Roberto Cuoghi, Adelita Husni-Bey, Giorgio Andreotta Calò at Italy Pavilion, Venice Biennale 2017

The Italy Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale, curated by Cecilia Alemani, presents three distinct yet complementary installations by Roberto Cuoghi, Adelita Husni-Bey, and Giorgio Andreotta Calò. The works explore themes of darkness, intimacy, and unease, engaging viewers through perception and visual complicity. Cuoghi's installation envelops visitors in a dark, dense atmosphere, featuring a luminous plastic path connecting stations of a devotional object factory inspired by the medieval Christian text 'Imitatio Christi'. Husni-Bey's 'The Reading / La Seduta' combines video and sculpture to investigate race and gender, using tarot imagery to discuss the concept of land, creating an intimate yet unsettling environment centered on pedagogical practice. Calò's 'Senza titolo (La fine del mondo)' presents a rigorous alignment of scaffolding tubes with large shell reproductions at joints, topped by a wooden platform supporting an inverted, submerged world. A shallow water basin on the upper level reflects the ceiling beams, creating a hypnotic effect and paying homage to anthropologist Ernesto de Martino's 'La fine del mondo' in a mirroring game between the underworld and the earthly realm.