United States of America
Jeffrey Gibson, Exterior view of "The Space in Which to Place Me" in the United States Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, 2024.
France
View of the installation "Attila cataract your source at the feet of the green peaks will end up in the great sea blue abyss where we drowned in the tidal tears of the moon" at the French Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Céline Kopp and Cindy Sissokho, Julien Creuzet, 2024.
Julien Creuzet
The French pavilion invites the audience to a wild underwater party with a soundtrack inspired by the Caribbean diaspora. Poet, composer and multidisciplinary artist Julien Creuzet used water as a bridge between his Martinique heritage, his French roots and the city of Venice. In this installation, Creuzet tried to create a poetic and imaginary universe by bringing together divine figures, sea creatures and his Caribbean ancestors.
The rooms are filled with otherworldly sculptures that resemble oceanic forests of seaweed or coral, while hanging pieces create a labyrinth of movement in a space decorated with waxy drips and multicolored filaments.
The accompanying soundtrack and animated videos draw on Creuzet’s usual practice of collecting, combining and recombining. The electronic soundscapes move rapidly between dance tracks and cave echoes as the videos shift between different underwater worlds. The works are anchored by a series of poems that cover the walls, offering a space to contemplate a liberating vision of the future.
England
Curated by Tarini Malik John Akomfrah , “Listening All Night To The Rain”
An installation view of Canto VII from John Akomfrah's "Listening All Night To The Rain" in the British pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, 2024.
Venice (Vatican National Pavilion)
Holy See
With My Eyes
Curated by Chiara Parisi and Bruno Racine, the Holy See presents "Through My Eyes" with works by Maurizio Cattelan, Bintou Dembélé, Simone Fattal, Claire Fontaine, Sônia Gomes, Corita Kent, Marco Perego & Zoe Saldana and Claire Tabouret.
Corita Kent’s installation at the Vatican’s national pavilion is perhaps the most eagerly anticipated pavilion this year for several reasons: The pavilion, which the Pope is scheduled to visit on April 28, is located in an active women’s prison on the island of Giudecca; it features a mural created by Maurizio Cattelan on its exterior.
At Casa Reclusione Femminile Venezia, it’s a sensitive tour led by inmates who are experts on the works on display and helped make some of them. Visitors must lock up their phones when they arrive, then are guided through brick corridors and interior spaces not usually open to the public.
Simone Fattal’s tiles with poems contributed by prisoners; Corita Kent’s serigraphs printed with protest messages in the cafeteria; a wall of 23 framed children’s paintings by Claire Tabouret, depicting prisoners as teenagers or children; Marco Perego’s short film about a woman, played by Zoe Saldaña, who experiences emotionally as she leaves prison; and Sonia Gomes’ textile works, a hanging from the ceiling of a chapel, reflecting the lives of prisoners. This emotional experience, enhanced by the guides’ personal impressions of the pavilion, allows for empathy with the women living in prison and those generally despised by society.
Australia
“Kith and Kin” installation curated by Ellie Buttrose .
Archie Moore, view of the installation "kith and kin" in the Australian pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, 2024.
In the Australian pavilion, artist Archie Moore presents “Kith and Kin,” a moving tribute to Australia’s First Peoples and a spotlight on the enduring, negative consequences of colonialism. In this quiet, moving, and serene setting, complete with a reflecting pool and all in black and white, Moore covers the walls and ceiling with a hand-drawn family tree chart. Spanning 65,000 years and 2,400 generations, the chart shows connections to Kamilaroi, Bigambul, English, and Scottish lineages. This vast, meticulously drawn map offers a striking vision of connections between generations and peoples, resembling a constellation of ancestral names.
At the centre of the space, more than 500 stacks of papers represent coroners’ inquests into the deaths of First Nations Australians who died in police custody. Despite making up 3.8 per cent of the population, First Nations make up 33 per cent of Australia’s prison population. The black reflecting pool on the floor of the space encourages contemplation of this torrent of injustice and interconnectedness.
