53rd Venice Biennial – Making Worlds// Fare Mondi

Photo: Installation shot - Renata Lucas at the Giardini

About the 53rd Venice Biennial – Making Worlds// Fare Mondi:
Overall I think it was a strong Biennial. Daniel Birbaum did a good job! One could definitely see the amount of research behind the project. The Arsenale and the Palazzo delle Esposizioni at the Giardini were representing the times we are going through. Nothing was too flashy or following trends. It was art – just pure and simple art, coming from all over the world and showing all different ways of viewing the world.
Below is my selection of what to see apart from the Arsenale and the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, however in the end I probably only saw 20% of the whole Biennial – you know the pit stops for lunch at nice fish restaurants are always a must!

Don’t miss:
- The Collectors, by Elmgreen and Dragset. Curators of Denmark and Nordic Countries (Finland, Norway, Sweden) – to see it with the Performance was definitely one of the best things in the whole Biennial.
- Palestinian Pavillion at Giudecca.
- Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, Loop by Roman Ondák – Amazing!
- Mexican Pavilion: Teresa Margolles.
- Portuguese Pavilion: João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva.
- USA – Bruce Nauman, Topological Gardens: I didn’t see the exhibition at the Giardini, but the one at Universitá Ca’Focari was one of the best things of the Biennial.
- Mona Hatoum, Interior Landscape at Fondazione Querini Stampalia – Beautiful. A note for the works that were hiden throughout the foundation’s collection.
- Pavilion Italo-Latino Americano: Carlos Garaicoa, Sandra Gamarra, Mariano Gastón Ugalde, Alberto Baraya, Luis Roldán, Ramsés Larzábal, Fernando Falconi, Nils Nova, Darío Escobar, Paul Ramírez Jonas, Raquel Paiewonsky, Federico Herrero
- The Fear Society. Pabellón de la Urgencia. A project from the region of Murcia
- Distortion at Fondazione Gervasuti - Oliver Clegg, Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, Mat Collishaw, John Isaacs, Alastair Mackie, Tim Noble & Sue Webster, Jamie Shovlin, Gavin Turk

Go if you can:
- Australia, MADDESTMAXIMVS – Planet & Stars Sequence 2009. Shaun Gladwell
- Germany – Liam Gillick
- Republic of Korea, Haegue Yang
- ADACH Platform for Venice, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage

Don’t even bother:
- Brazil: Luiz Braga + Delson Uchôa – I actually don’t dislike Luiz Braga’s work , but the whole thing was just a big question mark for me.
- Italy – Oh my! Just horrible.
- United Arab Emirates – Lamya Gargash

I could not see many of the pavilions because of the huge lines! USA, France, UK etc.
The prizes were all well deserved I think, apart from the Silver Lion for a Promising Young Artist that went to Nathalie Djurberg from Sweden. I really didn’t like her work at all! With so many great artists at the Arsenale they picked this artist that had a very bad surreal installation piece in the Palazzo delle Espozioni in the Giardini. I can even say it was one of my least favorite pieces in the whole exhibition.

Golden Lion for best National Participation went to the United States of America with Bruce Nauman’s Topological Gardens. Commisioned by: Carlos Basualdo, Michael R. Taylor
Golden Lion for the Best Artist of the exhibition Fare Mondi // Making Worlds went to Tobias Rehberger from Germany at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in the Giardini
Special Mention to Lygia Pape (Brazil, 1927 – 2004; Corderie in the Arsenale)
Special Mention to Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset - Curators of Denmark and Nordic Countries (Finland, Norway, Sweden)
Special Mention to Roberto Cuoghi - (Italy, Palazzo delle Esposizioni in the Giardini, giardino Scarpa)
Special Mention to the artist Ming Wong, exhibiting in the Singapore Pavilion