Despite a call for calm, a combustible mix of politics and protest punctuated the preview week across the pavilions
Every two years the art world assembles in Venice for a sprawling celebration of visual arts at which countries “compete” against one another for the prize of best national pavilion. It is a barometer of taste, a shop window for artists and the industry’s biggest get-together – once described by the art historian Lawrence Alloway as an “orgy of contact and communication”.
This year, 99 countries are involved, including Somalia and Qatar, which are among seven first-time participants in an event that was overshadowed by the death of its curator, Koyo Kouoh, just over a year ago. She wanted an event that focused on “enhancement” with a main show called In Minor Keys. Despite the call for calm, a combustible mix of politics and protest punctuated the preview week. The activist group Pussy Riot turned up on site to object to Russia’s inclusion and a strike on Friday in protest at Israel’s inclusion caused several pavilions – including the UK, Austria and France – to close their doors.
Here is a roundup of the key takeaways.
Austria and its naked speedboat riders, the Danes and their porn stars worrying about men’s sperm counts, Richard Prince’s Girlfriends pictures appropriated from old biker mags. Some of the women watching didn’t much like it – or at least asked where all the men were. The feminist activist group Femen’s involvement with Pussy Riot also involved their signature topless protest.
