Florentina Holzinger's SeaWorld Venice Expands Beyond Giardini for Austria Pavilion

Austrian artist and choreographer Florentina Holzinger (Vienna, 1986) represents Austria at the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale with the interdisciplinary project SeaWorld Venice, curated by Nora-Swantje Almes. The project combines a permanent installation at the Austrian Pavilion with site-specific actions across Venice and its lagoon, running from May 9 to November 22. Centered on water as both physical matter and political symbol, the work explores tensions between nature and technology, drawing on mythological and classical imagery of aquatic creatures to investigate cultural and ecological implications. Holzinger's Études—performative formats developed since 2020 in public and transitional spaces—activate urban space through participatory and immersive experiences. The artist describes her uncompromising use of the body as a medium where social and political conditions are negotiated. Curator Almes notes Holzinger's ability to create unprecedented and unsettling images, such as ballet with motorcycles and choreographed helicopters, and sees the project as a totalizing vision that expands what is considered possible.