The massive Venice Biennale talked about forced migrations, colonialism and its stubborn influence, climate (in)justice, exile, indigenous voices feeling like foreigners on their own land
Category Archive: venice biennale
An artist, performer and LGBTQ+ rights activist, La Chola Poblete explores themes such as the branching of the Inquisition, the heritage of colonization and the permeating influence of global capitalism
Being human “in a time when human life is becoming more and more integrated into – if not inseparable – from contexts and processes that are both other-than-human and larger-than-human”
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The exhibition illustrates the history of colonial and ecological exploitation hidden behind the beauty of tropical plants
Dani Ploeger’s performance explores the tensions between the unavoidable barbarity of war and the increasingly sophisticated technologies that enable a greater distance (both physical and emotional) between combatants
This year, the New Zealand pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale will feature lists of inventions, life forms, phenomena and “things” that made progress possible but that no longer exist
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Abu Bakarr Mansaray draws futuristic worlds inhabited by flying machines piloted by skeletons, tanks that look like dinosaurs, dangerous computer virus, ‘Hell Extinguisher’, aliens and other ‘sinister projects.’
The 56th Biennale is thus set against the backdrop of economic, ecological and humanitarian crises. Any kind of art or design event has to pretend you care for the state of the world these days (unless you’re at the Frieze art fair of course) but somehow this edition of the biennale demonstrates far more energy, determination and spirit in tackling the sufferings of our world than many much younger and openly socially-engaged events i’ve attended recently
I finally made it to the Venice Bienniale this week. I hadn’t set foot there for years. My number one preoccupation was to locate the Pavilion of the Indonesian Republic. It’s at the Arsenale, I had seen a photo of it. Some kind of rusty dinosaur with angels flying around it.
It turns out there was no dinosaur but a cross between the Trojan Horse and a Komodo dragon, a large species of lizard found in Indonesia
The main theoretical question underpinning the project is: “Can photography be the site where the history of an exhibition is produced and still retain its independent artistic autonomy, thus overcoming pure documentation?”
The event brought together two men who share a passion for whales. One is environmental scientist and marine biologist Mark Peter Simmonds who investigates and raises awareness about an issue that is far away from our sights: the threats to the life of marine mammals caused by the increasing emissions of loud noise under water. The other is artist and inventor Ariel Guzik who has spent the last ten years looking for a way of communicating with cetaceans
Matteo Bittanti and Domenico Quaranta, the authors of the very enjoyable and clever book GameScenes. Art in the Age of Videogames, are onto great game art adventures again. This time, they curated an exhibition that celebrates the work of Italian artists who have been experimenting with game-based technologies for more than two decades
Thousands of buildings in the Netherlands lie vacant. Some of them for a week or a few months, many even for years. The exhibition at the Dutch pavilion, “Vacant NL, where architecture meets ideas”, is a call for the intelligent reuse of temporarily vacant buildings around the world in promoting creative enterprise
Called Usus/Usures, the exhibition investigates a specific phase in the life of construction materials: the time when they are subjected to use and are gradually re-shaped by human beings passing through them, walking on them, touching, pressing, stroking, scratching or holding them
Architect Caruso St John and artist Thomas Demand are paying homage to the famous Chongqing nail house with a project that involves reconstructing the Nail House under a road viaduct in Zurich, and to open it to the public as a 24/7 restaurant
Tom Sachs, who made a career revisiting contemporary icons such as Prada, the atomic bomb and Hello Kitty, has been given a large room to exhibit his take on the work and legacy of Le Corbusier. The irreverent artist goes as far as drawing parallels between the Villa Savoye and McDonalds drive-in
Unlike most critics and visitors, i can’t say i’ve found the exhibition of 12th biennale of architecture particularly exciting. Call me a masochist but i missed the overdose of information we were submitted to in 2006. I also missed the extravagance and the speculation of the 2008 edition. The 12th biennale of architecture is mostly aesthetics and lightness. What i did enjoy more than any other year however was the way Kazuyo Sejima played with the architecture of the Corderie. There was air, grace and gaiety
Architect Tetsuo Kondo has teamed up with German climate engineering firm Transsolar to fill a closed space inside the Corderie with clouds. Visitors can experience the cloud from below, within, and above as they climb up 4.3 meter high helical ramp erected in the center of the room
One of the most striking artworks at the Arsenale for me was Pascale Marthine Tayou’s installation ‘Human Being’ which fills in a gigantic room with a bric-a-brac of objects, furniture made of recycled material, colourful figures, videos and urban noises that re-creates the activity of that small village that we call our world
First stop: the show MADDESTMAXIMVS at the Australian Pavilion. I wasn’t expecting to like that one as much as i did. A 1:1 ‘sculptural’ replica of the V8 ‘Interceptor’ car driven by Mel Gibson in Mad Max 1 and 2 parked at the entrance of the pavilion almost made me run in the opposite direction
Global Cities at the Tate Modern in London. It’s a pocket version of an exhibition that was running […]
The Nordic Pavilion hosts the work of artists from Finland, Norway and Sweden. This year, the focus is […]
Morrinho means ‘little hill’ in Portuguese and alludes to the shantytowns, or favela, located on the hills surrounding […]
This edition of the Venice Biennale confirmed once again that the Chinese do know what appeals to Westeners. […]
Just had a look at my posts on the Biennale di Venezia and realized that i have mostly […]
I knew Jenny Holzer as the artist whose light light projections sex up the facade of the Palazzo […]
More Venice coverage. Most of the biennale takes place at the Giardini or at the Arsenale. Then there […]
Another Venice Biennale. A very good one. Everything that was missing at Documenta 12 is there: war, politics, […]
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The MIT Senseable City project had a big room inside the Italian Pavilion of the Biennale this year. […]
The theme of the Korean Pavilion this year is perma n stant (permanent + instant). As one of […]
The installations, interior design and objects at the British Pavilion were so lavishly presented, stylish and nice-ish that […]
Musette Party at the French Pavilion of the Biennale. Titled métacity/métavilla, the place is stylishly chaotic, unpretentious, and […]
The Austrian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture is called Form, Raum, Net (shape, space, network), three […]
The US pavilion wasn’t my favourite. It is definitely not one of those pavilions invaded by architects who […]
A very very nice Japanese Pavilion. Instead of presenting us his vision of the future of architecture as […]
One of my favourite pavilions at the Venice Biennale was the Danish one. Its design is all pop, […]
I’ve finally left Venice and its super expensive super slow and super well hidden internet cafes. I’m now […]
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Back to my little report of the Biennale. The most photogenic exhibition at the Venice Biennale is probaby […]