Over the past few weeks, e-flux has been filling our inboxes with announcements of this or that pavilion, this or that parallel program, all slated to open on or around May 29, when the 54th Venice Biennale finally opens (at least to those who snagged an invite.)
Poster for the Central Asia Pavilion, 54th Venice Biennale, 2013
Don’t get us wrong, we’re stoked! We can’t wait to see the Georgian pavilion Kamikaze Loggia, with work by Thea Djordjadze, Bouillon Group, and Gela Patashuri with Ei Arakawa and Sergei Tcherepnin; curator Dina Nasser-Khadivi‘s parallel project, “Love Me, Love Me Not: Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbors”, which includes among its “neighbors” Kutluğ Ataman, Taus Makhacheva, and Slavs and Tatars; or selections from the Pinchuk Future Generation Art Prize, whose top award went to Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, who was recently named a nominee for this year’s Turner Prize. We’re especially to intrigued to see how WINTER descends on the Central Asia Pavilion, for which curators Tiago Bom and Ayatgali Tuleubek and “Artistic Adviser” (and our long time art-crush) Suzanne Winterling have brought together eight artists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The theme borrows from Kazakh poet Abay Qunanbayuli - “Don’t let winter feast in our steppes” – but we’re more intrigued to see how the art holds up in the sweltering, salty Adriatic summer.
Of course, it’s about as easy to get lost and confused in our inboxes as it is to get lost and confused in actual Venice (though there’s less chance we’ll just scrap our plans and get gelato.) ArtReview steps in to help with The Venice Questionnaire; each day leading up to Venice, they will publish an interview with a different artist. For their first interview, they take on Jesper Just, who will be representing Denmark with a new five-channel video installation, Intercourses.
