La Biennale di Venezia

58. LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA 2019
11 May - 24 Nov 2019

Title:
May You Live In Interesting Times

Director:
Ralph Rugoff

The title of this Exhibition could be interpreted as a sort of curse – stated President Paolo Baratta - where the expression “interesting times” evokes the idea of challenging or even “menacing” times, but it could also simply be an invitation to always see and consider the course of human events in their complexity, an invitation, thus, that appears to be particularly important in times when, too often, oversimplification seems to prevail, generated by conformism or fear. And I believe that an exhibition of art is worth our attention, first and foremost, if it intends to present us with art and artists as a decisive challenge to all oversimplifying attitudes.

Twenty years have passed since, in this same location, I presented my first Exhibition - President said - after the Biennale underwent major reform in 1998. Let me tell you, they have been very interesting times. At the beginning we were criticized for the presence of the pavilions, considered old-fashioned in times of cosmopolitanism and globalization, we live in times where some people raise the doubt that cosmopolitanism might also have been a way for the most influential cultural and political realities to exert a sort of soft power. We are an international exhibition that since those years put the word “open” and “plateau of humankind” as the subtitle for all the following biennials.

During these years, we have increased the number of visitors and found a new partner. Over the course of the past years, the double cost of transportation in the lagoon obliged us to ask for additional support, and our expressions of gratitude and our wall labels included many market participants. The increase in the number of our visitors has allowed us to considerably cut back on this practice, as you can see in the drastic reduction in our expressions of gratitude, both when presenting the works and in the catalogues. Our visitors have become our main partner; more than half of them are under 26 years of age. Calling notice to this result seems to me the best way to celebrate the twenty years which have passed since 1999.

We want to offer them an open gym - Baratta concludes - where they can feel involved in encounters with the works and the artists, in the direct discovery of the “other” which the work of art offers. To us, it is important that, when entering the exhibit, the “public” becomes “visitors,” who then become “viewers” of the works. First, the necessary disorientation, then the involvement, followed by the discovery; it is almost a fencing drill. To share this direction is one of the reasons we have asked Ralph Rugoff to collaborate with us on this twentieth anniversary.

The Exhibition will develop from the Central Pavilion (Giardini) to the Arsenale, and will include 79 artists from all over the world.

Ralph Rugoff has declared: May You Live in Interesting Times will no doubt include artworks that reflect upon precarious aspects of existence today, including different threats to key traditions, institutions and relationships of the “post-war order.” But let us acknowledge at the outset that art does not exercise its forces in the domain of politics. Art cannot stem the rise of nationalist movements and authoritarian governments in different parts of the world, for instance, nor can it alleviate the tragic fate of displaced peoples across the globe (whose numbers now represent almost one percent of the world’s entire population).

But in an indirect fashion, perhaps art can be a kind of guide for how to live and think in ‘interesting times.’ The 58th International Art Exhibition will not have a theme per se, but will highlight a general approach to making art and a view of art’s social function as embracing both pleasure and critical thinking. The Exhibition will focus on the work of artists who challenge existing habits of thought and open up our readings of objects and images, gestures and situations. Art of this kind grows out of a practice of entertaining multiple perspectives: of holding in mind seemingly contradictory and incompatible notions, and juggling diverse ways of making sense of the world. Artists who think in this manner offer alternatives to the meaning of so-called facts by suggesting other ways of connecting and contextualising them. Animated by boundless curiosity and puncturing wit, their work encourages us to look askance at all unquestioned categories, concepts and subjectivities. It invites us to consider multiple alternatives and unfamiliar vantage points, and to discern the ways in which “order” has become the simultaneous presence of diverse orders.


ARTISTS

1. Abu Hamdan, Lawrence
b. 1985 Jordan, lives and works in Beirut

2. Akunyili Crosby, Njideka
b. 1983 Nigeria, lives and works in Los Angeles

3. Altındere, Halil
b. 1971 Turkey, lives and works in Istanbul

4. Armitage, Michael
b. 1984 Kenya, lives and works in London and Nairobi

5. Arunanondchai, Korakrit
b. 1986 Thailand, lives and works in New York and Bangkok
for the work in Arsenale, in collaboration with
Gvojic, Alex
b.1984 USA, lives and works in New York

6. Atkins, Ed
b. 1982 United Kingdom, lives and works in Berlin and Copenhagen

7. Atoui, Tarek
b. 1980 Lebanon, lives and works in Paris

8. Bader, Darren
b. 1978 USA, lives and works in New York City and elsewhere

9. Baghramian, Nairy
b.1971 Iran, lives and works in Berlin

10. Beloufa, Neïl
b. 1985 France, lives and works in Paris

11. Bircken, Alexandra
b. Germany, lives and works in Berlin

12. Bove, Carol
b. 1971 Switzerland, lives and works in New York

13. Büchel, Christoph
b. 1966 Switzerland, lives and works in Reykjavik and Basel

14. Carbotta, Ludovica
b. 1982 Italy, lives and works in Barcelona

15. Catala, Antoine
b. 1975 France, lives and works in New York

16. Cheng, Ian
b. 1984 USA, lives and works in New York

17. Condo, George
b. 1957 USA, lives and works in New York

18. Da Corte, Alex
b. 1980 USA, lives and works in Philadelphia

19. Darling, Jesse
b. United Kingdom, lives and works in London and Berlin

20. Douglas, Stan
b. 1960 Canada, lives and works in Vancouver

21. Durham, Jimmie
b. 1940 USA, lives and works in Berlin

22. Eisenman, Nicole
b. 1965 France, lives and works in New York

23. Epaminonda, Haris
b. 1980 Republic of Cyprus, lives and works in Berlin

24. Favaretto, Lara
b. 1973 Italy, lives and works in Turin

25. Gaillard, Cyprien
b. 1980 France, lives and works in Berlin

26. Gill, Gauri
b. 1970 India, lives and works in New Delhi

27. Gonzalez-Foerster, Dominique
b. 1965 France, lives and works in Paris
for the work at the Central Pavilion, in collaboration with
Bittle, Joi
b. 1975 United States, lives and works in New York

28. Gupta, Shilpa
b. 1976 India, lives and works in Mumbai

29. Gupta, Soham
b. 1988 India, lives and works in Kolkata

30. Gutierrez, Martine
b. 1989 USA, lives and works in New York

31. Halawani, Rula
b. 1964 Palestine, lives and works in Jerusalem

32. Hamilton, Anthea
b. 1978 United Kingdom, lives and works in London

33. Hein, Jeppe
b. 1974 Denmark, lives and works in Berlin

34. Hernandez, Anthony
b. 1947 USA, lives and works in Los Angeles and Idaho

35. Ikeda, Ryoji
b. 1966 Japan, lives and works in Paris and Kyoto

36. Jafa, Arthur
b. 1960 USA, lives and works in Los Angeles

37. Jamie, Cameron
b. 1969 USA, lives in Paris, works in Paris and Cologne

38. Joseph, Kahlil
b. 1981 USA, lives and works in Los Angeles

39. Kadyrova, Zhanna
b. 1981 Ukraine, lives and works in Kyiv

40. Kang, Suki Seokyeong
b. 1977 Republic of Korea, lives and works in Seoul

41. Katayama, Mari
b. 1987 Japan, lives and works in Gunma

42. Lee Bul
b. 1964 Republic of Korea, lives and works in Seoul

43. Liu Wei
b. 1972 People’s Republic of China, lives and works in Beijing

44. Loboda, Maria
b. 1979 Poland, lives and works in Berlin

45. Lolis, Andreas
b. 1970 Albania, lives and works in Athens

46. Marclay, Christian
b. 1955 USA, lives and works in London

47. Margolles, Teresa
b. 1963 Mexico, lives and works in Mexico City and Madrid

48. Mehretu, Julie
b. 1970 Ethiopia, lives and works in New York

49. Minoliti, Ad
b. 1980 Argentina, lives and works in Buenos Aires

50. Moulène, Jean-Luc
b. 1955 France, lives and works in Paris

51. Muholi, Zanele
b. 1972 Republic of South Africa, lives and works in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town

52. Mulleady, Jill
b. 1980 Uruguay, lives and works in Los Angeles

53. Müller, Ulrike
b. 1971 Austria, lives and works in New York

54. Nabuqi
b. 1984 People’s Republic of China, lives and works in Beijing

55. Nkanga, Otobong
b. 1974 Nigeria, lives and works in Antwerp

56. Norbu, Khyentse
b. 1961 Bhutan, Khyentse Norbu’s rigorous international teaching schedule requires continuous travel. He has residences in India and Bhutan

57. Orupabo, Frida
b. 1986 Norway, lives and works in Oslo

58. Rafman, Jon
b. 1981 Canada, lives and works in Montreal

59. Rico, Gabriel
b. 1980 Mexico, lives and works in Guadalajara

60. Saputra, Handiwirman
b. 1975 Indonesia, lives and works in Yogyakarta

61. Saraceno, Tomás
b. 1973 Argentina, lives and works in Berlin

62. Serapinas, Augustas
b. 1990 Lithuania, lives and works in Vilnius

63. Singer, Avery
b. 1987 USA, lives and works in New York

64. Slavs and Tatars
founded 2006, based in Berlin

65. Smith, Michael E.
b. 1977 USA, lives and works in Providence, Rhode Island

66. Steyerl, Hito
b. 1966 Germany, lives and works in Berlin

67. Strachan, Tavares
b. 1979 The Bahamas, lives and works in New York

68. Sun Yuan (b. 1972 People’s Republic of China) and Peng Yu (b. 1974 People’s Republic of China), both live and work in Beijing

69. Taylor, Henry
b. 1958 USA, lives and works in Los Angeles

70. Trockel, Rosemarie
b. 1952 Germany, lives and works in Cologne

71. Upson, Kaari
b. 1972 USA, lives and works in Los Angeles

72. Ursuţa, Andra
b. 1979 Romania, lives and works in New York

73. Vo, Danh
b. 1975 Vietnam, lives and works in Mexico DF

74. Wa Lehulere, Kemang
b. 1984 Republic of South Africa, lives and works in Cape Town

75. Weerasethakul, Apichatpong
b. 1970 Thailand, lives and works in Chiang Mai
for the work in Arsenale, in collaboration with
Hisakado, Tsuyoshi
b. 1981 Japan, lives and works in Kyoto

76. Wertheim, Margaret and Wertheim, Christine
b. 1958 Australia, both live and work in Los Angeles

77. Yi, Anicka
b. 1971 Republic of Korea, lives and works in New York

78. Yin Xiuzhen
b. 1963 People’s Republic of China, lives and works in Beijing

79. Yu Ji
b. 1985 People’s Republic of China, lives and works in Shanghai and Vienna


NATIONAL PARTICIPATIONS

ALBANIA
Maybe the cosmos is not so extraordinary
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture Republic of Albania. Curator: Alicia Knock.
Exhibitor: Driant Zeneli.
Venue: Arsenale

ANDORRA
The Future is Now / El futur és ara
Commissioner: Eva Martínez, “Zoe”. Curators: Ivan Sansa, Paolo De Grandis.
Exhibitor: Philippe Shangti.
Venue: Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà, Castello 3701

ANTIGUA & BARBUDA
Find Yourself: Carnival and Resistance
Commissioner: Daryll Matthew, Minister of Sports, Culture, National Festivals and the Arts. Curator: Barbara Paca with Nina Khrushcheva. Exhibitors: Timothy Payne, Sir Gerald Price, Joseph Seton, and Frank Walter; Intangible Cultural, Heritage Artisans and Mas Troup.
Venue: Centro Culturale Don Orione Artigianelli, Dorsoduro 919

ARGENTINA
El nombre de un país / The name of a country
Commissioner: Sergio Alberto Baur Ambasciatore. Curator: Florencia Battiti. Exhibitor: Mariana Telleria.
Venue: Arsenale

ARMENIA (Republic of)
Revolutionary Sensorium
Commissioner: Nazenie Garibian, Deputy Minister. Curator: Susanna Gyulamiryan.
Exhibitors: "ArtlabYerevan" Artistic Group (Gagik Charchyan, Hovhannes Margaryan, Arthur Petrosyan, Vardan Jaloyan) and Narine Arakelian.
Venue: Palazzo Zenobio – Collegio Armeno Moorat-Raphael, Dorsoduro 2596

AUSTRALIA
ASSEMBLY
Commissioner: Australia Council for the Arts. Curator: Juliana Engberg. Exhibitor: Angelica Mesiti.
Venue: Giardini

AUSTRIA
Discordo Ergo Sum
Commissioner: Arts and Culture Division of the Federal Chancellery of Austria.
Curator: Felicitas Thun-Hohenstein. Exhibitor: Renate Bertlmann.
Venue: Giardini

AZERBAIJAN (Republic of )
Virtual Reality
Commissioner: Mammad Ahmadzada, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Curators: Gianni Mercurio, Emin Mammadov. Exhibitors: Zeigam Azizov, Orkhan Mammadov, Zarnishan Yusifova, Kanan Aliyev, Ulviyya Aliyeva.
Venue: Palazzo Lezze, Campo S. Stefano, San Marco 2949

BANGLADESH (People’s Republic of)
Thirst
Commissioner: Liaquat Ali Lucky. Curators: Mokhlesur Rahman, Viviana Vannucci.
Exhibitors: Bishwajit Goswami, Dilara Begum Jolly, Heidi Fosli, Nafis Ahmed Gazi, Franco Marrocco, Domenico Pellegrino, Preema Nazia Andaleeb, Ra Kajol, Uttam Kumar karmaker.
Venue: Palazzo Zenobio – Collegio Armeno Moorat-Raphael, Dorsoduro 2596

BELARUS (Republic of)
Exit / Uscita
Commissioner: Siarhey Kryshtapovich. Curator: Olga Rybchinskaya. Exhibitor: Konstantin Selikhanov.
Venue: Spazio Liquido, Sestiere Castello 103, Salizada Streta

BELGIUM
Mondo Cane
Commissioner: Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. Curator: Anne-Claire Schmitz.
Exhibitor: Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys.
Venue: Giardini

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA
ZENICA-TRILOGY
Commissioner: Senka Ibrišimbegović, Ars Aevi Museum for Contemporary Art Sarajevo.
Curators: Anja Bogojević, Amila Puzić, Claudia Zini. Exhibitor: Danica Dakić.
Venue: Palazzo Francesco Molon Ca’ Bernardo, San Polo 2184/A

BRAZIL
Swinguerra
Commissioner: José Olympio da Veiga Pereira, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo.
Curator: Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro. Exhibitor: Bárbara Wagner & Benjamin de Burca.
Venue: Giardini

BULGARIA
How We Live
Commissioner: Iaroslava Boubnova, National Gallery in Sofia. Curator: Vera Mlechevska.
Exhibitors: Rada Boukova , Lazar Lyutakov.
Venue: Palazzo Giustinian Lolin, San Marco 2893

CANADA
ISUMA
Commissioner: National Gallery of Canada. Curators: Asinnajaq, Catherine Crowston, Josée Drouin-Brisebois, Barbara Fischer, Candice Hopkins. Exhibitors: Isuma (Zacharias Kunuk, Norman Cohn, Paul Apak, Pauloosie Qulitalik).
Venue: Giardini

CHILE
Altered Views
Commissioner: Varinia Brodsky, Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage.
Curator: Agustín Pérez. Rubio. Exhibitor: Voluspa Jarpa.
Venue: Arsenale

CHINA (People’s Republic of)
Re-睿
Commissioner: China Arts and Entertainment Group Ltd. (CAEG).
Curator: Wu Hongliang. Exhibitors: Chen Qi, Fei Jun, He Xiangyu, Geng Xue.
Venue: Arsenale

CROATIA
Traces of Disappearing (In Three Acts)
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia. Curator: Katerina Gregos.
Exhibitor: Igor Grubić.
Venue: Calle Corner, Santa Croce 2258

CUBA
Entorno aleccionador (A Cautionary Environment)
Commissioner: Norma Rodríguez Derivet, Consejo Nacional de Artes Plásticas.
Curator: Margarita Sanchez Prieto. Exhibitors: Alejandro Campins, Alex Hérnandez, Ariamna Contino and Eugenio Tibaldi. Venue: Isola di San Servolo

CYPRUS (Republic of)
Christoforos Savva: Untimely, Again
Commissioner: Louli Michaelidou. Curator: Jacopo Crivelli Visconti. Exhibitor: Christoforos Savva.
Venue: Associazione Culturale Spiazzi, Castello 3865

CZECH (Republic) and SLOVAK (Republic)
Stanislav Kolíbal. Former Uncertain Indicated
Commissioner: Adam Budak, National Gallery Prague. Curator: Dieter Bogner.
Exhibitor: Stanislav Kolibal.
Venue: Giardini

DENMARK
Heirloom
Commissioner: The Danish Arts Foundation: Lisette Vind Ebbesen (Chair), Peter Land, Jane Jin Kaisen, Charlotte Fogh and Søren Assenholt. Curator: Nat Muller. Exhibitor: Larissa Sansour.
Venue: Giardini

DOMINICAN (Republic) *
Naturaleza y biodiversidad en la República Dominicana
Commissioner: Eduardo Selman, Minister of Culture. Curators: Marianne de Tolentino, Simone Pieralice, Giovanni Verza. Exhibitors: Dario Oleaga, Ezequiel Taveras, Hulda Guzmán, Julio Valdez, Miguel Ramirez, Rita Bertrecchi, Nicola Pica, Marraffa & Casciotti.
Venue: Palazzo Albrizzi Capello, Cannaregio 4118 – Sala della Pace

EGYPT
khnum across times witness
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Curator: Ahmed Chiha.
Exhibitors: Islam Abdullah, Ahmed Chiha, Ahmed Abdel Karim.
Venue: Giardini

ESTONIA
Birth V
Commissioner: Maria Arusoo, Centre of Contemporary Arts of Estonia. Curators: Andrew Berardini, Irene Campolmi, Sarah Lucas, Tamara Luuk. Exhibitor: Kris Lemsalu.
Venue: c/o Legno & Legno, Giudecca 211

FINLAND (Alvar Aalto Pavilion)
A Greater Miracle of Perception
Commissioner: Raija Koli, Director Frame Contemporary Art Finland.
Curators: Giovanna Esposito Yussif, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Christopher Wessels. Exhibitors: Miracle Workers Collective (Maryan Abdulkarim, Khadar Ahmed, Hassan Blasim, Giovanna Esposito Yussif, Sonya Lindfors, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Outi Pieski, Leena Pukki, Lorenzo Sandoval, Martta Tuomaala, Christopher L. Thomas, Christopher Wessels, Suvi West).
Venue: Giardini

FRANCE
Deep see blue surrounding you / Vois ce bleu profond te fondre
Commissioner: Institut français with the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture. Curator: Martha Kirszenbaum. Exhibitor: Laure Prouvost.
Venue: Giardini

GEORGIA
REARMIRRORVIEW, Simulation is Simulation, is Simulation, is Simulation
Commissioner: Ana Riaboshenko. Curator: Margot Norton. Exhibitor: Anna K.E.
Venue: Arsenale

GERMANY
Commissioner: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) on behalf of the Federal Foreign Office, Germany. Curator: Franciska Zólyom. Exhibitor: Natascha Süder Happelmann.
Venue: Giardini

GHANA ***
Ghana Freedom
Commissioner: Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. Curator: Nana Oforiatta Ayim.
Exhibitors: Felicia Abban, John Akomfrah, El Anatsui, Lynette Yiadom Boakye, Ibrahim Mahama, Selasi Awusi Sosu.
Venue: Arsenale

GREAT BRITAIN
Cathy Wilkes
Commissioner: Emma Dexter. Curator: Zoe Whitley. Exhibitor: Cathy Wilkes.
Venue: Giardini

GREECE
Mr Stigl
Commissioner: Syrago Tsiara (Deputy Director of the Contemporary Art Museum - Metropolitan Organization of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki - MOMus).
Curator: Katerina Tselou. Exhibitors: Panos Charalambous, Eva Stefani, Zafos Xagoraris.
Venue: Giardini

GRENADA
Epic Memory
Commissioner: Susan Mains. Curator: Daniele Radini Tedeschi.
Exhibitors: Amy Cannestra, Billy Gerard Frank, Dave Lewis, Shervone Neckles, Franco Rota Candiani, Roberto Miniati, CRS avant-garde.
Venue: Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello (first floor), Cannaregio 4118

GUATEMALA
Interesting State
Commissioner: Elder de Jesús Súchite Vargas, Minister of Culture and Sports of Guatemala. Curator: Stefania Pieralice. Exhibitors: Elsie Wunderlich, Marco Manzo.
Venue: Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello (first floor), Cannaregio 4118

HAITI
THE SPECTACLE OF TRAGEDY
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture and Communication.
Curator: Giscard Bouchotte. Exhibitor: Jean Ulrick Désert.
Venue: Circolo Ufficiali Marina, Calle Seconda de la Fava, Castello 2168

HUNGARY
Imaginary Cameras
Commissioner: Julia Fabényi, Museo Ludwig – Museo d’arte contemporanea, Budapest.
Curator: Zsuzsanna Szegedy-Maszák. Exhibitor: Tamás Waliczky.
Venue: Giardini

ICELAND
Chromo Sapiens – Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir / Shoplifter
Commissioner: Eiríkur Þorláksson, Icelandic Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.
Curator: Birta Gudjónsdóttir. Exhibitor: Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir / Shoplifter.
Venue: Spazio Punch, Giudecca 800

INDIA
Our time for a future caring
Commissioner: Adwaita Gadanayak National Gallery of Modern Art.
Curator: Roobina Karode, Director & Chief Curator, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. Exhibitors: Atul Dodiya, Ashim Purkayastha, GR Iranna, Jitish Kallat, Nandalal Bose, Rummana Hussain, Shakuntala Kulkarni.
Venue: Arsenale

INDONESIA
Lost Verses
Commissioner: Ricky Pesik & Diana Nazir, Indonesian Agency for Creative Economy.
Curator: Asmudjo Jono Irianto. Exhibitors: Handiwirman Saputra and Syagini Ratna Wulan.
Venue: Arsenale

IRAN (Islamic Republic of)
of being and singing
Commissioner: Hadi Mozafari, General Manager of Visual Arts Administration of Islamic Republic of Iran. Curator: Ali Bakhtiari.
Exhibitors: Reza Lavassani, Samira Alikhanzadeh, Ali Meer Azimi.
Venue: Fondaco Marcello, San Marco 3415

IRAQ
Fatherland
Commissioner: Fondazione Ruya. Curators: Tamara Chalabi, Paolo Colombo.
Exhibitor: Serwan Baran.
Venue: Ca’ del Duca, Corte del Duca Sforza, San Marco 3052

IRELAND
The Shrinking Universe
Commissioner: Culture Ireland. Curator: Mary Cremin. Exhibitor: Eva Rothschild.
Venue: Arsenale

ISRAEL
Field Hospital X
Commissioner: Michael Gov, Arad Turgeman. Curator: Avi Lubin. Exhibitor: Aya Ben Ron.
Venue: Giardini

ITALY
Commissioner: Federica Galloni, Direttore Generale Arte e Architettura Contemporanee e Periferie Urbane, Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali. Curator: Milovan Farronato.
Exhibitors: Enrico David, Liliana Moro, Chiara Fumai.
Venue: Padiglione Italia, Tese delle Vergini, Arsenale

IVORY COAST
The Open Shadows of Memory
Commissioner: Henri Nkoumo. Curator: Massimo Scaringella. Exhibitors: Ernest Dükü, Ananias Leki Dago, Valérie Oka, Tong Yanrunan.
Venue: Castello Gallery, Castello 1636/A

JAPAN
Cosmo-Eggs
Commissioner: The Japan Foundation. Curator: Hiroyuki Hattori. Exhibitors: Motoyuki Shitamichi, Taro Yasuno, Toshiaki Ishikura, Fuminori Nousaku.
Venue: Giardini

KIRIBATI
Pacific Time - Time Flies
Commissioner: Pelea Tehumu, Ministry of Internal Affairs. Curators: Kautu Tabaka, Nina Tepes. Exhibitors: Kaeka Michael Betero, Daniela Danica Tepes, Kairaken Betio Group; Teroloang Borouea, Neneia Takoikoi, Tineta Timirau, Teeti Aaloa, Kenneth Ioane, Kaumai Kaoma, Runita Rabwaa, Obeta Taia, Tiribo Kobaua, Tamuera Tebebe, Rairauea Rue, Teuea Kabunare, Tokintekai Ekentetake, Katanuti Francis, Mikaere Tebwebwe, Terita Itinikarawa, Kaeua Kobaua, Raatu Tiuteke, Kaeriti Baanga, Ioanna Francis, Temarewe Banaan, Aanamaria Toom, Einako Temewi, Nimei Itinikarawa, Teniteiti Mikaere, Aanibo Bwatanita, Arin Tikiraua.
Venue: European Cultural Centre, Palazzo Mora, Strada Nuova 3659

KOREA (Republic of)
History Has Failed Us, but No Matter
Commissioner: Arts Council Korea. Curator: Hyunjin Kim. Exhibitors: Hwayeon Nam, siren eun young jung, Jane Jin Kaisen.
Venue: Giardini

KOSOVO (Republic of)
Family Album
Commissioner: Arta Agani. Curator: Vincent Honore. Exhibitor: Alban Muja.
Venue: Arsenale

LATVIA
Saules Suns
Commissioner: Dace Vilsone. Curators: Valentinas Klimašauskas, Inga Lāce.
Exhibitor: Daiga Grantiņa.
Venue: Arsenale

LITHUANIA
Sun & Sea (Marina)
Commissioner: Rasa Antanavičıūte. Curator: Lucia Pietroiusti.
Exhibitors: Lina Lapelyte, Vaiva Grainyte and Rugile Barzdziukaite.
Venue: Magazzino No. 42, Marina Militare, Arsenale di Venezia, Fondamenta Case Nuove 2738c

LUXEMBOURG (Grand Duchy of)
Written by Water
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture of Luxembourg.
Curator: Kevin Muhlen. Exhibitor: Marco Godinho.
Venue: Arsenale

NORTH MACEDONIA (Republic of )
Subversion to Red
Commissioner: Mira Gakina. Curator: Jovanka Popova. Exhibitor: Nada Prlja.
Venue: Palazzo Rota Ivancich, Castello 4421

MADAGASCAR ***
I have forgotten the night
Commissioner: Ministry of Communication and Culture of the Republic of Madagascar. Curators: Rina Ralay Ranaivo, Emmanuel Daydé.
Exhibitor: Joël Andrianomearisoa.
Venue: Arsenale

MALAYSIA ***
Holding Up a Mirror
Commissioner: Professor Dato’ Dr. Mohamed Najib Dawa, Director General of Balai Seni Negara (National Art Gallery of Malaysia), Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia. Curator: Lim Wei-Ling. Exhibitors: Anurendra Jegadeva, H.H.Lim, Ivan Lam, Zulkifli Yusoff.
Venue: Palazzo Malipiero, San Marco 3198

MALTA
Maleth / Haven / Port - Heterotopias of Evocation
Commissioner: Arts Council Malta. Curator: Hesperia Iliadou Suppiej. Exhibitors: Vince Briffa, Klitsa Antoniou, Trevor Borg.
Venue: Arsenale

MEXICO
Actos de Dios / Acts of God
Commissioner: Gabriela Gil Verenzuela. Curator: Magalí Arriola. Exhibitor: Pablo Vargas Lugo.
Venue: Arsenale

MONGOLIA
A Temporality
Commissioner: The Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports of Mongolia.
Curator: Gantuya Badamgarav. Exhibitor: Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar with the participation of traditional Mongolian throat singers and Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto).
Venue: Bruchium Fermentum, Calle del Forno, Castello 2093-2090

MONTENEGRO
Odiseja / An Odyssey
Commissioner: Nenad Šoškić. Curator: Petrica Duletić. Exhibitor: Vesko Gagović.
Venue: Palazzo Malipiero (piano terra), San Marco 3078-3079/A, Ramo Malipiero

MOZAMBIQUE (Republic of)
The Past, the Present and The in Between
Commissioner: Domingos do Rosário Artur. Curator: Lidija K. Khachatourian.
Exhibitors: Gonçalo Mabunda, Mauro Pinto, Filipe Branquinho.
Venue: Palazzo Mora, Strada Nova, 3659

NETHERLANDS (The)
The Measurement of Presence
Commissioner: Mondriaan Fund. Curator: Benno Tempel. Exhibitors: Iris Kensmil, Remy Jungerman. Venue: Giardini

NEW ZEALAND
Post hoc
Commissioner: Dame Jenny Gibbs. Curators: Zara Stanhope and Chris Sharp.
Exhibitor: Dane Mitchell.
Venue: Palazzina Canonica, Riva Sette Martiri

NORDIC COUNTRIES (FINLAND - NORWAY - SWEDEN)
Weather Report: Forecasting Future
Commissioner: Leevi Haapala / Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma / Finnish National Gallery, Katya García-Antón / Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA), Ann-Sofi Noring / Moderna Museet. Curators: Leevi Haapala, Piia Oksanen. Exhibitors: Ane Graff, Ingela Ihrman, nabbteeri.
Venue: Giardini

PAKISTAN ***
Manora Field Notes
Commissioner: Syed Jamal Shah, Pakistan National Council of the Arts, PNCA.
Curator: Zahra Khan. Exhibitor: Naiza Khan.
Venue: Tanarte, Castello 2109/A and Spazio Tana, Castello 2110-2111

PERU
“Indios Antropófagos”. A butterfly Garden in the (Urban) Jungle
Commissioner: Armando Andrade de Lucio. Curator: Gustavo Buntinx. Exhibitors: Christian Bendayán, Otto Michael (1859-1934), Manuel Rodríguez Lira (1874-1933), Segundo Candiño Rodríguez, Anonymous popular artificer.
Venue: Arsenale

PHILIPPINES
Island Weather
Commissioner: National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) / Virgilio S. Almario.
Curator: Tessa Maria T. Guazon. Exhibitor: Mark O. Justiniani.
Venue: Arsenale

POLAND
Flight
Commissioner: Hanna Wroblewska. Curators: Łukasz Mojsak, Łukasz Ronduda.
Exhibitor: Roman Stańczak.
Venue: Giardini

PORTUGAL
a seam, a surface, a hinge or a knot
Commissioner: Directorate-General for the Arts. Curator: João Ribas. Exhibitor: Leonor Antunes.
Venue: Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi Onlus, Palazzo Giustinian Lolin, San Marco 2893

ROMANIA
Unfinished Conversations on the Weight of Absence
Commissioner: Attila Kim. Curator: Cristian Nae. Exhibitor: Belu-Simion Făinaru, Dan Mihălțianu, Miklós Onucsán.
Venues: Giardini and New Gallery of the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research (Campo Santa Fosca, Palazzo Correr, Cannaregio 2214)

RUSSIA
Lc 15:11-32
Commissioner: Semyon Mikhailovsky. Curator: Mikhail Piotrovsky. Exhibitors: Alexander Sokurov, Alexander Shishkin-Hokusai.
Venue: Giardini

SAN MARINO (Republic of)
Friendship Project International
Commissioner: Vito Giuseppe Testaj. Curator: Vincenzo Sanfo. Exhibitors: Gisella Battistini, Martina Conti, Gabriele Gambuti, Giovanna Fra, Thea Tini, Chen Chengwei, Li Geng, Dario Ortiz, Tang Shuangning, Jens W. Beyrich, Xing Junqin, Xu de Qi, Sebastián.
Venue: Palazzo Bollani, Castello 3647; Complesso dell’Ospedaletto, Castello 6691

SAUDI ARABIA
After Illusion بعد توهم
Commissioner: Misk Art Insitute. Curator: Eiman Elgibreen. Exhibitor: Zahrah Al Ghamdi.
Venue: Arsenale

SERBIA
Regaining Memory Loss
Commissioner: Vladislav Scepanovic. Curator: Nicoletta Lambertucci. Exhibitor: Djordje Ozbolt.
Venue: Giardini

SEYCHELLES (Republic of)
Drift
Commissioner: Galen Bresson. Curator: Martin Kennedy.
Exhibitors: George Camille and Daniel Dodin.
Venue: Palazzo Mora, Strada Nova, 3659

SINGAPORE
Music For Everyone: Variations on a Theme
Commissioner: Rosa Daniel, Chief Executive Officer, National Arts Council (NAC).
Curator: Michelle Ho. Exhibitor: Song-Ming Ang.
Venue: Arsenale

SLOVENIA (Republic of)
Here we go again... SYSTEM 317
A situation of the resolution series
Commissioner: Zdenka Badovinac, Director Moderna galerija / Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana. Curator: Igor Španjol. Exhibitor: Marko Peljhan.
Venue: Arsenale

SOUTH AFRICA (Republic of)
The stronger we become
Commissioner: Titi Nxumalo, Console Generale. Curators: Nkule Mabaso, Nomusa Makhubu. Exhibitors: Dineo Seshee Bopape, Tracey Rose, Mawande Ka Zenzile.
Venue: Arsenale

SPAIN
Perforated by Itziar Okariz and Sergio Prego
Commissioner: AECID Agencia Espanola de Cooperacion Internacional Para El Desarrollo. Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Union Europea y Cooperacion. Curator: Peio Aguirre.
Exhibitors: Itziar Okariz, Sergio Prego.
Venue: Giardini

SWITZERLAND
Moving Backwards
Commissioner: Swiss Arts Council Pro-Helvetia: Marianne Burki, Sandi Paucic, Rachele Giudici Legittimo. Curator: Charlotte Laubard. Exhibitors: Pauline Boudry/Renate Lorenz.
Venue: Giardini

SYRIAN ARAB (Republic)
Syrian Civilization is still alive
Commissioner/Curator: Emad Kashout. Exhibitors: Abdalah Abouassali, Giacomo Braglia, Ibrahim Al Hamid, Chen Huasha, Saed Salloum, Xie Tian, Saad Yagan, Primo Vanadia, Giuseppe Biasio.
Venue: Isola di San Servolo; Chiesetta della Misericordia, Campo dell'Abbazia, Cannaregio

THAILAND
The Revolving World
Commissioner: Vimolluck Chuchat, Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture, Thailand. Curator: Tawatchai Somkong. Exhibitors: Somsak Chowtadapong, Panya Vijinthanasarn, Krit Ngamsom.
Venue: In Paradiso 1260, Castello

TURKEY
We, Elsewhere
Commissioner: IKSV. Curator: Zeynep Öz. Exhibitor: İnci Eviner.
Venue: Arsenale

UKRAINE
The Shadow of Dream cast upon Giardini della Biennale
Commissioner: Svitlana Fomenko, First Deputy Minister of Culture. Curators: Open group (Yurii Biley, Pavlo Kovach, Stanislav Turina, Anton Varga). Exhibitors: all artists of Ukraine.
Venue: Arsenale

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Nujoom Alghanem: Passage
Commissioner: Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation.
Curators: Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath. Exhibitor: Nujoom Alghanem.
Venue: Arsenale

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Martin Puryear: Liberty
Commissioner/Curator: Brooke Kamin Rapaport. Exhibitor: Martin Puryear.
Venue: Giardini

URUGUAY
“La casa empática”
Commissioner: Alejandro Denes. Curators: David Armengol, Patricia Bentancur.
Exhibitor: Yamandú Canosa.
Venue: Giardini

VENEZUELA (Bolivarian Republic of)
Metaphore of three windows
Venezuela: identity in time and space
Commissioner/Curator: Oscar Sottillo Meneses. Exhibitors: Natalie Rocha Capiello, Ricardo García, Gabriel López, Nelson Rangelosky.
Venue: Giardini

ZIMBABWE (Republic of)
Soko Risina Musoro (The Tale without a Head)
Commissioner: Doreen Sibanda, National Gallery of Zimbabwe. Curator: Raphael Chikukwa. Exhibitors: Georgina Maxim, Neville Starling , Cosmas Shiridzinomwa, Kudzanai Violet Hwami.
Venue: Istituto Provinciale per L’infanzia “Santa Maria Della Pietà”. Calle della Pietà Castello n. 3701 (ground floor)


*** New participations: Ghana, Madagascar, Malaysia and Pakistan
* The Dominican Republic participates for the first time with its own pavilion at the Biennale Arte and had already participated in previous editions as part of the IILA.


COLLATERAL EVENTS

3x3x6
Using as inspiration ten historical and contemporary cases of imprisonment due to gender, sexual, and racial nonconformity, 3x3x6 questions how legal and visual regimes shape sexual and gender norms over time. The title, 3x3x6, refers to the new architectural model of industrial prisons developed globally: a 9-square-meter cell constantly monitored by 6 cameras. Combining physical space with a surveillance program, the project speaks about the new conditions of freedom and control within contemporary democratic societies. The installation is an invitation to imagine a society without prisons, but further a society beyond the epistemological prison of gender, sexual, and race categories.
Palazzo delle Prigioni, Castello, 4209, San Marco
11 May - 24 November
Promoter: Taipei Fine Arts Museum of Taiwan
www.tfam.museum

AFRICOBRA: Nation Time
AFRICOBRA was founded on the South Side of Chicago in 1968 by a collective of young Black artists, whose
interest in Transnational Black Aesthetics led them to create one of the most distinctive visual voices in 20th Century American art. The key characteristics to what we now consider the classic AFRICOBRA look — vibrant, “cool-ade” colours, bold text, shine and positive images of Black people — were essential to everyday life in the community from which this movement emerged. It is a movement with roots in the soil, streets, classrooms, studios, and living rooms of the South Side of Chicago — yet its influence has extended around the world.
Ca' Faccanon, San Marco, 5016 (Poste Centrali)
11 May - 24 November
Promoter: bardoLA
www.bardoLA.org

Artists Need to Create on the Same Scale that Society Has the Capacity to Destroy: Mare Nostrum
Titled Artists Need to Create on the Same Scale that Society Has the Capacity to Destroy: Mare Nostrum, the exhibition will feature an international roster of 73 artists whose works are in response to the environmental crisis in the age of climate change, of particular urgency for Venice, endangered by sea level rise. The curators are also organizing 1001 Stories for Survival, an interdisciplinary program of public conversations with artists, scientists, scholars, poets, and writers.
Complesso della Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Penitenti, Fondamenta di Cannaregio, 910
8 May - 24 November
Promoter: The Brooklyn Rail
www.brooklynrail.org

Baselitz – Academy
The exhibition, curated by Professor Kosme de Barañano, will trace the periods and critical junctures in the artist’s extraordinary 60-year career through paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures. A special feature of the exhibition will be a cycle of rarely seen works exploring Baselitz’s relationship with Italy and the academic tradition.
Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia, Dorsoduro, 1050 (Campo della Carità)
8 May - 8 September
Promoter: Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia
www.gallerieaccademia.it

Beverly Pepper – Art in the Open
The exhibition is part of the wider “Beverly Pepper between Todi and the world” project, and features the original version of the large sculptures “Todi Columns”, already exhibited in Piazza del Popolo in 1979 and later donated by the artist to the Venetian Civic Museums. In addition to the monumental columns, two large recent sculptures by Beverly Pepper are showcased, as well as a wide selection of photographs of the artist and and the preparatory models of the future “Park of Beverly Pepper”.
Spazio Thetis, Arsenale Novissimo, Castello, 2737/f
11 May - 24 November
Promoter: Fondazione Progetti Beverly Pepper
www.fondazioneprogettibeverlypepper.com

Catalonia in Venice_to lose your head (idols)
Losing Your Head (Idols) is a project involving artists (David Bestué, Marcel Borràs, Albert García-Alzórriz), architects (Tiziano Schürch) and documentary filmmakers (Dolors Magallón and others) in both a dialectical and collaborative sense.
Cantieri Navali, Castello, 40 (Fondamenta Quintavalle)
11 May - 24 November
Promoter: Institut Ramon Llull
www.llull.cat
www.toloseyourhead.llull.cat

Förg in Venice
Palazzo Contarini Polignac, Dorsoduro, 874
11 May - 23 August
Promoter: Dallas Museum of Art
www.dma.org

Future Generation Art Prize 2019 @ Venice
Emilija Škarnulytė (Lithuania) is the winner of the Future Generation Art Prize 2019, the fifth edition of the global art prize for artists under 35, established by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation in 2009. Emilija Škarnulytė's work "t 1 ⁄ 2" stems from deep and extensive research which has been translated in a coherent and confident way. The jury found its scale, rhythm and pace mesmerising alongside its capacity to deal with vast expanses of time in a precise manner. Additional awards were divided between Special Prize winners Gabrielle Goliath (South Africa) and Cooking Sections (UK).
Università IUAV di Venezia, Ca' Tron, Santa Croce, 1957
11 May – 18 August
Promoter: PinchukArtCentre; Victor Pinchuk Foundation
www.pinchukartcentre.org
www.pinchukfund.org

FutuRoma
The exhibition of fourteen innovative Romani contemporary artists aged between twenty-seven and ninety-five years old, from eight countries across Europe, offers new and spontaneous re-interpretations of Roma past, present and futures via a fusion of the traditional and the futuristic in order to critique the current situation for Roma people and to re-examine historical events.
Dorsoduro, 417 (Fondamenta Zattere allo Spirito Santo)
11 May - 24 November
Promoter: European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC)
https://eriac.org

Heidi Lau: Apparition
It showcases 10 newly commissioned ceramic installations under 4 different themes: Apparition I: Primitive Memories, Apparition II: The Ancestral House, The Contemporary Moment: Learning from Casino, and Reflective Nostalgia: The Old Recreation Garden. Lau’s work resembles the crumbling remains of historical relics and features imageries of Taoist and folk mythologies.
Arsenale, Castello, 2126/A (Campo della Tana)
11 May - 10 November
Promoter: The Macao Museum of Art
www.mam.gov.mo

Ichich – Ichihr – Ichwir / We All Have to Die
Curated by Francesco Bonami, “Jörg Immendorff: Ichich, Ichihr, Ichwir, We All Have to Die” is the first major exhibition of the late artist’s work in an Italian institution. While this exhibition is not a retrospective, it is the first to uniquely address Immendorff’s inquiry into the artist’s identity and his participation within his own paintings. Jörg Immendorff (1945-2007) was one of the most important artists to emerge from post-war Germany and has been exhibited internationally since the mid-1960s.
Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Castello, 5252 (Campo Santa Maria Formosa)
8 May - 24 November
Promoter: Fondazione Querini Stampalia
www.querinistampalia.org

Living Rocks: A Fragment of the Universe
Addressing the question: what was our planet three billion years ago? Living Rocks is a South Australian collaboration by artists James Darling and Lesley Forwood, Jumpgate, composer Paul Stanhope, and the Australian String Quartet, in which water floods the Magazzini del Sale, the historic stone salt storehouses of Venice that have stood the test of many an inundation. From an extensive pool emerge thrombolites that have been crafted, not by unimaginable time and the force of nature, but by the artists who employ the distinctive roots of an arid land eucalypt to create living rocks.
Magazzino del Sale n. 5, Dorsoduro, 262 (Fondamenta Zattere ai Saloni)
8 May - 24 November
Promoter: Art Gallery of South Australia
www.artgallery.sa.gov.au

Philippe Parreno
With its new futuristic piece Parreno creates an experience where memory of the past comes together in a disruptive temporality with the present and future, evoking the parallel realities dear to the artist. The familiar markers of perception are annihilated in favour of a stimulating process of inventing new ways of understanding, defying rational categories and the established order.
Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia, San Marco 1353 (Calle del Ridotto)
11 May - 24 November
Promoter: Fondation Louis Vuitton
www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr

Pino Pascali. Dall'immagine alla forma
Fifty years after the artist’s death, this exhibition presents an original and unusual interpretation of the artist’s production, by placing side by side his photographic research to his sculptures and videos.
Palazzo Cavanis, Dorsoduro, 920 (Fondamenta Zattere ai Gesuati)
9 May - 24 November
Promoter: Fondazione Pino Pascali
www.museopinopascali.it

Processional, an Installation by Todd Williamson
Occupying the long, narrow chapel located to the side of the Church, the space invites a meditative, sequential process of reflection. Drawing from the site’s formal proportions and material richness, the artist has developed a series of works which encourage contemplation, challenge the perceived order of tradition and ask who are our apostles today? What are their roles? Is the influence of today’s perceived Influencers truly inspirational or dangerously dogmatic?
Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pietà, Castello 3701 (Riva degli Schiavoni)
8 May - 24 November
Promoter: MAK Center for Art and Architecture
makcenter.org

Salon Suisse: s l o w
Entitled s l o w the programme of events and performances engages with rhythm and slowness by considering topics such as acceleration, bedding, slothing, hypnosis, and more. In an art world governed by the scopic dimension, slowing down would make way for sensoriality and resistance to productivism.
Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Dorsoduro, 810 (Campo Sant' Agnese)
11 May; 19-20-21 September; 17-18-19 October; 21-22-23 November
Promoter: Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
www.prohelvetia.ch
www.biennials.ch

Scotland + Venice presents Charlotte Prodger
Charlotte Prodger works with moving image, sculpture, writing and performance. The commission for Scotland + Venice will provide her with the opportunity to produce a new single channel video work that will build on her sustained exploration of “queer wilderness”. Prodger will develop this new work over a series of research and production residencies at Cove Park, one of Scotland’s foremost residency centres.
Arsenale Docks, Castello, 40
11 May - 24 November
Promoter: Scotland + Venice
https://scotlandandvenice.com/

Shirley Tse: Stakeholders, Hong Kong in Venice
The new body of work in Stakeholders explores sculpture as a physical visualisation of multidimensional thinking used in order to examine and mediate diverse materials and processes, and to shed light on the inter-connections of individual subjectivities in a pluralistic society.
Arsenale,Castello, 2126 (Campo della Tana)
11 May - 24 November
Promoters: M+, West Kowloon Cultural District; Hong Kong Arts Development Council
www.westkowloon.hk/en/mplus
www.hkadc.org.hk
www.vbexhibitions.hk

The Death of James Lee Byars
The exhibition allows the public to reconnect with one of James Lee Byars’ most iconic installations, which the artist created in Brussels exactly 25 years ago and which has been part of the Collection since 1996. In addition, the audience is invited to discover Zad Moultaka’s new creation that directly engages with Byars’ work and has been specifically commissioned for this occasion.
Chiesa di Santa Maria della Visitazione, Fondamenta Zattere ai Gesuati
11 May - 24 November
Promoter: Vanhaerents Art Collection
www.vanhaerentsartcollection.com

The Spark Is You: Parasol unit in Venice
This exhibition of paintings, sculptures, installations, multi-media and film brings together Iranian artists of different ages, who now live and work either in or outside of Iran. Having had a similar early education and grounding in classical Persian poetry they have all benefited from thought processes that are rooted in concepts such as the use of metaphor, openness, dialogue and figurative thinking.
Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia, San Marco, 2810 (Campo Santo Stefano)
9 May - 23 November
Promoter: Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art
http://parasol-unit.org

Wales in Venice: Sean Edwards
Known for his sculptural approach to the everyday, Edwards often begins with seemingly unrelated elements linked by autobiographical and cultural connections. These range from the 1970s shopping centre near the housing estate where he grew up to Springsteen’s album Nebraska, a Welsh quilting group, snooker, tabloid newspapers, and various found materials. Through investigative processes including time spent in local archives, museums and libraries, he gathers together images, stories, quotes, and clips. It is in the teasing out of these things in the studio, in isolating, abstracting, and bringing them together, that their political and formal resonance comes into play.
Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, Castello, 450 (Fondamenta San Gioachin)
11 May - 24 November
Promoter: Cymru yn Fenis / Wales in Venice
www.arts.wales