Page 39 - La Biennale di Venezia issue of World of Art Magazine

FRANCE
Deep see blue surrounding you / Vois ce bleu profond te fondre
DEEP SEE BLUE SURROUNDING Commissioner: Institut français with the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture.
YOU, PHOTOGRAPHIE DE Curator: Martha Kirszenbaum.
PLATEAU, 2019, COURTESY Exhibitor: Laure Prouvost.
MARTHA KIRSZENBAUM
Venue: Giardini

The cornerstone of Laure Prouvost’s artistic project DEEP SEE
BLUE SURROUNDING YOU /VOIS CE BLEU PROFOND TE FONDRE
is a fictional film. It takes the form of an initiatory journey,
a joyous saga filmed over the course of a road trip through
France — from the Parisian suburbs to the north of France, from
the Palais du Facteur Cheval to the Mediterranean Sea — and
finally to Venice. The film, which is full of dialogue and idioms
that are representative of Laure Prouvost’s work, is performed
by a dozen characters encountered throughout the journey, of
different ages and backgrounds, with specific performance skills,
including magic, dance and music. A sculptural installation in
situ enriches and develops the themes of the film, inside and
outside of the Pavilion, using typical processes of the artist’s
practice, such as leftover objects from the film, resin, clay, glass,
plants and water vapor. Performances punctuate the life of the
Pavilion, interacting with the architecture and objects on display.
The liquid state is a source of inspiration for the concept of
DEEP SEE BLUE SURROUNDING YOU /VOIS CE BLEU PROFOND TE
FONDRE, offering a metaphorical immersion into the stomach
of a tentacular animal, and echoes the very context of Venice, a
floating city built on water and by water. (excerpt)

GHANA
Ghana Freedom
NON ORIENTABLE PARADISE Commissioner: Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
LOST, CCBB BELO HORIZONTE, Curator: Nana Oforiatta Ayim.
BRAZIL 2017 Exhibitors: Felicia Abban, John Akomfrah, El Anatsui, Lynette Yiadom Boakye, Ibrahim Mahama, Selasi Awusi Sosu.
Venue: Arsenale

Entitled “Ghana Freedom,” after the song composed by E.T. Mensah
on the eve of the independence of the new nation in 1957, the
pavilion examines the legacies and trajectories of that freedom by
six artists, across three generations. Rooted both in Ghanaian culture
and its diasporas, the pavilion exhibition will include large-scale
installations by El Anatsui and Ibrahim Mahama; representation and
portraiture by prominent photographer Felicia Abban and painter
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye; and a three-channel film projection by John
Akomfrah and a video sculpture by Selasi Awusi Sosu.
Situated in the Artiglierie of the historic Arsenale, the Ghanaian
pavilion is designed by Sir David Adjaye. Each artist will exhibit in
elliptically-shaped interconnected spaces, which draw inspiration,
and are plastered with locally-sourced earth, from classical
structures in Ghana. In addition, the Ghana Pavilion exhibition
will include a publication with a preface by President Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-Addo; foreword by Honorable Catherine Afeku, and
contributions by Sir David Adjaye, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Nana
Oforiatta Ayim, Okwui Enwezor, Taiye Selasi, Hakeem Adam, Adjoa
Armah, Mae-ling Lokko, Kuukuwa Manful, Larry Ossei-Mensah, and
Mavis Tetteh-Ocloo. There will be a series of platforms and “Ghana
Freedom” will travel from Venice to Accra. (excerpt)

WORLD of ART 39