exhibition
German Pavilion opens at Venice Art Biennale
View of the Grand Canal in Venice: the international art world meets there every two years. Photo: Felix Hörhager/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The 59th Biennale opens on Saturday with a year delay – because of Corona. The artist Maria Eichhorn designed the German Pavilion.
The German Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale opened on Friday with a work by the Berlin artist Maria Eichhorn.
According to Katja Keul, Minister of State responsible for culture at the Federal Foreign Office, in times of war in the middle of Europe the Biennale is also a sign of peace, freedom and solidarity that art and culture can emanate from.
The 59th Biennale, which was postponed by a year due to the corona virus, opens its doors from this Saturday until November 27th. Along with the documenta in Kassel, La Biennale di Venezia is the most important exhibition for contemporary art.
For her work “Relocating a structure”, Eichhorn uncovered the structural substance and thus the history of the building, which was redesigned by the Nazis in fascist architecture. The building has repeatedly been the focus of artistic work in the past.
Guided tours to places of resistance
Curator Yilmaz Dziewior, director of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, also referred to the guided tours planned during the Biennale to places of resistance against the Nazis in Venice as part of Eichhorn’s work. This is also a counterpoint to the fascist structure of the German Pavilion.
One of Eichhorn’s plans was to relocate the entire building for the duration of the Biennale and to remove it from the site. According to her own statements, even the idea of it is now part of the work of art. “The temporary relocation of the German Pavilion is an artistic work that also exists without its physical execution,” wrote Dziewior in the catalogue, which, with comprehensive archive material on the development of the building and the discussion about it, is the third part of Eichhorn’s work.
The Biennale awards, including the Golden Lion for the best national contribution, will be presented on Saturday. Then the Düsseldorf artist Katharina Fritsch, internationally celebrated for her sculptures, will also receive the Golden Lion for her life’s work.