Italy's Venice Biennale Pavilion Explores the Labyrinth

Curator Milovan Farronato has unveiled the concept for the Italian Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale, titled "Né altra né questa. La sfida al Labirinto." Inspired by Italo Calvino's 1962 essay "La sfida al labirinto," the exhibition uses the labyrinth as both metaphor and physical layout. It features works by Enrico David (b. 1966, Ancona), Chiara Fumai (1978–2017), and Liliana Moro (b. 1961, Milan). Fumai's contribution is a posthumous, never-before-seen project reconstructed from documents and correspondence. The display, designed with exhibition designer Valerio Di Lucente, incorporates irregular spaces and non-linear paths, encouraging visitors to navigate and reinterpret. The pavilion's budget is €1.3 million, with €600,000 from the Ministry and €700,000 from sponsors including Gucci, FPT Industrial, and Nicoletta Fiorucci Russo. Four performative workshops based on the ancient Greek "Crane Dance" will run from May to September, choreographed by Cypriot artist Christodoulos Panayotou. The accompanying catalog, published by Humboldt Books, includes the first English translation of Calvino's essay, a narrative essay by Emanuele Trevi, and photographs of labyrinthine sites like the Cretto di Burri in Gibellina and the Borges Labyrinth in Venice.