Re-Envisioning Venice: Two Case Studies Challenging the National Pavilion Model

Since 1895, the Venice Biennale has functioned as a means of showcasing works of international artists, improving international relations, and generating tourism in Italy. Despite its reputation as the oldest and largest international art exhibition, its national pavilion model has been the source of much criticism, particularly in relation to the Eurocentric and Western-oriented lens through which these exhibitions operate. In 2011, Israeli artist Yael Bartana became the first non-Polish national to represent Poland in the history of the Biennale. The project Bartana presented, “And Europe Will Be Stunned,” dealt with the history of Polish-Jewish relations and its impact on contemporary Polish identity. Playing on the Zionist dream of the return to Israel, in her video trilogy, Bartana transported viewers to Poland where a fictive political movement—the Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland—calls for the return of three million Jews to Poland. Since Bartana’s project, several countries have exhibited projects challenging the Biennale’s national pavilion model, both through their selection of artists and the physical sites their exhibitions occupy. Most recently, in 2017, Tunisia presented “The Absence of Paths,” a project confronting the migration crisis in Europe, where visitors could acquire ‘Freesas,’ (fictional universal visas) at one of three interactive kiosks located at the periphery of the official Biennale boundaries. Through the analysis of these exhibitions, this paper aims to examine how artists have sought to challenge and reimagine the national pavilion model in recent years, through projects pushing the boundaries and framework of nation-states.