64 Q&A with Curator Massimiliano Gioni 66 Middle Eastern Pavilions 78 Collateral Events The Middle easT aT The 55 th 64 e may be the youngest artistic director in the Venice Biennale’s 110 year-old history, but his age, says Mas- similiano Gioni, does not denote the presentation of younger artists in the exhibition. “Being Contempo- rary also means living in a synchronic world in which the past and history seem constantly accessible,” says the Italian curator. His 160-artist show, The Encyclopaedic Palace , draws inspiration from Marino Auriti’s mid-1950s project of an enormous skyscraper that would house all of mankind’s achievements and discoveries. “It’s an immersive universe, so once you enter, the show is enveloping – the combination of professional artists and eccentric figures emerges and that tells us about our under- standing of art,” he explains. The exhibition has a strong Surrealist bend to it along with a heavy psychological element. “It starts with Carl Jung after all,” explains Gioni. “And as a curator, you have to be a psychologist too.” Gioni, who has curated the 2006 Berlin Biennial, the 2010 Gwangju Biennale and co-curated Manifesta 5, is also Associate Director of New York’s New Museum. “Curating,” he says, “is a form of writing – it’s a lot more physical and less linguistic though; a little similar to a collage of different ideas.” He has frequented the Middle East through Art Dubai and Sharjah Biennial editions and in February 2012 curated Japanese artist Takashi Mu- rakami’s first show in the region, Ego , at Doha’s Al-Riwaq Exhibition Space. Being appointed artistic director of the Venice Biennale “comes early in my career,” says Gioni, who plans on dedicating more time to writing books and possibly shaping a new museum collection. “And there’s still Documenta!” Myrna Ayad: How did you arrive at the theme of your show, The Encyclopaedic Palace ? Massimiliano Gioni: I’d seen and heard about it before and it was something that stuck in my mind. By May (2012), I had decided on the show’s title and theme and then put together reading lists and groups and assigned a team of people to research artists and help me expand the exhibition’s intellectual background. MA: The Encyclopaedic Palace features works by 160 artists, which are not all Contemporary. Was this intentional? MG: I’ve organised this exhibition in a way where different works from different periods of time can co-exist. I’m curious to build a show that is an intellectual and existential adventure in which people come to see art- works, not for their economic or decorative value, but for their storytelling power. I like works that tell stories and The Encyclopaedic Palace does that. I’d also like people to see the relationship between the images we have in our minds and those that surround us in this hyper figurative society. MA: I’ve read that you install artworks in your head at night. MG: It feels like I’ve been running a marathon at the speed of a 100-metre sprint since I was appointed in January 2012. And given the budget, it’s as though you can’t afford sneakers, you have to run in your slippers instead. A lot of things change for practical or financial reasons, and you have to keep adjusting. Ideally, I like to know where each single artwork will be, but this is a 10,000 square metre space and the fact that it’s in the middle of water doesn’t help! MA: How does this differ from other shows you’ve curated? MG: The Venice Biennale involves a lot of expectations and it’s almost a city within a city: with 88 national Pavilions and the international exhibition, the show becomes a citadel of art and a microcosm on its own. It’s really one of the world’s few exhibitions that takes place on an almost urban scale, and its scale – paradoxically – makes it less monolithic: the Biennale is really a polyphony of voices in which different ways of being contempo- rary are shown next to each other. Everyone – the artists, the curators and the many different audiences – come to Venice with their own perspec- tives, knowledge and criticism. That turns the Biennale into a sort of rite of passage; it has to be criticised, destroyed even; it has to be consumed, so we can move on and divert our attention elsewhere. MA: What has it been like working with the artists? MG: It’s really amazing to see how generous artists are when it comes to the Biennale. The conditions are always difficult and the budget always too tight, but they just want to be part of the history of the institution. I am incredibly grateful to them. MA: What’s the pressure like? MG: I had heard a lot about dealers asking you to put artists in the show, of course that pressure is there, but I haven’t felt it that much. There’s the financial pressure – with every choice you make, you have to find the money and resources to include every single piece. The fundraising para- dox allowed me more independence and freedom and that’s exciting because you work for a specific goal and usually people understand that. But things can always spiral out of control. And then there’s my own inter- nal pressure, which I put myself under. I hope to do something unusual and I hope I’ll succeed. In my show, there are many artists whose work was never included in the Biennale before for example – this was an additional challenge because I try to work with people I haven’t worked with before. MA: In December 2011, Charles Saatchi wrote a scathing article for The Guardian – The Hideousness of the Art World – which detailed his dismay with the “super-rich art buying crowd [being] vulgar and depressingly shallow” at the last Venice Biennale. What are your thoughts on this? MG: Art has always been in bed with money. I think what is strange is when a system gets created whereby only that type of art or sensibility gets promoted. I’m not calling myself a ‘market rejector’ of Contemporary art; many artists in my show are art world stars – Richard Serra and Carl Andre for example – but they are people who are influential and are part of a strong economy. What I’m more interested in, however, is people going through the show and not thinking about the price of the artwork and where to buy it, but rather, where the ideas can take you. MA: You’ve interacted with the Middle Eastern art scene. What’s your take on it? MG: As far as art from the MENASA regions is concerned, I’ve got Bouchra Khalili and Yüksel Arslan in my show; I wanted to include Akram Zaatari but he’s representing Lebanon and I think being showcased in a Pavilion is a lot more image-enriching for the viewer. The Middle Eastern art scene is quite exciting for a combination of reasons – there’s more money coming and going from that region along with the attention that politics, for good or for bad, is attracting. On many levels, the last Documenta captured the energy in Middle Eastern art in a very interesting manner. My next show will be on the region and I’m in the process of working on it. Photography by Giorgio Zucchiatti. Image courtesy Venice Biennale. 66 ollowing on from its much-lauded Golden Lion prize-winning debut participation in the 12th Venice Architectural Biennale (2010), where the pavilion – under the theme Reclaim – was awarded best national participation, Bahrain re- turns to Venice in 2013 for its inaugural participa- tion in the art biennale. Also held under the com- missionership of HE Sheikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa, Minister of Culture of the Kingdom of Bahrain, In a World of Your Own presents the works of three artists; Berlin-based Mariam Haji, Bahraini Waheeda Malullah and Lebanese Camille Zakharia (who also, incidentally, had his works in the accompanying brochure to Reclaim as a pho- tographic essay, though not exhibited at the pa- vilion itself ). These three artists come together to explore culture and identity and, in doing so, the unique social fabric of the arts scene in Bahrain. “The title of our exhibi- tion, In a World of Your Own , echoes both the curatorial theme of this year’s Biennale as well as the artistic preoc- cupations of the selected art- ists,” explains curator Melissa Enders-Bhatia. “The artists in Bahrain’s inaugural Pavilion focus on subjective experi- ences and create imagery of In a World of Your Own bahrain their own realities within their artistic practices.” In one sense, the theme of the Pavilion seeks to act as an extension of main biennale curator Massimiliano Gioni’s Encyclopaedic Palace , which focuses on the creation of individual universes and cosmologies by artists through external images, in turn ques- tioning the validity of these very images. Choosing artists based on “artistic merit as well as their con- tribution to the development of Contemporary art practices in Bahrain,” Enders-Bhatia explains that the three artists were selected after a closed call for portfolio submissions and, in their work for the Pavilion, each explores the rapid modernisation, urbanisation and resulting social and economic heterogeneity of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Presenting imaginary landscapes, Haji’s drawings will question traditional modes of thinking as well as cultural stereotypes, a series of personal confrontations that represent her internal struggles and their relation to issues such as gender, spirituality and social norms. Meanwhile, Malullah’s staged photographs re- flect on isolation, rules and expectations within a conservative society, at times playful, at times serious, yet brought together by a sense of in- dividuality and self-reflection. Finally, Zakharia’s collage art will focus on themes of belonging and memory, drawing from his archive of some 20,000 photographs. Compulsively reconfigur- ing these images, his works explore geographi- cal and personal dislocation. “The idea was to Artists: Mariam Haji, Waheeda Malullah and Camille Zakharia Commissioner: HE Sheikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa, Minister of Culture CurAtor: Melissa Enders-Bhatia theme: In a World of Your Own LoCAtion: Artiglierie, Arsenale “It is fair to say that many countries in the Gulf, Bahrain included, have experienced rapid and far-reaching changes to their more traditional ways of life over the last 50 years.” Melissa Enders-Bhatia emphasise that even a small Gulf state such as Bahrain, with a population of little more than 1.2 million, is not a homogenous entity, and that artists here experience very different social and cultural realities,” explains Enders-Bhatia. “While it is difficult to make short and generic statements, it is fair to say that many countries in the Gulf, Bahrain included, have experienced rapid and far-reaching changes to their more traditional ways of life over the last 50 years, and this development has not always been evenly spread.” The diversity of Bahrain’s art scene is echoed by Commissioner HE Sheikha Mai. “We would like to present the strength of Bahrain’s Con- temporary art scene, highlighting its particular contexts and realities,” she explains. “While there is much talk about globalisation, it never fails to strike me how important the local context is for artists. It provides the point of departure for each one in defining themselves personally as well as providing the framework within which they can develop and work as artists.” With exhibition design by Ludovico Cen- tis, Matteo Ghidoni and Michele Marchetti, the country’s art participation has big shoes to fill after the splash it made at its first architecture biennale, and there could be a certain pressure to follow up with a similar bang. “Earning a Gold- en Lion is defi- antly a tall order and we are very proud that Bah- rain received this honour in 2010,” admits Enders-Bhatia. “However, the architecture and art worlds are quite different and I think one can’t go into an international arena like the Ven- ice Biennale expecting to receive such an hon- our.” Rather, what In a World of Your Own seeks to accomplish is to provide, in the works of these three diverse artists, a snapshot of the vibrant artistic life of the island of Bahrain. Coming from three different backgrounds, yet each intrinsi- cally linked to life in the Kingdom, Haji, Malullah and Zakharia each bring to the table unique views that provide different, complimentary and diverging visions of a whole. “Participating at the Venice Biennale has been a personal dream of mine for many years, and I am very happy that it is finally happening in 2013,” concludes HE Sheikha Mai. “I am particularly pleased at being able to provide this international platform to artists in Bahrain.” Clockwise from left: Camille Zakharia. (Detail). Care Of . 2013. Photocollage on paper. 51 x 38 cm; Waheeda Malullah. (Detail). A Villager’s Day Out . 2008. Digital print on paper. 110 x 73 cm; Mariam Haji. (Detail). Freedom from the Muse 2011. Charcoal and varnish on paper. 200 x 150 cm. All images © the artists. PAVILION ullet-proof cars, soldiers and bomb-protected accommodation are not elements that one nor- mally associates with preparing for the Venice Biennale. For curator Jonathan Watkins though, with the support of The Ruya Foundation for Contemporary Culture in Iraq (RUYA), these were some of the challenges in assembling the Pavilion of Iraq. Through ex- tensive research and visiting the studios of artists living within Iraq, Watkins selected 11 artists spanning two generations and sev- eral Iraqi regions, to come together under Welcome to Iraq iraq For Iraq, participating in 2011 at the 54th Ven- ice Biennale marked a return to the art event af- ter a 35-year absence. Last edition’s Acqua Ferita/ Wounded Water presented works by internation- ally acclaimed artists such as Ahmed Alsoudani and Halim Al-Karim. This, year however, takes a very different approach, with the curator and commis- sioner working closely to select artists specifically living within Iraq. Spanning different media and artistic styles, they comprise photographer Jamal Penjweny, cartoonist Abdul Rahim Yassir, painters Bassim Al-Shaker, Cheeman Ismaeel and Kadhim Nwir, sculptors Furat Al-Jamil, WAMI (Yaseen Wami, Hashim Taeeh), Akeel Khreef and video artists Ali Samiaa and Hareth Al-Homaam. Watkins worked closely with Chairman of RUYA Tamara Chalabi, alongside researchers and experts within Iraq, to scour the country for artists. By hosting educational events for groups of over 90 artists and visiting studios in Baghdad, as well as the provinces of Babylon, Kurdistan and Basra, they systematically sent out word. With no art- ist database and little to no government support, Chalabi, together with RUYA, organised a lunch in September 2012 to appeal to those active on the Iraqi arts scene, including heads of academic and fine art institutions and gallerists. By September, they were receiving submissions via email and Facebook, and when Watkins arrived in Iraq in De- cember, a large event was organised where he and Welcome to Iraq Chalabi explained the concept of the Venice Bien- nale and invited more submissions. “It’s really like starting from zero, for no one knows what’s going on inside Iraq,” says Chalabi. “In essence, there are two groups of Iraqis – the Diaspora and those who still live there. I grew up with this notion of exile and nostalgia, but there’s a different reality inside. This is problematic in itself and that’s what I found interesting – what is Iraq and the identification of that in an artistic context.” Another unique aspect to this year’s Iraq Pavil- ion is the lack of a pre-determined theme, but rath- er one developed after meeting the artists. “Quite quickly I gained an overview of art practice in Iraq,” says Watkins, “and through making studio visits, I began to develop a curatorial line which placed emphasis on improvisation – ‘making do and get- ting by’ – on extraordinary ingenuity in difficult cir- cumstances.”The Pavilion’s venue has also, to some extent, played a role in the space’s final format. “The Ca’ Dandolo is a domestic space divided into a number of rooms,” explains Watkins. “The variety of work we have in the exhibition suits this kind of environment – the show will be more about life as it is lived inside Iraq, rather than a showcase for a particular artistic proposition and this feels timely. It’s great that these artists now have a chance to communicate with a wider world.” The fact that each artist lives in Iraq, presenting a different face of the country’s art scene promises to bring something fresh to the Biennale. “People easily buy into stereotypes and propaganda fed to them by the media,” comments participating filmmaker and sculptor Al-Jamil. “These are power- ful instruments to influence people’s opinions. We would be very lucky if we were able to alter only a few of these perceptions – I hope that visitors to the Iraq Pavilion will see and feel that there is nothing pretentious about the works; rather, they are sincere to the core and, in turn, hopefully this will make for positive change to any pre-conceived prejudices.”This is a sentiment echoed by fellow art- ist Penjweny, whose series Saddam is Here bridges a transition from journalism to conceptual art through photography and film. “As individuals, we are part of a society in which we seek to challenge policies made to segregate individuals from their own identities. All the figures in my work Saddam is Here have a shared history of fear – this is something we should overcome to- gether, and art has a leading role in this.” The Pavilion of Iraq has relied on fundraising to see it through to actualisation. With a limited budget and no gov- ernment support, backed in- stead by Iraqi business spon- sors inside the country and through members of the Diaspora, Welcome to Iraq is a celebration of artists who are “incredibly generous and gracious,” says Watkins. “They were as candid about their circumstances as they were hopeful for a better future in which they can be more in touch with the outside world. They work in terrible isola- tion, but keep on going.” With the support of RUYA, and in the face of difficult circumstances, logistics and financial support, the Pavilion promises to show a vibrant, yet honest, view of the arts scene in one of the world’s most war-torn countries. “Ruya is an extraordinary combination of individuals who are committed to a better future for Iraq,” says Watkins. “We are together in the face of adversity, which is not just about making another show, but one that is very loaded with expectation (from in- side and outside Iraq) and political difficulty. There is no way that this exhibition could take place with- out the intelligence, connectedness and political independence of an organisation like Ruya. I can- not stress that enough.” Facing page: Clockwise from top left: Chairman of RUYA Foundation Tamara Chalabi and Curator of the Iraq Pavilion Jonathan Watkins; WAMI. Untitled. 2013. Cardboard and mixed media. Variable dimensions; Jamal Penjweny.(Detail) Saddam is Here. 2010. Photograph on archival paper. Variable dimensions. All images courtesy the artists and RUYA Foundation, Baghdad. Artists: Abdul Raheem Yassir, Akeel Khreef, Ali Sami- aa, Bassim Al-Shaker, Chee- man Ismaeel, Furat Al-Jamil, Hareth Al-Homaam, Jamal Penjweny, Kadhim Nwir and WAMI (Yassen Wami, Hashim Taeeh) Commissioners: Tamara Chalabi (Ruya Foundation for Contemporary Culture) and Vittorio Urbani CurAtor: Jonathan Watkins theme: Wecome to Iraq LoCAtion: Ca’ Dandollo, San Toma Website: www.theiraqpavilion.com Welcome to Iraq is a celebration of artists who are “incredibly generous and gracious.” Jonathan Watkins PAVILION he Middle East has been mak- ing waves at the Venice Bi- ennale in recent years with a number of first-time national Pavilions. This year Kuwait joins Bahrain for the honour, with inaugural national participation under the commissionership of Mohammed Al-Asoussi, Na- tional Council of Culture, Arts and Letters. Featuring a pres- entation on two major works by sculptor Sami Mohammed and a new photographic series by Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Nation- al Works “disassembles sym- bols of grandeur in paused/ post-glorious times in an at- tempt to reinterpret Kuwait’s modernisation project,” explains curator Ala Younis. This marks Al-Ghoussein’s second participation at the Venice Biennale – his first being at the UAE’s inaugural Pavilion in 2009. As a first-time national participation, there is also a certain amount of pressure in artist selection. “Does one choose local or regional artists?” agrees Younis, “who do you choose from Kuwait? The older generation and pioneers, or do you look to a very young Contemporary representation of Kuwait?” In the selection of Mohammed and Al-Ghoussein there promises to be a balance of genres, genera- tions and artistic styles brought together by a mu- tual exploration of the country’s history. The theme itself was inspired by two large-scale statues by Mohammed, depicting Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah (1951–1965) and Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah (1965–1977), which form the body of Mo- hammed’s presentation. Best known for his bronze sculptures depicting human defiance and suffer- ing, including the haunting Sabra and Chatila , the two works depicted in the Pavilion stand out as his National Works kuwait only two pieces made of ‘real’ people. Too large to move from their location in Kuwait the sculptures will be represented at the Pavilion through sketch- es, photographs taken by the artist, and a bust and model hand used in their creation. Seeing a photograph of Mohammed stand- ing alongside his creations, Younis was struck by the difference in size between man and bronze, alongside the complex and intriguing history be- hind them. “He had created the head in Kuwait but had to move it to London in order to build the rest of the body,” explains Younis. “I was intrigued by this idea of having a fragment and completing the body elsewhere. In addition to his size in relation to his creations, I also found it interesting that all this was commissioned by a privately owned compa- ny, a newspaper, in fact, not by – or even for, – the state.” Permanently installed within the premises of the newspaper’s HQ, many within Kuwait are una- ware of the statues’ existence – although they very nearly cost Mohammed his life. “During the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Iraqi soldiers tried to remove the statues but being unable to do so, shot them full of bullet holes,” she says. Seeking Mohammed with the intention of making him create a similar statue of Saddam Hussein, the artist eluded them, yet the bullet holes in the statues remain to this day upon the artist’s wish as testament to their turbulent history. Meanwhile, several of the photographic works of Al-Ghoussein’s new K-Files series explore iconic sites within Kuwait that have played seminal roles in the country’s development. Some are derelict and abandoned, others in a process of transfor- mation, while some are still in use. Sites include schools, stadiums, the Kuwait stock market, par- liament, architectural projects, oil industrial sites and palaces. The name itself, K-Files , takes a step away from Al-Ghoussein’s previous series due to the prevalence of found material he has been col- lecting on his family as part of the larger project he hopes to create out of it, including numerous files he has been finding and purchasing. This Artists: Sami Mohammed and Tarek Al-Ghoussein Commissioner: Moham- med Al-Asoussi, National Council of Culture, Arts and Letters CurAtor: Ala Younis theme: National Works LoCAtion: Palazzo Michiel, Sestriere Cannaregio, Strada Nova portion of the works in K-Files also stands apart from previous series in that they are not shot sequentially nor ‘anonymously’, but rather, each image portrays a different significant and specific site. Where previous works also often prominent- ly showcased Al-Ghoussein, here are hauntingly beautiful sites that at first appear abandoned and utterly devoid of human presence – whether an old palace abandoned during the invasion, com- plete with chandelier, or the Kuwaiti parliament. Peer closer, however, and in each image, almost in a cameo appearance, Al-Ghoussein is present – sitting quietly or perhaps standing half-hidden from our vision. This lends the pieces a certain quirkiness and gives each site an instant hu- man warmth. “I sought to balance the locations I chose,” he explains. “I looked at several sites – both old and new – in order to present a selection of locations that are all significant to Kuwait’s history and development.” “In a sense, the Kuwait Pavilion examines the size of one person in relation to the mega projects or mega events they are juxtaposed against – things that have happened to the nation, or large-scale monuments to the nation,” says Younis. “These works can be National Works in the sense of ‘made for or by the nation’, or patriotic, devotion for the nation’ – all of the sites in Al-Ghoussein’s photo- graphs, like Mohammed’s sculptures here, have a place in Kuwait’s history.” The Kuwait Pavilion seeks to firmly place itself in the context of other na- tions through an exploration of the elements that have come together to give it its distinct identity. Indeed, national participations can be a tricky thing, particularly in a world where identities and nationalities are melding at a furious pace, and where the ‘world fair’–type format of the Biennale can teeter dangerously close to being obsolete. “There has been a lot of focus on the Middle East- ern art scene, which has both provided us with opportunities, but has also run the risk of stere- otyping a lot of artists into being ‘Middle Eastern artists’ in order to appeal to Western buyers,” muses Al-Ghoussein. “I am Arab, but I don’t want to be labelled an ‘Arab artist’. I’d rather be an ‘artist’ who is Arab.” In this sense, the works on display in the Pavilion go further than presenting ‘Kuwaiti artists’, but rather, present two artists known on the inter- national art circuit more for their work than their nationality, brought together to explore a new face of Kuwait and a celebration of its history, previously unseen by non-Middle Eastern audiences. The exhibition will be accompanied by a detailed catalogue, compiled by Younis, includ- ing “documents and found material on interesting events, turning points and the roles of institutions in Kuwait’s’ art scene and modernisation project,” she explains. “Like the exhibition itself, these will be brought together to present key stories that de- scribe the spirit of the times and the way Kuwait is positioned, and continues to position itself, in rela- tion to the world.” Clockwise from top left: Tarek Al-Ghoussein. K-Files_117 . 2013. Light box. 60 x 90 cm. Image courtesy the artist, the National Pavilion of Kuwait and The Third Line, Dubai; Sami Mohammed. (Detail) Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem 1972. Bronze. Variable dimensions. Image courtesy the artist and the National Pavilion of Kuwait; Sami Mohammed. Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem . 1989. 0.35 cm slide. Image courtesy the artist and the National Pavilion of Kuwait. PAVILION “In a sense, the Kuwait Pavilion examines the size of one person in relation to the mega projects or mega events they are juxtaposed against.” Ala Younis 72 ebanon’s history with the Venice Biennale has been rocky, much like the country’s own past. It first participated with a national Pavilion in 2007 with Foreword , curated by Saleh Barakat, Sandra Dagher and Vittorio Urbani and featuring artists Fouad Elkoury, Lamia Joreige, LEbanOn Walid Sadek, Mounira Al-Solh and Akram Zaa- tari – the latter returns to the biennale this year for a specially commissioned solo show, curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath. The country’s 2013 participation marks its sophomore return after the national Pavilion was cancelled in 2011 due to lack of funding and political insta- bility and after skipping the 2009 edition. After months of research into their curatorial theme and artist selection, Fellrath and Bardaouil chose Zaatari, whom they had previously worked with in 2010 for Told/Untold/Retold , the groundbreak- ing group show at Doha’s Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. “The Venice project builds on Akram’s previ- ous work, including This Day At Ten from 2012” explains Bardaouil. “It transcends the locality of Lebanon and is a construction of a historical Letter To A Refusing Pilot narrative. It’s a comprehensive installation and an evolution of what he’s done in the past; at the same time, it’s a new departure in his artis- tic trajectory. It’s very strong, and audiences both in Venice and internationally will relate.” A multimedia installation, Letter To A Refusing Pilot, occupies 350 square metres in the Arsenale – prominently positioned as the first national Pavilion adjacent to the artistic director’s exhibi- tion – and according to the curatorial statement, is “conceived as a theatre of limitless possibilities [...] where strangers from different worlds find themselves on stage face-to-face.” The statement continues: “Most fascinating about the project is how it oscillates between reality and myth, weav- ing elements of autobiography and collective memory, of rumour and historical fact.” The title is a reference to Albert Camus’s Letter to a German Friend , from which Zaatari extracts and examines the author’s “I should like to be able to love my country, and still love justice” plea. Not only is this Pavilion eagerly anticipated after Lebanon’s long absence from the Venice Bi- ennale, it also coincides with the country’s 70th anniversary of independence in November. “Akram is one of those artists that never left Lebanon, so his selection to represent his country at Venice sends a signal of encouragement and inspiration to other artists to continue to strive for international recog- nition,” says Fellrath. “A solo presentation with work by someone like Akram, who has a certain expe- rience, makes a strong statement for the arts in Lebanon and hopefully will inspire future genera- tions of artists.” Commissioners the Association for the Promo- tion & Exhibition of the Arts in Lebanon (APEAL) have taken on the often-difficult task of fund- raising for the Venice project. “The country may be in shambles, but the people behind APEAL feel it is very im- portant to overcome those challenges and create a platform to pro- mote art,” says Fellrath. “The organisation’s pres- ident Rita Nammour has been particularly instru- mental in reaching out to donors, and she has created an environment that allows us and the artist a completely inde- pendent Pavilion, where there is no intervention from the government or anyone else. It’s quite phenomenal and unique to this region.” Nammour says the Pavilion’s location this year will boost Lebanon’s profile. “This will rep- resent [Lebanon] the best way it can be repre- sented and we hope it will get the attention it deserves,” she says, explaining that the presenta- tion will have a universal appeal. “Everybody can find themselves in the subject that Akram, Sam and Till are tackling.” As Lebanon takes part in the world’s oldest biennial in the world for a second time, talk of a permanent Pavilion has inevitably come to a head. “I hope there will be one,” says Nammour, “but this is the job of the Ministry of Culture. We, as APEAL, help with all the means we have, but it is for them to make this decision – and I really hope they will.” Facing page: Clockwise from left: Akram Zaatari. Image courtesy APEAL; Curators Till Fellrath and Sam Bardouil. Image courtesy Art Reoriented, Munich/ New York. © Heidi Gutman Photography, New York; Akram Zaatari. This Day at Ten . 2012. Exhibition view at Magasin, Grenoble. Photography by Blaise Adilon. Image courtesy Art Reoriented, Munich/New York. Artist: Akram Zaatari Commissioner: Association for the Promotion and Exhibition of the Arts in Lebanon (APEAL) CurAtors: Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath theme: Letter to a Refusing Pilot LoCAtion: Pavilion at Arsenale “Akram is one of those artists that never left Lebanon, so his selection to represent his country at Venice sends a signal of encouragement and inspiration to other artists to continue to strive for international recognition.” Till Fellrath PAVILION 74 he Pavilion of Turkey returns in 2013 with a solo artist show, this time presenting the new video series Resistance by Ali Kazma (page 124). Curated by the artist’s long-time col- laborator Emre Baykal, the show’s conceptual framework focuses on the functions and restric- tions of the body, the discourses, techniques and management tactics developed for the body to- day, and the interventions that simultaneously release it from its own restrictions, yet also serve to restrict it in order to control it. The 54th Venice Biennale in 2011 marked another solo show for Turkey, with artist Ayşe Erkmen’s Plan B , a water-purifying system that sprawled across the entire space of the Pavilion, cleaning water that was then eventually returned to the canals of Venice. Dealing with concepts of process and flow (from blood in the human body to the flow of money across borders), there is a certain parallel between Erkmen’s work and that of Kazma’s, although, on the part of curator Baykal, one that is purely coincidental. “I am a great admirer of Erkmen’s work,” says Baykal, “and a similar interest in processes, especially those related to labour and production can be found at the heart of Resistance turkEy Kazma’s work, though with different strategies and usually with the use of a single medium. I did not seek such parallels during my decision process, and the previous exhibitions at the Pa- vilion were not part of my curatorial concern.” Resistance , then, is in itself a result of a proc- ess, for it has evolved from Kazma’s precious series Obstructions , which was a result of an earlier series called Today . “I wished to explore the possibility of an authentic experience in the world today,” explains Kazma. “In a world where everything is codified, I wanted to see if it is still possible to have a unique experience with the world and to communicate it in a way that is meaningful, and if, in doing so, this can be a resistance point against the equalisation, the ‘horizontalisation’ of everything – this was im- portant to me.” Taking over a year to film – and still in progress at the time of going to press – the videos in the series include a variety of differ- ent settings, from a film set in Paris to a prison in Sakarya (Turkey), a school and hospital operat- ing room in Istanbul, a tattoo studio in London, a theatre hall in New York, and even a medical research laboratory in Lausanne. Through these different settings, Kazma explores the various processes that both construct and control the human body, along with processes of labour and production – both internal and external. “I wanted to focus exclusively on the body for this series,” he explains, “and open it up in order to go deeper and explore a new space based on the Artist: Ali Kazma Commissioner: Istanbul Foundation of Culture and Arts (IKSV) CurAtor: Emre Baykal theme: Resistance LoCAtion: Artiglierie, Arsenale Website: www.pavilionofturkey.iksv.org “In one sense, Resistance is not finished. As an ongoing series, I will probably work on it for a few more years.” Ali Kazma issues of the body in contemporary society. The biennale provided me with a good platform to concentrate my focus on this.” Kazma and Baykal first worked together in 2001, when the then-director of the Istanbul Biennial exhibited some of Kazma’s early works at the biennial’s seventh edition. A series of col- laborations followed, with Resistance marking “a new episode in which we both felt eager to take the challenge of initiating a major project that was much more demanding in content and scale,” explains Baykal. Featuring 15 new works shown as a single installation, while some of the videos within Resistance are set in Istanbul, the international scope of the work, along with Kazma’s oeuvre , does not specifically explore Turkey per se . “Rather than positioning myself in line with the representational obligations and expectations based on national participation, I preferred to take this platform as a large and intense international context,” explains Baykal. “I wanted to focus on a new and comprehensive project by a single artist whose artist progress correlates with the achievements of Contempo- rary art in Turkey today.” To select the locations and subjects for Resistance , Kazma and Baykal brainstormed some 60 different ideas before nar- rowing them down to a final selection, resulting in 19 different sites. From Arizona to Lausanne, what each location has in common, explains Kazma, is that “they are institutions or people who are at the top of their game; they are the limit of experience.” Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), the Pavilion of Turkey is sponsored by FIAT and held un- der the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Repub- lic of Turkey, as well as with the contribution of The Promotion Fund of the Turkish Prime Ministry. Accompanied by a book pub- lished by Yapi Kredi Publications, the nature of Resistance as a series of individual video works, allows it to adapt to the space provided in the Arsenale. “In one sense, Re- sistance is not finished,” explains Kazma. “As an ongoing series, I will probably work on it for a few more years. When it comes to the Pavilion itself, I like to work with what I have, and just as the work evolves, so too you can evolve alongside it and the space you’re presented with. You can show more works or you can show less – my video works allow me to try new combinations of works and presen- tations, which keeps me engaged.” Seeking to create a balance in which the “space and the work coexist without one overwhelming the other,” concludes Baykal, “we worked closely to draw a conceptual framework that would allow us to open a new channel within a very large and impressive body of work that Ali has already produced to date.” Clockwise from top: Ali Kazma. (Detail) Resistance (still from the studio of Alex Reinke). 2013. Video. Photography by Selen Korkut; Curator Emre Baykal. Photography by Haduey Cangokce; Artist Ali Kazma. All images courtesy IKSV. PAVILION hen Mohammed Kazem (page 132) was once lost at sea during a fishing trip, little did he know this incident would lead him to the 55th edition of the Venice Biennale. Unseen by his companions, the Emirati artist accidentally fell into the water and it was about a half hour before they returned to rescue him; in that time frame, the inspiration for his Directions series was unknowingly born. Kazem presents Walking on unitEd arab EmiratEs Water this year, a concept he had long written a proposal for and finally realised alongside Gug- genheim curator Reem Fadda, in what marks the UAE’s third participation at the international event – and its first time presenting a solo exhibition. “There’s so much that unravels every time I look at Mohammed’s work,” says Fadda. “It’s very deep and very conceptual and at this point in time, I have grasped a lot but I continue to learn about his practice.” Walking on Water takes root in the Directions series, an ongoing body of work that Kazem began producing in 1997 and which uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) as its main tool to make up multimedia artworks that survey pieces of wood thrown into the sea drifting off to nowhere. “When you fish, you draw a net and enter its coordinates into a GPS,” explains Fadda. “The GPS became a way for him to document his existence, his loss in an open terrain and a way to overcome the fear of crossing borders and elements. It’s very symbolic and quite beautiful to use technology to overcome these obstacles.” Walking on Water Kazem revisited Directions for the 2006 Singapore Biennale, creating a model of 360- degree maquet