Dreamlike Venice might be best known for its gliding gondolas, handsome facades and teal canals, but it’s also the site of one of the most important events in the cultural calendar, La Biennale di Venezia. First established in 1895, the Venice Biennale is often likened to an ‘art world Olympics’, where artists exhibiting for their countries compete for the prestigious Golden Lion Prize. This year, 331 artists from 90 different nationalities respond to the 2024 theme, ‘Stanieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere,’ exploring the nature of boundaries – ranging from national borders to sexuality and identity – across music, dance, theatre, art, architecture and cinema. Not sure where to begin your exploration? Read on for our guide to visiting the National Pavilions at the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale in 2024…
France Pavilion
This year, French-Martinican visual artist and poet Julien Creuzet is the main exhibitor at France’s Pavilion. Located in the Giardini – Venice’s large, leafy waterfront public gardens - Creuzet’s show is influenced by Caribbean, African, Indian and European cultures. He works with sculptures, videos and texts, utilising a range of materials, including objects and waste that washed up on the shores of his native island, Martinique. Creuzet’s installations explore themes of pollution, pesticides, decolonisation, slavery, memory and migration, which are brought to life with poetry. Many of the other National Pavilions are located nearby, so why not wander around and see what you discover?
Brazil Pavilion
Another must-see in the Giardini at the Venice Biennale is the residency at the Brazil Pavilion (renamed the Hãhãwpuá Pavilion, in the Patxohã language). For the first time, the artistic creations of Indigenous peoples are given pride of place in the exhibition: ‘Ka'a Pûera: We are Walking Birds’. This residency addresses topics including dispossession, marginalisation and the violation of rights, centred around the theme of capoeira, the ancient martial art and the name of a symbolic forest-dwelling bird. The Tupinambá community is also exhibiting in this pavilion, along with representatives of Indigenous communities from the Brazilian coasts. Telling a fascinating and urgent story of Indigenous resistance to colonisation, the artists highlight the need for action against climate change, citing environmental degradation on their ancestral lands.
Image by Maria Shneerson/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Canada Pavilion
Over at the Canada Pavilion (also in the Giardini), Paris-based Canadian artist Kapwani Kiwanga utilises over seven million glass beads from nearby Murano in her work. Kiwanga’s ambitious project is an atmospheric assembly of strung-together beads, ranging in hue from lapis lazuli to daffodil yellow. Her curtain-like network of beads tells the macro history of European trade - they were once used as a currency for gold - as well as the history of Venice, globalisation and the political implications of materials. Kiwanga juxtaposes these tiny beads with sculptures created from raw materials that the beads were traded for throughout history.
Nigeria Pavilion
To reach the Nigeria Pavilion at this year’s 2024 Venice Biennale, hop on a water bus (vaporetto) heading for the vibrant arts district of Dorsoduro. Nigeria’s Pavilion is curated by Aindrea Emelife, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Museum of West African Art in Benin City. Responding to the theme ‘Nigeria Imaginary,’ exhibiting artists explore different visions of Nigeria's past, present and future to reflect upon colonial legacies and an optimistic, youth-focused future. Highlights include New York-based Toyin Ojih Odutola’s vibrant pastel portraits, Onyeka Igwe’s audio-visual series centred on the hangovers of colonialism, and Precious Okoyomon’s radio-tower-turned-instrument, which transmits atmospheric conditions as sound.
Image by Jérôme Galland
Grenada Pavilion
Last up on our guide to visiting the Venice Biennale is the exhibition at the Grenada Pavilion. Like Nigeria, Grenada’s Pavilion is held in a unique location in the heart of the city: the Renaissance palace, Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello. Titled ‘No Man is an Island’, taken from a quote by John Donne, a 16th-century English poet, the exhibiting artists tackle the central Biennale theme head-on. Among these are Jason deCaires Taylor, whose works depict humans in ecosystems in which they could not survive; Suelin Low Chew Tung, whose art considers cancer an invading force and ‘foreigner’ in her body; and Frederika Adams, who reflects upon the power of natural forms in her plant photographs, and how plants are the planet’s dominant life force.
Written by Hannah Whitehall | Header image by Jérôme Galland
