Highlights From Venice Art Biennale 2019: Part 02.

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We continue our Venice Biennale highlights coverage (check out Part 01 here) with the National Pavilions, whereby countries the world over bring their art A game to Venice. Taking the theme of May You Live In Interesting Times and applying it to the paradigm of each nation’s current political, social, and cultural climate made for some interesting installations and artistic expressions.

From artificial beach scenes to science fiction films and furry mountains made of fake hair extensions, read on for the artists and countries we would seek out on a visit to the Biennale.

Photography by Andrea Avezzù.

Lithuania Pavilion – Sea & Sun (Marina) // The interior of a historic quayside building within the Marina Militare complex was transformed into an artificially lit beach scene for the Lithuanian Pavilion, replete with sand, towels, and all manner of beach paraphernalia. Surveyed by audiences from a mezzanine above, artists Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė and Lina Lapelytė present a durational opera performance, Sun & Sea (Marina), addressing some of the most pressing ecological issues of our time. Each individual performs from their beach towel, revealing an inner monologue that ranges from trivial concerns about sunburn to fears of environmental catastrophe. Curated by Lucia Pietroiusti, Curator of General Ecology and Live Programmes at the Serpentine Galleries, London.

Photography by Italo Rondinella.

Luxembourg Pavilion – Written by Water // Curated by Kevin Muhlen, Marco Godhino examines mans relationship with the sea in Written by Water, creating an organic temporary landscape of notebooks that the artist temporarily submerged into the Mediterranean. Aligned with his own nomadic tendencies, Godhino examines the sea as both an epic space of adventure, and a complex geopolitical dimension. The author is ‘the sea itself’, leaving natural inscriptions onto the pages of the artist’s notebooks. In Godhino’s mind, only the ocean knows what each of the soaked, undulating pages contains.

Photography by Francesco Galli.

Denmark Pavilion – Heirloom // Danish-Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour presents Heirloom, a dark, otherworldly exhibition comprising a science-fiction film and sculptural installation curated by Nat Muller. Exploring themes of fiction and reality, myth and history, the film titled ‘In Vitro’ is staged in Bethlehem decades are an eco-disaster, focusing on the inherited trauma and memory of a young protagonist. For the sculptural installation, a psychological object form the film is recreated as a large-scale monument.

Photography by Francesco Galli.

Greece Pavilion – Mr Stigl // Through sculpture, sound, and film, Greek artists Panos Charalambous, Eve Stefani and Zafos Xagoraris explore historical paradoxes, official and unofficial histories, and the narratives of lesser-known history. Curated by Katerina Tselou.

Photography by Francesco Galli.

Iceland Pavilion – Chromo Sapiens // Artist Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir/Shoplifter and curator Birta Guójonsdóttir transformed a Giudecca warehouse into a multi-sensory environment where sound, colour and furry textures reign supreme. Murmuring sounds emerge from psychedelic tufts and mossy structures, made of Shoplifters signature material of choice – synthetic hair extensions. Paired with dissonant compositions by Icelandic cult metal band HAM, this visceral, hyper-natural world intends to evoke a desire to return to nature.

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