VENICE — The 61st Venice Biennale may be marked by various protests as artists hum through the exhibitions, hundreds gather in front of the temporary Israeli pavilion in the Arsenale, and Pussy Riot makes their presence known in front of the Russian pavilion in the Giardini. More actions are planned for tomorrow, May 8, but the heart of the biennial art olympics — the international exhibition — beats on.
Led by artistic director Koyo Kouoh, who died last May at age 57, and her handpicked team of collaborators, In Minor Keys opened for today’s preview with a somber curatorial press conference. Advisor Rasha Salti remarked that it was “not only an unusual biennale because the artistic director is not physically present … it is a biennale we were left with her absence, looking for her presence.” Research Assistant Rory Tsapayi said that the exhibition reflected Kouoh’s curatorial process and methodology of the “work of listening to artists,” adding that this Biennale is about “attunement and attention.” In Minor Keys was fine-tuned to meet that challenge; work by the 110 invited participants filled the main halls of the Arsenale and Giardini, asking us to look closer at new forms of representation, consider innovative models of measuring the world, and take time to ponder what may otherwise be overlooked.
Wangechi Mutu’s installations in the Giardini and the Arsenale are major achievements, while curatorial juxtapositions, like Ebony G. Patterson’s elaborate peacock with Kambui Olujimi’s North Star watercolors, are inspired. Throughout the exhibition hang banners with quotes from some of the most moving writers and poets of our time, from Refaat al-Areer to Toni Morrison and Ben Okri, that complement the sensitivity of the art all around. Together, they perform an unexpected symphony.
