Page 47 - La Biennale di Venezia issue of World of Art Magazine

MAL AYSIA
Holding Up a Mirror
IVAN LAM, ONE INCH Commissioner: Professor Dato’ Dr. Mohamed Najib Dawa, Director General of Balai Seni Negara (National Art Gallery of
MULTIMEDIA INSTALLATION Malaysia), Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia.
VARIABLE DIMENSIONS Curator: Lim Wei-Ling.
2019 (SKETCH)
COURTESY: IVAN LAM Exhibitors: Anurendra Jegadeva, H.H.Lim, Ivan Lam, Zulkifli Yusoff.
Venue: Palazzo Malipiero, San Marco 3198

This year Malaysia marks a historic event with the country’s first
ever National Pavilion at the world-renowned 58th International
Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Four eminent Malaysian
artists – Anurendra Jegadeva, H.H. Lim, Ivan Lam and Zulkifli Yusoff
– will represent the country in an exhibition titled Holding Up a
Mirror. Malaysia joins 90 other countries who will be participating
at Biennale Arte 2019. The country’s inaugural National Pavilion
marks a momentous occasion for Malaysia and Malaysian art
and highlights the development of the country’s contemporary
art practices. It celebrates the beauty and complexity of
Malaysian culture and its recently renewed cultural identity and
transformation. The Malaysia Pavilion’s commissioner is Professor
Dato’ Dr. Mohamed Najib Dawa, Director General of Balai Seni
Negara (National Art Gallery of Malaysia), Ministry of Tourism, Arts
and Culture of Malaysia, and its curator and project director is
Lim Wei-Ling. Malaysia has recently opened a new chapter in its
history. Driven by the desire for democratic change, the people
of this vibrant multiracial, multi-ethnic, and multicultural nation
were galvanized to come together and peacefully bring about an
unprecedented change in a historic national election. (excerpt)

MALTA
Maleth / Haven / Port - Heterotopias of Evocation
OUTLAND_VINCE_BRIFFA_VENICE_
BIENNALE_05: OUTLAND, 2019; Commissioner: Arts Council Malta.
INSTALLATION DETAIL: VIDEO Curator: Hesperia Iliadou Suppiej.
PROJECTIONS, AUDIO, WATER. Exhibitors: Vince Briffa, Klitsa Antoniou, Trevor Borg.
ACTORS: PAUL PORTELLI, SANDRA Venue: Arsenale
MIFSUD; STILLS PHOTOGRAPHY BY
JON WRIGLEY. ©VINCE BRIFFA
The exhibition will verge between reality and fictitious invention,
to provide a contemporary and immersive re-interpretation of
our timeless need of seeking a Haven (Maleth), most strongly
experienced in times of crisis. The Phoenician word Maleth
evokes the primeval origins of Malta’s existence and literally
translates to Haven/Port, a quality inspired in all who traversed
the waters of the Mediterranean through the ages and that
still withstands today. Bringing together artists from the
Mediterranean, the artworks are specially commissioned pieces
engaging the audience to complementary semantic enquiries
into contemporary conditions of homeness/ (un)homeness
spreading beyond predisposed mental notions of assigned tactile
borders. Arts Council Malta executive chair Albert Marshall
says: “The exhibition will look at Malta’s unique position within
central Mediterranean culture from historical, mythical, and
contemporaneous viewpoints with newly commissioned works
that promise to be a curiosity-driven voyage of discovery and
self-reflection. Additionally, a series of artist led educational
workshops are planned. This is a uniquely important gesture by
the Malta National Pavilion, one that asserts the importance of
public engagement in the arts across all ages”. (excerpt)

WORLD of ART 47