National Pavilions at Venice Biennial...

12:03 a.m.

07/06/17 - Venice Art Biennial offers a platform for almost all countries in the planet to showcase the artistic productions that represent them. Some of those national pavilions deserve admiration, other are a big question mark and others will remain unnoticed. Here, some examples.

Italy's Pavillion: It displays three artist, but in this post we will only talk about one of them. With their artworks, the three of them seek to discover a new faith based in the transforming power of imagination, and a touch of magic too. The name of the exhibition, "Il Mondo Magico", was taken from a book by Ernesto de Martino, where the author investigates the purpose of magic from an anthropological point of view. From there artist Roberto Cuoghi displays a mysterious installation inhabited by antique traditions and modern languages, and where imagination is blended with magic. He turned this part of Arsenale in a factory of devotional figures, inspired by the Medieval text "Imitation of Christ", but in a re-interpretation of "technological materialism", as he defined it himself. He introduces visitors to an experimental process in which the molded mater exudes the magic force of the image, enhanced by the repetition of that image. Finally the installation shows the process, from the beginning to the end, of the construction or composition of a dead character, in words of the artist.

Imitazione di Cristo, by Roberto Cuoghi (2017)

China's Pavilion: In a space of exaggerated proportions, almost a hundred pieces are on display here. Many of them are objects that have to do with China's tradition, as Shadow puppetry, figures in gold and such... till a very particular character appears: a nosy. Once again, we see the mixture between the traditions and contemporary art. In this case, a figure with Oriental features spies through a hole. It feels like a very Duchamp attitude, like when we were asked to see through a series of peepholes in a wooden door in the artwork Etant Donnés. In this case, the man sees through the peepholes of what looks like a ship but we are deceived because his eyes are in fact what's projecting the image of the sea.

China's Pavilion - Venece Biennial

Germany's Pavilion: Winner of the Golden Lion as best pavilion, it presents a performance-installation. According to artist Anne Imhof, the aim is to portray the here and now, although the title "Faust" reminds us of J. W. Goethe's novel. However, for the unprepared visitor, this pavilion is closer to Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot". By the entrance we see cages, like those from an old zoo, with doberman dogs. Through a set of stairs we reach a space with three levels. The transparent floors allows us to see what's happening below. To the distress generated by that cube and the presence of objects like harnesses, tins and rags, we must add the performers that act individually or in groups. There's a certain brutality in the way they move their bodies but, at the same time, some of them generate tenderness. The visitor is deeply moved by this space and by what happens inside. There's also a surrounding sound that increases as the performance develops. There must be, of course, certain codes hard to understand: nothing is very clear. But the originality of the pavilion is undeniable and that makes it one of the most visited ones.

Faust, by Anne Imhof (2017)

Germany's Pavilion

Argentina's Pavilion: "El problema del caballo" is the title picked by Claudia Fontes for an immense structure of excellent beauty that occupies the entire space. This site specific made of resin and marble dust is completed with two children, one taming the horse and the other playing on the floor. The scale is so large that the curatorial tale is lost.

El problema del caballo, by Claudia Fontes.

Giorgia's Pavilion: This is the most moving of the national pavilions. Almost to the back of Arsenale, in a lost corner, Vajiko Chachkhiani represents his country. Although he also represents, maybe, the house of his childhood. It's an installation entitled "A Living Dos in the Midst of Dead Lions" and it consists of a small wooden house that looks abandoned. Inside we see the objects and furniture that once belonged to someone. But what's really impressive is that it rains inside the house. Loneliness and sadness emanate from the structure.