The Appropriation of Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Wunderkammer Tactics for Rethinking Biennales

In the recent history of biennales and large scale recurrent exhibitions, the use of wunderkammer aesthetics and tactics has emerged as an alternative curatorial tool for rethinking tired exhibitionary formats and issues around exclusion and inclusion. This presentation will discuss the efficacy of these efforts in two exhibitions—Massimiliano Gioni’s Encyclopedic Palace, the 2013 iteration of the Venice Biennale, and the Brain component of dOCUMENTA (13), curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, in 2012. Presenting alternative approaches to display and content, the wunderkammer can be characterized by its dense form and generative mode of display, which manifests in abrupt juxtapositions and heterogeneous constellations. When deployed critically and creatively, this can increase the range of ideas explored in an exhibition by provoking unanticipated connections and associations. Similarly, the inclusion of diverse and disparate content—objects representing multiple fields of study, practices, and chronologies made by art and non-art professionals—can greatly expand the configurations of knowledge within an exhibition. Privileging ambiguity over didacticism, the wunderkammer’s flexible form and generative mode of display allows the viewer to bring their own subjective experiences to bear on the interpretation of an artwork, which increases engagement and agency in the meaning-making process. These ideas will be discussed in relation to Gioni and Christov-Bakargiev’s curatorial tactics in their efforts to reimagine what a biennale might be.