Tavares Strachan Prepares Bahamas Pavilion at Venice Biennale with Arctic Expedition Themes

Tavares Strachan will represent The Bahamas at the Venice Biennale with a pavilion located in the Arsenale. His exhibition, developed over three years, explores concepts of distance, displacement, and invisibility, informed by a recent journey to the North Pole from Svalbard. Strachan questions the notion of national representation, noting that while it carries responsibility for the 40-year-old nation's first pavilion, artists primarily represent themselves. He views the Biennale as a conflicted space rooted in 19th-century nationalism within Venice's precarious, flood-prone environment. The artist anticipates opening week as a mob scene based on friend Michael Joo's experience with the Korea pavilion. Strachan looks forward to visiting Bentigod restaurant in Venice for a Negroni. A full profile appears in ArtReview's summer issue.