Poland and Serbia National Pavilions at Venice Biennale 2024

At the 2024 Venice Biennale, national pavilions have taken center stage due to the perceived weakness of the central exhibition curated by Adriano Pedrosa. Art critic Christian Caliandro highlights two pavilions—Poland and Serbia—as exemplary of contemporary art that prioritizes narrative and emotional engagement over didacticism. The Polish Pavilion originally planned by the former right-wing government to feature painter Ignacy Czwartos focusing on 20th-century totalitarian traumas was scrapped after a centrist coalition won elections and replaced the director of Zacheta National Gallery of Art. The new project, "Repeat After Me II" by the Open Group (founded in Lviv in 2012), is a video installation that teaches viewers the sounds of war in Ukraine, inviting participation to activate the work. The Serbian Pavilion, titled "Exposition Coloniale" by Aleksandar Denić (born 1963), inverts the central theme "Foreigners Everywhere" by presenting Serbs as strangers in their own country. The pavilion still bears the inscription "YUGOSLAVIA" above its entrance, evoking a lost identity. Denić's total installation features a temporary home with a kiosk, shower, and bedroom, and a jukebox playing European-themed songs. A large sign reading "EUROPE" backwards reflects the unfulfilled dream of EU accession; Serbia has been a candidate since March 2012 and opened 22 of 35 negotiation chapters as of January 2014.