Biennale 9


country where various cultures need to coexist. Instead of highlighting a variety of


artists, the Iranian pavilion featured the work of just one artist, Bizhan Bassiri (b 1954), through a large-scale installation filling the entire space that aligns numerous bronze sculptures and where he has deployed his technical skills, however,


the


Books on Books (2007) by Liu Ye, oil on canvas, private collection


Although the city of Bangkok is no longer ‘the city of angels, the great city of immortals, the magnificent city of the nine gems,’


artist Somboon


Hormitientong (b 1949) nevertheless emphasises its present human qualities. Following the award-winning


pavilion presented at the 2015 Venice Biennale, there were high expectations for the Armenian pavilion. Bringing together three painters: Miro Persolja (b 1948), Rafael Megall (b 1983), and Jean Boghossian ( 1949) for the 2017 edition, the pavilion clearly is not drawing the crowds that it did in 2015. Mongolia participates in the Biennale with five artists questioning the future of the country that is caught between its traditional past and its economic potential and future, a theme that is somehow also recurrent in the pavilion of Azerbaijan, which emphasises diversity to create global unity. Such is the case in the work of Elvin Nabizade (b 1986), which assembles a variety of local and foreign music instruments to reach perfect harmony. A similar approach can be found in the works of the group Hypnotica,


illustrating the theme set


perfectly for the


pavilion Under One Sun. Te art of living together, which is a priority in a


overall piece does not draw much attention. Iraq on the other hand has come up with a sociologically interesting pavilion mixing ancient pieces from the National Museum of Iraq with modern and contemporary works by Jewad Selim (1919-1961), Shakir Hassan Al Said (1925-2004), Sherko Abbas (b 1978), Sadik Kwaish Alfraji (b 1960), Ali Arkady (b 1982), Luay


Fadhil (b 1982), Nadine


Hattom (b 1980), Sakar Sleman (b 1979) and Francis Alÿs (b 1959), all of whom explore the existing ties between Iraq’s Archaic (the title of the pavilion) to the present. As in previous recent editions, Syria again is taking part in the Biennale, this time under the title Everybody Admires Palmyra’s Greatness. Referring to Palmyra’s strategic position at the time of the trade routes between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf, and its recent troubled history, the pavilion brings together several artists, some of them from Italy, paying tribute in their own way to the city, as for example, where Angelo Dozio (b 1941) uses close-up photographs of the city’s ruins as a starting point. Similarly, Wong Cheng Pu (b 1960), representing the Macau pavilion, lets his mind wonder


from the city


through enchanted sceneries and mythology completing various sculptures of beings he encountered in his imagination.


If important centres from the Asian and Islamic art world (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia to name just a few) are not featured with a national representation or pavilion, the main section of Viva Arte Viva, curated by Christine Macel, nevertheless highlights some artists from these parts of the world. Her section brings together some well- established artists, as well as younger ones who had never been part of an international exhibition on this scale. Following his representation of


Taiwan at the Biennale back in 2003, Lee Mingwei (b 1964) makes visitors marvel with his installations, primarily with the one in the Arsenale, Te Mending Project,


which was first


executed in 2009. As customary with Lee Mingwei, the interaction with the audience is an important element of his work with, in this case, the artist sitting at a long table and mending pieces brought in by the viewers. Te artist works on clothes requiring alterations with colourful thread that is then placed on the adjacent wall, creating an installation per se. An artist who also emphasises the participation of the audience is David Medalla from the Philippines (b 1938), with A Stitch in Time, an itinerant project begun by the multi- media artist back in 1968. Visitors are invited to work on the piece, constantly adding new thoughts and directions to the fabric. If some artists emphasise the


IN THIS YEAR’S THEMED VENICE BIENNALE,


THE ART CAME FIRST VIVA ARTE VIVA,


participation of the audience, others favour the active participation of their members through ephemeral performances. Such is the case with the collective Te Play, founded in Japan in 1967, and still ongoing. Documenting their performances through photographs, one of their pieces is visible with Te Play have a House with the reconstruction of a new version of the small house built on a raft used by the collective to sail between Kyoto and Osaka in 1972, which they subsequently destroyed. Shimabuku (b 1969), also relies on


Te Play have a House (2017) by Shimabuku


nature in his art, but in a different way from Te Play. Fascinated by the environment, Shimabuku searches for poetic meanings in nature or creates experiments such as with ‘Te snow monkeys of Texas: do snow monkeys remember snow mountains?’, where monkeys were brought from Japan to Texas in order to investigate their memory. Also looking at nature is the Vietnamese artist Tu Van Tran (b 1979) with a large installation involving paintings, sculpture and film to raise awareness towards the abuse of nature by man through the exploitation of rubber. Of course, the artist indirectly points to the colonial period when France brought the rubber tree to Vietnam. Investigating another aspect of nature is Japanese artist Koki Tanaka (b 1975) through his performance ‘Of walking the unknown’ from 2017, where the artist walked from his home in Kyoto to the nearest nuclear power plant to highlight the uncertainty of our lives, as manmade inventions can potentially lead to disaster. Coming back to the more


Te Spectre of Comparison, works by Manuel Ocampo in Te Philippines Pavilion


traditional medium of painting and drawing are Ashram Touloub, Hao Liang, Sopheap Pich as well as Huguette Caland. Moroccan artist Achraf Touloub (b 1986) is relying on painting to experiment shapes, forms, volume with a heavy texture of oil painting, nylon and gesso. Hao Liang (b 1983), from China, on the other side, further explores his fascination with traditional Chinese painting by completing his version of shan shuei painting with views of Hunan, exemplifying that there are still new possibilities in traditional ink painting.


Although Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich (b 1971) is mainly known for his sculptures and paintings using local material such as bamboo, he is also an excellent


draftsman with the


continuation of his Pulse series that the artist initiated in 2012. Completed by using a stick of bamboo immersed in colour pigments, the magnificent drawings represent a new direction in Pich’s work towards abstraction. Te Venice


Biennale proves to be a


wonderful setting for the work of Huguette Caland (b 1931, Lebanon), an important figure in feminist art and an outstanding draftsman who is mainly known to art insiders. Covering a large span of her career, the pieces on view include works based on thread, mannequins as well as a marvellous series of drawings from the 1990s. Sculpture and installation are not


left behind with challenging works by Rina Banerjee, Yee Sookyung, Younes Rahmoun, Maha Malluh or Kisyhio Suga. Rina Banerjee (b 1963) in India, is a steady presence in the contemporary art scene, and features a new series of works triggering rich narratives through their titles, components and overall realisation. Using fragments of Korean vases to complete her over dimensional sculptures is Yee Sookyung (b 1963, Korea). With Translated Vase, the artist emphasises the diversity of stories featured in her piece bringing a new life and a new meaning to these previously discarded fragments. Younès Rahmoun (b 1975, Morocco) invites the audience to a more meditative piece with Taquiya Nor featuring 77 wool hats placed on a light and arranged on the floor. Based on his research, the piece alludes to the spiritual with various degrees of faith. Te Saudi artist Maha Malluh (b 1959) encourages the questioning of the place of women in Saudi society: presenting Food for Tought, she creates a ‘wall painting’ made of discarded audio cassettes compiled by religious leaders giving guidance to women as how they should behave in Saudi society. Without openly asserting her views, Maha Malluh has courageously created a very meaningful piece that is also visually very pleasing. Outside of the Arsenale, Japanese artist Kishio Suga (b 1944) creates a new version of his 1971 original installation Law of Situation that is placed on an invisible walkway of 10 stepping-stones in the water, giving the illusion of the stones floating on the water, which continues the artist’s endeavour of experimentation


within nature.


Among the pieces to be seen outdoors are installations by


UK) whose Takesada


Matsutani (b 1937, Japan), Zhou Tao (b 1976, China), as well as by Hassan Kahn (b 1975,


Composition for a Public Park was awarded the Silver Lion for a promising young artist. Takesada Matsutani’s major piece Venice Stream is in the Arsenale – an oversized graphite three-dimensional drawing. Part of the drawing was a cotton sack filled with sumi ink dripping on the material placed on the floor and to continue all throughout the duration of the biennale. Te Padiglione


Venezia, also


curated by Christine Macel, features some wonderful paintings by Marwan, Liu Ye, and Firenze Lai. Te work of the late Marwan (1934 Syria-2016 Germany) covers different moments of his career with the human figure and the head remaining at the centre of his practice. Based on the books collected by his parents during the Cultural Revolution, Liu Ye (b 1964, China) uses them as a source of inspiration when painting their cover


or pages from the novel. Te paintings of book covers or sections


from


important works in Western literature are beautifully executed, inviting the viewer to ‘step inside’ the novels. Firenze Lai’s paintings span over the past few years (b 1984, Hong Kong) focusing on the human figure. Depicting one or two individuals, the paintings display through their composition and colours a kind of melancholy and loneliness. Among


the striking indoor


installations are the ones by Liu Jianhua, Hassan Sharif and Abdullah Al Saadi. Liu Jianhua (b 1962, China) has been working with the medium of porcelain throughout his career, lately shifting from figurative towards abstract sculpture.


His Square


installation is made of steel plates on the floor with gold-glazed porcelain pools placed on them. Te size of the overall installation made the work based on Liu Jianhua’s skills all the more powerful. Following his passing away last year, a large installation paid tribute to the work of Hassan Sharif (1951-2016, United Arab Emirates) with ‘Hassan Sharif Studio’ presenting a multitude of his sculptures from 1986 onwards on shelves, allowing the viewer to immerse themselves in the artist’s studio. Abdullah Al Saadi’s (b 1967) approach is more sociological with the Al Saadi’s Diaries displaying the artist’s journals that he started in 1986. Changing the format of his journals


over time, this piece


highlights Al Saadi’s observations, sketches, and notes.


If the media of painting, drawing, sculpture and installation is popular this year amongst the artists from the Asian and Islamic world, a few of them work with video and sound such as Guan Xiao (b 1983, China), Kader Attia (b 1970, France), Nevin Aladag (b 1972, Turkey), Hale Tenger (b 1960, Turkey) and Kim Sung Hwan (b 1975, Korea). Among the collateral events of the Venice Biennale worth mentioning, video artist and photographer Shirin Neshat (b 1957, Iran), presents her latest body of works at the Museo Correr: a series of black and white close-up portraits with calligraphy ink referring to the various cultures of Azerbaijan and the video Roja, addressing the issues of home and displacement. Her work remains a continuation of her earlier endeavour with always matching quality. Te initial


starting point of the


Biennale, Viva Arte Viva, is excellent, as for once the art comes first and is not bound by a general theme. However, it is debatable whether it was worth sub-dividing Viva Arte Viva into smaller sections with nine chapters (the pavilion of artists and books, the pavilion of joys and fears, the pavilion of common, the pavilion of earth, the pavilion of traditions, the pavilion of the shamans,


the


Dionysian pavilion, the pavilion of colours and the pavilion of time and infinity). Setting primary themes or definitions as fundamental to bring artists together is precisely what Viva Arte Viva is opposing and it ultimately brings unnecessary limitations to the Biennale.


Te Biennale nevertheless remains


a reliable indicator of the pulsating contemporary art world with numerous artists not seen before propelled to the international stage. It is striking that presently artists from all continents are reflecting through their art on topics affecting us, trying to draw attention to what matters most in our world – namely human existence.


• Te Venice Biennale runs until 26 November, labiennale.org


NOVEMBER 2017 ASIAN ART


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