of it and have so many people see my work.´

Following the exhibition in Venice, audiences in Scotland will have an opportunity to see Selective Memory at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh in December 2005.

The organisation of the Scottish presentation is being undertaken by three partners: the Scottish Arts Council, British Council and National Galleries of Scotland and follows on from the success of the Zenomap presentation by Scotland at the 2003 Venice Biennale.

For more information on the exhibition and the selected artists, visit www.scotlandandvenicebiennale.com.

Notes to Editors

1. The Scottish Arts Council champions and sustains the arts for Scotland, investing over ?60 million from the Scottish Executive and National Lottery funding to support and develop artistic excellence and creativity throughout Scotland. Further information is available from our website, www.scottisharts.org.uk.
2. The National Galleries of Scotland comprise the National Gallery of Scotland, the Royal Scottish Academy building, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the Dean Gallery in Edinburgh.
3. The British Council is the United Kingdom´s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. It operates independently from the UK Government. In Scotland the British Council offers its partners a gateway to its global networks, and it provides its audiences worldwide with a window on Scotland. For more information please see www.britishcouncil.org/scotland
4. Detailed biographies and images of the curators and artists as well as information sheets on the curatorial concept, the history of Scotland and the Venice Biennale, and the venue for the exhibition are available.