5 curators share a glimpse of their Venice Biennale pavilions

Organizing a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale is a challenge for any curator. From a practical point of view, the unique historical buildings of the Giardini tend to have protected elements; conceptually, the complicated idea of ​​national representation needs careful consideration.

Many of this year’s curators are breaking away from traditional structures, in some cases remodeling existing buildings; in others, great work with diasporic groups. Although the concept of each pavilion was announced before the theme of the biennale’s main exhibition, “Foreigners Everywhere,” the idea of ​​confronting nationalism and embracing a global sense of belonging is echoed in many national presentations.

In the run-up to the 60th Venice Biennale, which opens on April 20, the five curators spoke to Artsy about the ideas they’re working on, and the recurring hurdles of creating a show for such a globally iconic event.

Aindrea Emelife, a British Nigerian curator at the Museum of West African Art in Benin City, Nigeria, is curating the second iteration of the Nigerian Pavilion, showcasing an intergenerational group of artists under the title “Nigeria Imaginary.” The exhibition will look hopefully to the future, taking into account Nigeria’s history. Emelife also includes a pop culture element, with audio excerpts of contemporary music and sound from a project the curator started last year with local musicians in Lagos and Benin City; and with it, a playlist produced in collaboration with the Nigerian label Native Records.

“It’s such a weird and complicated job trying to figure out how to represent a country,” Emelif said. “The theme ‘Imaginary Nigeria’ was the first. At the beginning of the year [2023], Nigeria was going through our elections and that is always an interesting time when everyone is quite optimistic but also reflective, thinking about the country so far and what could have been. I was also thinking about my role as a curator: I am Nigerian, but I am diaspora. There are different relationships with Nigeria throughout the pavilion; different types of interaction.’

Emelife intended to present a nuanced image of the country’s art scene. “One of the biggest pieces of advice I was given was to think about what people need to see right now. If you are a young Nigerian artist, what would you like people around the world to understand about the country? he said “I hope to change some misconceptions about Nigeria. It would be a great success if people were as hopeful and invested in the country’s potential as I believe Nigerian creatives are and really spread their views. It is also important to be critical of utopia; the exhibition is not only a place to dream, it also looks at the state of things, which is important for this space of imagination.’

Working with the Peruvian artist Sandra Gamarra Heshiki, with whom he previously collaborated, independent curator and art historian Agustín Pérez Rubio is reinventing the concept of the national museum through a critical and anti-colonial approach. In the presentation called “Pinacoteca migrante”, the artist is reinterpreting famous works of art in Spanish museums, presenting paintings, sculptures and botanical specimens from the perspective of the colonized.

“When you enter a biennial national pavilion, it’s like an embassy. This is the territory of each country. I said, ‘We have to change something,'” Rubio said. “Sandra started researching different Spanish museums with a colonial past. We have created a critical view of what is happening, from the time of the colonies until now. Migration, instructivism and racial and gender diversity are the themes of this false organization.’

The pavilion will feature design elements that visitors will recognize from museums around the world. Rubio wants to challenge the ways in which these conventions create a sense of authority and objective truth: “The idea is to review this very normative view of museums in relation to museology. Truth is something you do with the lighting, the color of the walls, the label. The paintings will then use these counter-narratives to subvert and subvert what was originally portrayed. Sandra wants people to take off their Eurocentrism glasses.’

Çağla Ilk, architect and co-director of Germany’s Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, is organizing a group exhibition “Thresholds” inside and outside the German Pavilion. The presentation at the Giardini will move to a second venue on the publicly accessible island of La Certosa. Ilk was inspired by Georgi Gospodinov’s 2020 book Time Shelter, which examines how we can imagine a hopeful future, bearing in mind the traumatic past and the catastrophic present. In both the theme of the exhibition and the physical expansion of the pavilion, Ilk challenges the notion of national enclosure.

“It was about redefining the boundaries of a nation-state pavilion,” he said. “That’s why I chose the topic of thresholds; is to be in between. It was important to expand beyond the Giardini and into a space that everyone can visit. It is for the people of Venice; it’s one of the few places where you can enjoy a walk with your dog, your children.’

Ilk said it was a “positive shock” when the main theme of the exhibition was announced, because it is very close to his ideas. “Who is German and who is not? We are a multicultural society, which is often not accepted. We are not only in Germany, but in the world,” he said.

“I want people to spend time [the exhibition] with all the artists I want to connect with the people who visit, thinking about a better future and not forgetting the past. I see it as a very important political mission. I believe in a way of life without borders, a way of life without a state.”

For the Nordic pavilion, Swedish artist Lap-See Lam has reimagined a dragon-shaped ship, inspired by a three-story Chinese ship that was towed from Shanghai to Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1991. Travel from the Arctic Archipelago to Venice Lagoon and mark the exterior of the permanent pavilion structure. Inside the pavilion, Asrin Haidari—curator of Sweden’s Moderna Museet—has worked with Lam, composer Tze Yeung Ho and artist Kholod Hawash to create a one-hour program. Altersea Opera.

The piece combines video, music, sculpture and textiles, and revolves around Lo Ting, a half-human, half-fish mythological figure who lives through time, far from the sea and culture that belongs to him. When he finally returns to Fragrant Harbor (Hong Kong’s historical nickname), he finds that it has changed beyond recognition.

“Visitors become passengers on this trip,” Haidari said. “It’s not easy to get out of the premises of the Nordic pavilion! But we wanted to take the whole building and transform it. There are many borders in the pavilion, which can inspire. You have to think about all these things with humidity in mind, without damaging the beautiful concrete walls and the marble floor.’

Representing three countries—Norway, Finland and Sweden—the Nordic pavilion has long promoted a sense of cross-cultural cooperation, something Haidari was keen to continue. “It is a richly layered production with many different collaborators. In the opera we have a group, playing different instruments and characters, and they live all over the world. With the multilingual and diverse cultural background of the three artists, hybridity and in-between spaces and migration histories are dominant,” he said. “I hope to feel that emotional state of exile and alienation that has been nurtured in the project, but also reconciliation and kinship.”