57th Venice Biennale
The Bridge: Cultural Diversity in Question
The Bridge: Cultural Diversity in Question, Official National Pavilion of Grenada,57th Venice Biennale, 2017 explores through an international selection of artists the positive impact of cultural bridging and exchange to the contemporary interests in a world of travel and trade.
The eight selected artists selected come from countries / nations surrounded by seas. The role of the sea in travel and exchange is explored and examined through the works of the artists in a diversity of mediums.
The eight projects tackle issues of globalization at turbulent times in a pavilion constructed to simulate “a home”, a hub to project coziness, warmth and encouragement to cultural dialogue. The space is divided into two distinct “chapters”, proposing a cluster dialogue between creative process and final production.
Chapter One: Conversation with Nature & Evolution examines the practices of four Central and Latin American artists, where Asher Mains (Grenada) proposes a personal reflection on the distribution of wealth in relation to economic power, while Milton Williams scrutinizes controllers of world economy and social dynamics through his obsessive collection of maritime canned product branded tins, juxtaposing metaphors of life and eternity, the fish alive and canned. Jason Decaires Taylor (UK, based in Canary Islands) creates a narrative of his world-class environmental underwater bio-aesthetics, while Alexandre Murucci (Brazil) explores the core of post-industrial truths and alternative realities.
Chapter Two: Conversations in War & Conflict delves into intimate diaries of four Middle East artists; Rashid Al Khalifa experiments in constructions that project a dichotomy of chaos and order, while Zena Assi (Lebanon, based in UK) conveys visual alphabets that reflect on individual aspirations and frustrations. Mahmoud Obaidi (Iraq-Canada) and Khaled Hafez (Egypt-France) probe cynically and ironically established cultural politics, biased history, autocracy, migration and identity politics through personal diaries.