Performa 13 to Introduce a "Pavilion Without Walls" in November

This week, Performa 13 announced its new "Pavilion Without Walls" program, a riff on the pavilions of the Venice Biennale, and also gave a more in-depth look at its 14 artist commissions and eight premieres. This year's biennial involves 108 artists from 15 countries, taking place during the first three weeks of November in various locations around the city, from theaters to artist's studios in Queens to bathhouses.

Rashid Johnson's commission, Dutchman, will re-imagine the 1964 play of the same name in the Russian & Turkish Baths. The production is designed to be a physical and intellectual challenge for audiences as they move through the heated rooms while experiencing this tense, confrontational work about race and gender. The performances will take place November 6-10. Marianne Vitale's Settler Surrealism will be a huge installation at her own studio in Long Island City, described as "a multi-story wooden structure, activated by live performances" taking place November 20-23. The other 12 commissions, announced in August, will be from Ryan McNamara, Pawel Althamer, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Rosa Barba, Alexandre Singh, Subodh Gupta, Raqs Media Collective,Nicholas Hlobo, Florian Hecker, andTori Wrånes.

The inaugural pavillions will be from Norway and Poland, with a number of related events taking place for each "wall-less" pavillion. For Poland, Althamer will stage events throughout the three weeks at BiBA, where a special Polish bar menu will be served and artists will run workshops. Norway will present, among its many events, a radio station and a site-specific musical work by Wranes.

Click through the slide show for more information on the artist commissions.