It's a first in the history of the Venice Biennale art show. Germany and France are to present their exhibitions in the other country's national pavilion, and the four artists representing Germany aren't German.
Biennale 2013 Venedig Ai WeiWei Pavillon Aufbau Totale Sperrfrist bis zum 29.5.2013 10 Uhr BITTE EINSCHRÄNKUNG BEACHTENImage: Ulrike Sommer
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GERMANIA - the bold letters are set in stone for all eternity at Germany's national pavilion at the Venice Biennale Art Show. For the first time in the exhibition's long history, however, the artists invited to present their work at the German pavilion will be showing at the French venue, and vice-versa.
Initiated by the two nations' foreign ministries, Germania is now Francia, while Francia becomes Germania in Venice to mark the 50th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty on Franco-German friendship. Twenty-eight countries have built their own national pavilions on the grounds of the Giardini. Each country presents one or more contestants with the aim of winning the Golden Lion award.
Germany last won the coveted award two years ago with installations by Christoph Schlingensief. Susanne Gaensheimer, director of the Modern Art Museum in Frankfurt and curator of the German pavilion in 2011, is also responsible for this year's show. She and her colleague Christine Macel of the Paris Centre Pompidou regard the exchange of pavilions as a challenge to the tradition of slotting artists into individual nations - a tradition many observers regard as antiquated.
Santu Mofokeng is showing pictures taken in the early 20th centuryImage: Santu Mofokeng
Gaensheimer is pleased to be given the opportunity to turn her back on the "dominance" of the building. All German post-war artists presented at the Biennale felt compelled to challenge the history of a pavilion remodeled by the Nazis in 1938.
Venice Biennale 2013
The Venice Biennale opens on June 1 with artworks from all over the world. For the first time, Germany and France have swapped pavilions.
Image: Ulrike Sommer
Summit meeting for contemporary art
"Il Palazzo Enciclopedico" - The Encyclopaedic Palace - is the motto of the 55th Venice Biennale encompassing over 150 artists from 37 different countries. Until the end of November, Venice will once again form the focal point of the contemporary art scene. A novelty can be found in the "Giardini" - the main exhibition location of the Biennale -, where France and Germany have swapped pavilions.
Image: Eva Luenig
France in the German pavilion
The German pavilion is somewhat of a heavy lump. Many artists have grappled with the monumental architecture and the history of the building that the Nazis once exploited for propaganda purposes. This year, France is a guest in the German pavilion. "La grande nation" has commissioned Anri Sala, a Berlin-based Albanian artist, to curate the house.
Image: Eva Luenig
Music meets art
French composer Maurice Ravel wrote "Piano Concerto for the Left Hand" in 1930. It was created after the First World War, during which many pianists had lost their right hands. Anri Sala explores the subject with his video installation "Ravel Ravel Unravel."
Image: Eva Luenig
Germany in the French pavilion
Over in the French pavilion, Germany is showcasing works by four international artists. None of the artists are German nationals. The internationalization of the art market is the focus for curator Susanne Gaensheimer, who first took over the German pavilion in 2011 when she won a Golden Lion, the festival's top award, with a homage to Christoph Schlingensief.
Image: Eva Luenig
Art scene superstar
Internationally acclaimed artist Ai Weiwei was happy to accept the invitation to represent Germany at the Venice Biennale. For Chinese people, the sculptor, protestor and installation artist is the voice of social consciousness. His work has long exposed societal problems in his home country. The Biennale has started without him - the dissident artist was not permitted to leave China.
Image: AFP/GettyImages
Wild sprawling cosmos
For the central entrance hall, Ai Weiwei designed a capacious installation made from over 800 stools. The work is symbolic of the relationship between the individual and society, but also for the wild, sprawling nature of Chinese megacities. Ai Weiwei was unable to travel to Venice to oversee the project so trusted, long-term colleagues coordinated the details with the artist via Skype.
Image: Ulrike Sommer
Tradition and modernity
"Wood is the closest material to people," Ai Weiwei said. The stools originate from different regions in China and are around 80 years old. Ai Weiwei sourced them from collectors and antique dealers. Each stool has been passed down from generation to generation. Since the Cultural Revolution, stools are no longer unique items made of wood, but have become mass-produced, synthetic objects.
Image: Ulrike Sommer
Inside Africa
Around 90 percent of the images we know of Africa were made by white people. Santu Mofokeng photographs the continent from an insider's perspective. Born in 1956, the South African grew up in Soweto and experienced the worst chapters of apartheid. Today he is one of the most significant photographers in Africa. His multi-facetted oeuvre takes an out-of-the-ordinary look at South African society.
Image: DW/U.Sommer
Light, shade and spirituality
"In the Sesotho language, shade doesn't mean the absence of light. It means something much deeper. Shade has something to do with aura, dignity and self-confidence," Santu Mofokeng said. Since the end of apartheid, he's been exploring the themes of religion and spirituality in South African society and his photographs are on display in Venice.
Image: Santu Mofokeng
Uncompromising aesthetics
Filmmaker Romuald Karmaker, son of a French mother and an Iranian father, has already taken part in the Venice Film Festival. Alongside his feature films, Karmaker produces documentaries and conceptual films. His radical aesthetic is reflected in his credo: "The easy way is always mined."
Image: Ulrike Sommer
Before the storm
In "Waiting for Sandy," blustering trees announce the coming of the devastating hurricane which hit the US in 2012. Romuald Karmakar filmed the event from a fixed position through a fly screen, creating a simultaneously abstract and threatening mood. The film is a supplement to the two other works by Karmaker on show in Venice, both dealing with radical ideologies.
Image: Eva Luenig
Wanderer between worlds
"I'll never exhibit in the Indian pavilion," Dayanita Singh said. "I'm pleased that the category of nationality doesn't play a role in the German pavilion." The Indian artist has spent most of her life traveling. She doesn't describe herself as a photographer, but as a "book maker." She has been producing photo books with the German publishing house Steidl in Göttingen for years.
Image: DW/U.Sommer
Between dreams and reality
"The power of photography doesn't lie in the single image. Rather, much more in the combination of images," Dayanita Singh believes. And that also applied to what is left out. In Venice, the artist is showing photo projections from her extensive archives. The focal point of the work is Mona, an Indian eunuch from Dehli who Singh has accompanied and photographed for many years.
Image: Eva Luenig
Art and nationhood
The 55th Venice Biennale is the strongest example yet of the internationally hybrid nature of the contemporary art market. The pavilion exchange between France and Germany is another example of just how outdated the concept of representating a nation has become. For many artists, the freedom of creative expression is more important than national identity.
Image: Ulrike Sommer
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In 1976, Joseph Beuys installed his legendary "Tram Stop" as a monument to human suffering. Sculptor Ulrich Rückriem hauled four gigantic and very heavy blocks of stone inside to offset the monumental dimensions of the single-room pavilion. Hans Haacke raised the bar when he broke open the building's floor in 1993, and left the pieces lying around like so much rubble. Visitors stumbled across an expanse of debris, literally losing their footing.
Germanyrepresented by Ai Weiwei
"I found it good not to have that architecture as a framework," said Gaensheimer . The exchange with France gave her the idea to work on an international level and "put the European theme into a global context." She acted on that impulse and invited four artists of international renown - none of whom are from Germany. The guest artists are China's Ai Weiwei, French-Iranian Romuald Karmakar, South African Santu Mofokeng and India's Dayanita Singh - and at first sight, there is little that links them. However, all four regard their work as political, and have close ties to Germany.
China's dissident artist Ai Weiwei admits he was surprised to be invited, adding that participation is a great honor. Germany plays a large role in his life, he says: "All of my first art works were shown there." Ai Weiwei is to display a new sculpture at the French pavilion, composed of 800 to 1,000 three-legged wooden stools. "These are antiques from different regions in China that we got with the help of experts and collectors. They are at least 60 to 100 years old, and not very many of those still exist," the Chinese artist said. Ai Weiwei will most likely not be allowed to travel to Venice for the exhibition. "Although I am regarded a free citizen, I still cannot leave my country," he said.
Romuald Karmakar's films deal with Germany and the GermansImage: Eva Luenig
Ties to Germany
Santu Mofokeng's ties to Germany are of a more technical nature. The South African artist and photographer, raised in Soweto, sends his photographs to a Berlin lab to be developed.
What is so special about his work, Gaensheimer says, is that he shows the perspective of the people who live in South Africa, and who experienced apartheid as a part of their everyday lives. In Venice, Mofokeng will show excerpts from his Black Photo Album, showing people who had their pictures taken in a portrait studio around the turn of the century. Other works the renowned South African has on display include "Graves," a photo series shot with a digital camera documenting how large international corporations take charge of entire stretches of countryside without shrinking back from disturbing graves in the process.
Dayanita Sinigh's photographs deal with her life as an Indian womanImage: Eva Luenig
An autonomous life
Film director Romuald Karmakar, born in Wiesbaden in 1965 as the son of a French mother and Iranian father, focuses on Germany and German history.
"I don't like the idea of nationalities; that is why I accepted the invitation," Indian photographer Dayanita Singh said.
Her projected photos and films are autobiographical. They reflect her life as a woman in Indian society and a traveling photographer. She has come to know and appreciate Germany. The Steidl publishers in Göttingen publish her books.
Dayanita Singh is pleased that nationality does not play a role in the German pavilion. For 10 years, she has told people over and over again to look at her work without wondering whether she is Indian, Pakistani or whatever, she says, adding that she still asks herself, "Why is my origin so important?"
