The Venice Art Biennale started last weekend. One of the most prestigious contemporary art events attracts not only many artists, but also representatives of the most famous museums and collectors from all over the world to the most romantic Italian city every two years.
At the 60th Venice Art Biennale, more than 300 artists from 88 countries, including Lithuania, present their work. Among them are Benin, Tanzania, Ethiopia, West Timor, who are participating in this art festival for the first time. Biennale expositions can be viewed until November 24. in the city garden (Giardini), Arsenal, other places in Venice.
It is interesting that the beginning of this popular art event coincided with the innovations that started on April 25. canals in the city apply to tourists. Those wishing to visit the historic center of Venice from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and those who do not plan to spend the night there will have to purchase a ticket costing 5 euros. True, this is just an experiment conceived by the city authorities. It is not clear how long it will last. All that is known is that a ticket for a 1-day visit to Venice will need to be purchased daily until May 5, and then on weekends until July 14.
Strangers everywhere
The theme of the Jubilee Biennale and its main international exhibition is “Strangers Everywhere”, so the main focus is on the themes of migration, exile, and foreigners. And for the first time, a representative of the world of Latin American art – Brazilian art critic Adriano Pedrosa – became its main curator.
The idea of the organizers is to present the works of those artists who are usually left on the margins of the art scene. These are refugees and exiles, self-taught artists, as well as representatives of various minorities, including LGBTQ+.
“Foreigners everywhere” is also a reference to the project of the Italian-British artist group Claire Fontaine: since 2004, they have been creating glowing neon signs with these words in various languages.
The main exhibition of the biennale this year consists of two parts. The exhibition “Modern core” presents the works of contemporary artists, while “Historical core” is dedicated to the 20th century. for the creators of the global South. The Global South is an increasingly politically neutral term used to designate countries that do not belong to the group of economically developed countries and are usually called Third World countries.
One of the highlights of the jubilee biennale was the Vatican pavilion, which installed its exposition in the Giudecca women’s prison. In the past, there was a convent of converted women in this place. The prison is operational, so photography is not allowed. The tours are led by the women incarcerated here, because they created the exhibition “My eyes” together with the artists. It consists of the works of eight creators, one of them is the well-known scandalous Maurizio Cattelan in Lithuania.
Cardinal Jose Tolentino de Mendonca, commissioner of the Vatican Pavilion, said in describing the project that it aims to draw attention to the little ones of our time, to those who usually live on the fringes of society.
Lithuanians – in the church
It is not the first time that the creators of the Lithuanian pavilion have made the mistake of not ignoring the theme of the biennale and taking into account the principles of the main exhibition. True, they interpreted the rules of the game quite differently this time.
The artistic duo “Pakui Hardware” of Neringa Černiauskaitė (40 years old) and Ugniaus Gelgudas (46 years old) presenting the installation “Ignition” in the impressive church of St. Anthony (Sant’Antonino) in the Lithuanian national pavilion also included the light memory artist Marijos Teresės in their work. Paintings by Rožanskaitė (1933–2007).
The duo, who organizes exhibitions more often in foreign countries than in Lithuania, and a former exile, most of their works behind the iron walls of the 20th century. the painter who created the curtain – such a combination attracts attention in the context of the current events of the great art festival.
The concern for the future of the world expressed in the evocative language of art is reminiscent of the opera-performance “Sun and Sea” by artists Rugilė Barzdziukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė and Lina Lapelytė, which won the most important award of the Venice Biennale – the Golden Lion for the best national pavilion – five years ago.
Therefore, it is not surprising that on the eve of the opening, the media included the pavilion curated by Valentino Klimašauskas and Joao Laia in the lists of the best pavilions, and many people gathered for its opening. Not everyone could fit in the square in front of the church, so they watched the event from the bridge and the other bank of the canal.
The National Art Museum of Lithuania, whose director Arūnas Gelūnas is the Commissioner of the Lithuanian Pavilion, reported that more than 10,000 people visited “Ignition” in the first days of the biennale. people.
Between St. Mark’s Square and the main biennial expositions in the city garden and the former Arsenal, the impressive church is a great landmark.
Creepily beautiful exposure
17th century the combination of the built St. Anthony’s Church and the creations of contemporary artists so impressed the columnist of the German art and lifestyle magazine “Monopol” that when presenting the national pavilions that must be seen, he described the Lithuanian pavilion as the very first, followed by the German pavilion.
It is true that properly installing works in a recently restored heritage building is a challenge. Therefore, next to the three artists of “Ignition”, two more should be mentioned – the architects Petras Išora-Lozuraitis and Ona Lozuraitytė-Išorė, who created the metal structure of the installation.
And in the list of ten national pavilions compiled by A. Greenberger, editor of the influential online portal “Artnews”, the Lithuanian pavilion took fifth place.
“The most beautifully decorated pavilion of this biennale is Lithuanian – it is an extravaganza of body horror, located in the 17th century. in the church. In front of the marble altars, the Pakui Hardware duo is exhibiting “Ignition” (2023), a stunning installation of stained glass elements embedded in a metal armature. The aluminum construction resembles medical equipment, while the glass pieces resemble organs. Beneath it all are piles of small objects that resemble fallen synthetic tree leaves. It is a work about the fragility of human bodies and the natural world. After all, they are not in a particularly good condition at the moment due to the pandemic and global warming.
By placing this installation in a church, a place where the spirit is healed, the artists offer hope that both our bodies and our world will one day be able to regain strength and be reborn anew.
The sick bodies of the Pakui Hardware installation look like they are on the verge of death, maybe that’s why the duo decided to supplement the exhibition with the paintings of a painter who is no longer with us. That artist, the terrible MTRožanskaitė, created fantastic, full of foreboding visions, which resonate perfectly in the Pakui Hardware installation – her 1985 painting even depicts a patient chained to a hospital bed, which at the same time is his prison.
However, I cannot get out of my mind another painting by MTRožanskaitė – “Strengthening Rods” (1986). It is an image of bent poles, tied together with tight bandages, reminiscent of the works of Christin Ramberg. The imagined structure of MTRožanskaitė hangs by a thread and may collapse at any moment. But somehow it’s still holding on,” A. Greenberger marveled, shuddering.
Among the winners are Australia and New Zealand
At the Venice Art Biennale, the Australian Pavilion won the Golden Lion as the best national pavilion. The representatives of the commission said that in the grand pavilion the artist A. Moore worked for months drawing a monumental family tree of the aboriginal peoples with chalk. Imagine 65 thousand. years, 2,400 generations of history (both recorded and lost) white on the dark walls and ceiling, asking the audience to fill in the blanks, to feel the fragility of this mournful archive. Official court documents are displayed right here, showing the shocking inhumane numbers of incarceration of Indigenous Australians. The title of the work is also symbolic – “Relatives and Relatives”.
A special mention (Lithuanian pavilion has received even several such ones in thirty years) is dedicated to the Kosovo pavilion, which presented the feminist composition of sculptures by the artist D. Kastrati “Resounding metal and skin silence”.
The Golden Lion of the Best Biennale Artist is dedicated to Mataaho Collective, a group of four Maori artists from New Zealand who presented their work at the Venice Biennale exhibition “Strangers Everywhere”. They created a giant glowing installation called Takapau using traditional Maori textile techniques. A net hanging near the entrance to the Arsenal hypnotizes the audience with the play of reflections and shadows on the walls and floor of the old military building.
The Silver Lion, awarded to the most promising young artist, went to K. Ashadu, a British-born Nigerian creator who explores the African biker subculture.
Tags: Terrible apocalyptic visions Lithuanians attract thousands crowds church Venice
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