Italian 'Zen' at the Venice Biennale

The 60th edition of the Venice Biennale carries with it all the geopolitical tensions, anxieties, and sufferings of increasingly uncertain times. A biennale is as political as politics itself is almost always an artistic gesture. Works, installations, paintings, slogans, words transition from the conceptual (sometimes incomprehensible) nature typical of contemporary art to a universe of references and quotations speaking of conflicts and tensions, of peoples forced into migration, and of suffering.

An example of this is the Israeli pavilion, escorted by army personnel and closed as a sign of protest, as explained by a sign posted by the artists themselves, until a real ceasefire or an agreement for the release of hostages is reached. But so is the Russian pavilion, handed over to Bolivian artists as a protest against the invasion suffered by Ukraine. Not to forget the setup of an improbable Consulate for all African peoples, complete with a flag and a view of the Grand Canal, and the theme of the 2024 edition: "Foreigners Everywhere."

Amidst the overwhelming stimuli, the arrival at the Italian Pavilion is a sort of oasis of peace. Born from the collaboration between artist Massimo Bartolini (Cecina, 1962) and curator Luca Cerizza, it is indeed a minimal pavilion, almost Zen (a word quite appropriate considering that in the center of an immense hall appears a tiny statue of the Bodhisattva thinker). Next to this is the installation "Due qui/To Hear," a hymn to the importance of listening and pausing. Here, in a forest of scaffolding, some mechanical organs produce continuous melodies around a circular basin where a wave harmoniously repeats itself.

"In this year's edition, perhaps more than in previous ones," curator Luca Cerizza explained to Mag1861, "there is a sense of restitution and rebalancing of a long world history that for many, many centuries has been seen through the lens of our Western point of view. Even aesthetic choices see a great return to handmade, fabrics, arts that were once considered minor, craftsmanship. A trend as a consequence of a major pause in a path of growth or linguistic change. It seems that even modernity is put on hold."

There's a sense of restitution and rebalancing of a long world history that for many, many centuries has been seen through the lens of our Western point of view. Aesthetic choices see a significant return to handmade, fabrics, arts that were once considered minor, craftsmanship. This trend is a consequence of a major pause in a path of growth or linguistic change. It seems that even modernity is put on hold.

 

The Italian Pavilion then seems to be a celebration of emptiness, of silent listening, but also of contrasts, of the emptiness of the former and the fullness of the latter (or of the central hall considering also the external Garden).

"Massimo Bartolini's work is often built on contrasts, such as that between the long organ pipe that we could define as a scale-out base for a small sculpture, at the occident of the organ and the orient of the Bodhisattva), from the tool of work and toil like the scaffold to that of elevation like music," he continued, "typical contrasts between high and low and different cultures and materials. At the center is then the attention to emptiness, to silence, to listening but also through contrasts that appear potentially jarring."