Biennale 11


Pedrosa, Samia Halaby (b 1936, Palestine) was honoured for her contribution to abstraction, and Korean artist Kim Yun Shin (b 1935) is also gaining broader recognition. At almost 90 years old, Kim Yun Shin’s pioneering work in sculpture is being acknowledged following a career that spans more than 50 years. An excellent overview of her sculptures in stone, as well as in wood, is included in the exhibition. Among the national pavilions independently


curated by each


nation, the Egyptian pavilion represented


by Wael Shawky


(b 1971) stands out, attracting long lines during the initial days of the event and expected by many to win the Golden Lion of the Biennale. Drama, a 45-minute video, is set in the late 1870s and recounts in eight segments


the revolt of nationalist


Ahmed Urabi (1841-1911) with his following against imperial forces, and its subsequent crush in 1882 by the British. Wael Shawky considers 1882 a pivotal year since it marks the beginning of the British occupation that would continue for several decades. In the film he wrote, directed, and composed with the actors singing in Arabic, the artist re- examines the notions of power, colonisation, encouraging us to question the way history is written. In a beautifully choreographed film staged like a modern opera that pays great attention to detail in terms of costumes and sets, Wael Shawky also raises the question of accountability of past historic events. Representing the Saudi pavilion is


Manuel AlDowayan (b 1973), who through her practice has been extremely active to raise attention to the condition of women in her home country. Frequently incorporating the voices of women from participatory workshops, Shifting Sands: A Battle Song echoes the voices of women in Al Khobar, Jeddah, and Riyadh in a recording that surrounds her large-scale installation of desert rose petals. Te songs performed by these women offers a sharp contrast to the silkscreened words on the petals that refer to the misconceptions of international media towards Saudi women. In this installation, Manal Al-Dowayan pursues her endeavour to encourage Saudi women towards self-consciousness and empowerment. An unexpected and intriguing


contribution is that of Abdullah Al Saadi (b 1967) in the UAE pavilion. Less known by the global audience than Hassan Sharif (as one of the five pioneering conceptual artists of the UAE), Abdullah Al Saadi is an artist for whom the world is his studio. Taking us on a journey through the wilderness, we follow the artist’s experience


wandering through


nature through his poems, diaries, and drawings of maps and captivating sites. All these items are kept in colourful tin boxes of various sizes, numbered and dated, and subsequently placed in larger chests. Opening the boxes, performers provide information and share stories with the audience, making that installation almost an immersive one to explore memories of our collective history. Addressing our senses through an


immersive presentation is Koo Jeong A (b 1967) in the Korean pavilion. Te idea behind the project is to create a sensory experience for the audience by having one large bronze sculpture diffuse a perfume throughout the national venue. Te perfume is the result of a broad survey, where through an open call prior to the Biennale, the artist had asked people to translate their


WATCH


Artist Yuko Mohri and curator


Sook-Kyung Lee


discuss this year’s Biennale


Filipinas in Hong Kong (1995) by Pacita Abad, acrylic on stitched and padded canvas, Art James Collection Dubai


and represents Lee Bae’s first piece completed in granite. All the featured works connect to the video projected at the entrance entitled Moonhouse Burning,


bringing together the


community of Lee Bae’s home town for a ritual based on the lunar calendar. Shahzia Sikander’s Collective


Behaviour is a thorough examination of what the artist (b 1969, Pakistan) has created since rising to fame with her piece Te Scroll in the late 1980s. Highlighting various aspects of her practice ranging from miniature painting, drawings, glassworks, and digital animation to mosaics and sculpture, the show brings to the forefront important topics such as identity, gender issues, feminism, and colonialism among others. Conceived as a retrospective, the exhibition will subsequently be on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2025. Te Fondazione Querini


WATCH


Yuan Goang-Ming discuss


Every Day War


memory of Korea into scents. Te artist subsequently created data using such memories as a grandparent’s house, fog, scent of people, etc, that would allow for the creation of a perfume reflecting the scents found in the survey. If the initial concept is intriguing


and interesting, its


implementation actually proved to be challenging, as sadly no actual scent could be noticed (at least by this visitor): thus, the large pavilion (beyond two sculptures) was left to its architectural structure, with the audience sadly missing out on any sensory experience altogether. Japan’s pavilion also addresses the


audience’s senses with the site specific installations Com+pose and Moré Moré (Leaky) by Yuko Mohri (b 1980). Te artist acknowledges the influence of Fluxus on her work, which relies primarily on experimentation as the basis of her practice. A continuation of her previous


exploration of our environment, the artist created a gigantic kinetic sculpture based on everyday objects, such as hose pipes, buckets, umbrellas, bottles to collect rain water from the pavilion’s open ceiling, which is subsequently transferred through a system set up by the artist that ultimately functions to create sounds. Te other installation metaphorically addresses life, by monitoring decomposing organic matter while inserting electrodes into fruits and converting their moisture into electric signals. Te fruits’ internal state shifts constantly, modulating the pitch of the drone and the intensity of the light. Ultimately, what remains of the fruits and vegetables will be used as compost in the Giardini, creating a sustainable ecosystem where everything in our surroundings can be recycled. With Hallow and Broken: a State of


the World, Gülsün Karamustafa (b 1946) provides an outspoken view on all the crisis presently affecting the world. As such, the Turkish pavilion features plastic columns that instead of their historical symbol of power now stand as hallow remnants of a once majestic past. Te installation is completed by large Murano-glass chandeliers representing the three


artist, he has over the past years explored the fragile status of his country amidst growing national and international


uncertainties. Tus,


videos like Everyday War, Everyday Manoeuver, and Te 561st Hour of Occupation, all of which echo the artist’s preoccupations. Another collateral event bringing together artists from the same geographical area or origins is South West Bank: Landworks, Collective Action


and


The Mapping Journey Project (2008-2011) by Bouchra Khalili, video installation, 8 single-channel videos, colour, sound


main religions, Christianity,


Judaism, and Islam. Te barbed wire surrounding the chandeliers express the tensions and conflicts between these communities. Although the pavilion appears to present a stable and healthy world, a closer look reveals it to be hallow, broken and in conflict, an observation the artist feels is true in too many parts of the world. Among other national participant


countries, Taiwan is also included in the official collateral events of the Biennale with a solo exhibition by Yuan Goang-Ming (b 1965). Considered Taiwan’s foremost video


Sound, a group show featuring approximately 20 artists from Palestine and their allies. Considering the international tensions generated by the conflict in the Middle East, it was initially unsure if the exhibition could be staged at all. Te group show triggered great interest among visitors eager to know more about intimate narratives primarily dealing with belonging and survival. A wonderful collateral event is La


Maison de la Lune Brûlée by Korean artist Lee Bae (b 1956), whose practice is based on the use of charcoal. With the main venue covered in hanji paper, the exhibition room turns into a gigantic canvas, driven by a monumental site-specific piece from his brushstroke series and surrounded by smaller ones. A four- and-a-half-metre black sculpture standing in the middle of the room refers to the Korean academic tradition of transmitting knowledge


Stampalia features the collateral event A Journey to the Infinite, an homage to the late Korean abstract painter Yoo Youngkuk (1916-2002), who has so far been overlooked and has not received the same attention as the artists from Dansaekhwa. It marks the first solo exhibition in Europe devoted to the work of Yoo Youngkuk. Among the exhibitions not


officially part of the Biennale, but staged during the event, is a most magnificent exhibition devoted to the late MF Husain (1915-2011). Rooted Nomad paintings,


brings drawings,


together and


photographs emphasising how the artist translated into his practice what he experienced and saw on the streets of India. Addressing colonialism,


displacement, and


poverty, MF Husain, a founding member of the Bombay Progressive Artists Group, relentlessly covered the country’s complex panorama and narrative


through a career spanned more that


Husain’s later works created controversy,


than six decades. especially his works


relating to religious subject matter, which caused several lawsuits to be filed against him and his eventual self-exile from 2005 until his death in 2011. Other exhibitions worth visiting


include Reza Aramesh (b 1970, Iran) with his wonderful marble sculptures in the church San Fantin opposite the Teatro della Fenice, Yu Hong (b 1966, China) with a site specific painting installation at the Chiesa della Misericordia, Zeng Fanzhi (b 1964, China) with a selection of paintings and works on paper demonstrating the artist’s mastery of painting, and the solo exhibition devoted to the late Chu Teh-Chun (1920-2014), who had all too often has been overshadowed by his fellow artist Zao Wou-Ki. With the proliferation of biennales,


triennials, and art fairs throughout the world, the Venice Biennale remains an outstanding venue translating the pulse of the art world. Are artists forerunners,


identifying


issues, trends, and longings before we do, or should they rather be seen as a vehicle articulating them? Trough this year’s theme, Everywhere,


Foreigners


which


Shifting Sands: A Battle Song (2024) by Manal Al-Dowayan, multimedia installation, Tussar silk, ink, and acrylic paint, dimensions variable, sound, multichannel, 41’38”


• Until 24 November, Venice, labiennale.org


discusses issues such as migration, displacement, exile, colonialism, and identity – all issues that will increasingly have to be addressed and resolved in the future – this Biennale has made each and one of us leave the venue with a broader lens when looking at the world.


ASIAN ART | SEPTEMBER 2024


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