Posthumanist Currents at the 61st Venice Biennale: Black Seas, Wind, and Ghostly Archives
Curated posthumously by Koyo Kouoh, the 61st Venice Biennale showcases national pavilions that delve into elemental forces and non-human temporalities. Among the highlights is Romania's 'Black Seas: Scores for the Sonic Eye,' created by Anca Benera and Arnold Estefán, which features two installations: 'How to Mend a Broken Sea?' (2024-ongoing) and 'Blue Ground,' along with a 3D-printed Tower of Babel sculpture. Other significant pavilions include Lithuania's 'animism sings anarchy,' Poland's 'Liquid Tongues,' Uzbekistan's 'The Aural Sea,' Finland's 'Aeolian Suite,' and Hungary's 'Pneuma Cosmic.' Raluca Oancea's essay examines these works through a posthumanist perspective, focusing on collaboration and the balance between clarity and ambiguity. The Biennale underscores the roles of the sea, wind, and earth as historical forces.
Key facts
- The 61st Venice Biennale is curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, whose vision was continued by her team.
- Romania's pavilion 'Black Seas: Scores for the Sonic Eye' features works by Anca Benera and Arnold Estefán.
- The Romanian pavilion includes installations at the Giardini della Biennale and the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice.
- The project incorporates buoys, a gravity core, and underwater footage from research institutes like GeoEcoMar.
- Lithuania's pavilion 'animism sings anarchy' by Eglė Budvytytė revisits Neolithic water rituals.
- Poland's pavilion 'Liquid Tongues' by Bogna Burska and Daniel Kotowski is inspired by whale song.
- Uzbekistan's pavilion 'The Aural Sea' addresses the Aral Sea's ecological catastrophe.
- Finland's pavilion 'Aeolian Suite' by Jenna Sutela explores wind, and Hungary's 'Pneuma Cosmic' by Endre Koronczi incorporates ventilation elements.
- The essay by Raluca Oancea is published on ArtMargins.
- The article discusses posthumanist and phenomenological approaches, referencing Édouard Glissant and Maurice Merleau-Ponty.
Entities
Artists
- Koyo Kouoh
- Anca Benera
- Arnold Estefán
- Eglė Budvytytė
- Bogna Burska
- Daniel Kotowski
- Jenna Sutela
- Endre Koronczi
- Jahongir Bobokulov
- Zi Kakhramonova
- Aygul Sarsen
- Zulfiya Spowart
- Xin Liu
- A.A. Murakami
- Nguyen Phuong Linh
- Diana Marincu
- Corina Oprea
- Laurențiu Coțac
- Simina Oprescu
- Diana Miron
- Marija Gimbutas
- Édouard Glissant
- Toni Morrison
- Maurice Merleau-Ponty
- Hal Foster
- Jacques Derrida
- Roger Payne
- Mihai Baciu
- Alexandra Hillebrandt-Voiculescu
- Raluca Oancea
Institutions
- Venice Biennale
- Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice
- GeoEcoMar Marine Geology Institute
- Lithuanian Pavilion
- Polish Pavilion
- Uzbekistan Pavilion
- Finnish Pavilion
- Hungarian Pavilion
- Hungarian Academy of Sciences
- Frame Contemporary Art Finland
- Ludwig Múzeum
- Zacheta Archive
- ArtMargins
- Observatorul Cultural
- Emil Racoviță Institute of Speleology
- Underwater Exploration Group
- Oceanographic Research Institute in Venice
Locations
- Venice
- Italy
- Giardini della Biennale
- Romania
- Bucharest
- Constanța
- Lithuania
- Poland
- Uzbekistan
- Finland
- Helsinki
- Hungary
- Apulia
- Mediterranean coast
- Baltic Sea
- Black Sea
- Aral Sea
- Caucasus
- Caspian Basin
- Europe
- Africa
- Atlantic
- Grotta Scaloria