Chilean Pavilion – 55th Biennale di Venezia. June 1st – November 24th 2013

Venezia, Venezia

An installation by Alfredo Jaar for the Pavilion of Chile | Arsenale

Curated by Madeleine Grynsztejn

Preview: 29 – 31 May 2013

Alfredo Jaar’s immersive site-specific installation, Venezia Venezia is a call to examine how today’s culture, composed of increasingly complex global networks, can be adequately represented on a world stage.

The evocative experience of Venezia, Venezia begins with a confrontation with a photographic image of the Argentine-born Italian artist Lucio Fontana – an influential figure for Jaar – unsteadily poised amidst the catastrophic evidence of World War Two, while observing the ruins of his studio in Milan in 1946. Beyond this image of destruction and turmoil, steps guide the viewer to an arching passage, recalling one of Venice’s iconic bridges, and into the physical embodiment of a historic utopia and conceptual opportunity for reconstruction. 

Through a subtle orchestration of space and time, movement and stasis, and the visible and the invisible, the Pavilion’s environment at once becomes a critique of the volatility of national representation within a contemporary global context, and at the same time, a fleeting encounter of hope and historical rebirth.

Jaar’s expansive commitment to art in diverse cultural, political, and public contexts, has led him to create some of the most profound works over the past three decades, prompting reflections that unsettle conventions and complacency. His continued concern for questioning social and political quagmires through in-depth analysis has resulted in some of Jaar’s most acclaimed works including his Rwanda Project (1994 – 2000), a vehement commentary on the lack of international attention during the genocide.

Venezia, Venezia Catalogue

Jaar’s presentation at the Biennale will be accompanied by a major publication edited by Adriana Valdés and published by Actar (Barcelona). It will feature essays by 18 prominent, international authors from different fields of work and thought, including political and philosophical thinkers, critics, theorists, art historians and curators. Their contributions consider Venezia, Venezia in its critical context, as well as recent global developments and the volatile conditions of contemporary art practice.