11 Of The Best Country Pavilions Of The Venice Biennale 2024

The 60th edition of the art extravaganza that is the Venice Biennale runs until November 24 at its two main venues, Giardini and Arsenale. as well as countless off-site locations, both official and unofficial. This year there are 88 national entries, with four countries taking part for the first time: Republic of Benin, Ethiopia, United Republic of Tanzania and Democratic Republic of East Timor. Here are eleven of the country's must-see pavilions.

Gardens

1. Great Britain: John Akomfrah, 'Listening to the rain all night

Listening to the rain all night marks artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah's latest exploration of memory, migration, racial injustice and climate change. This exhibition delves into the importance of listening and sound, presenting a single installation consisting of eight interwoven multi-screen works. It serves as a manifesto, advocating for listening as a form of activism and highlighting the progressive theories of acoustemology, which emphasize the transformative power of listening.

2. France: Julien Creuzet 'Attila cataract your source at the foot of the green peaks will end in the great blue sea abyss that we drowned in the tears of the tide of the moon'

France's colorful and immersive multimedia installation includes hanging objects wrapped in spools of thread and bronze sculptures filled with lavender water. The installation also features sound and video inspired by the artist's Caribbean heritage.

3. Australia: Archie Moore, “Kith and Kin”

Winner of the Golden Lion for best pavilion, the Australian exhibition includes an installation by First Nations artist Archie Moore. Kith and Kin is a moving tribute to Australia's First Nations people and an examination of the lasting impacts of colonialism. Set in a black-and-white space with a reflecting pool, Moore has adorned the walls and ceiling with a hand-drawn family chart. With 65,000 years and 2,400 generations, it shows its ancestral links with the Kamilaroi, Bigambul, British and Scottish lineages.

4. United States: Jeffrey Gibson, “The Space In Which To Place Me”

The selection of Jeffrey Gibson to represent the United States at the 60th Venice Biennale marks the first solo presentation of an indigenous artist for the US Pavilion. A riot of bold colors, patterns and text combine American, indigenous and queer stories with references to popular subcultures, literary and artistic traditions. A member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, Gibson deploys these endless influences as a form of resistance. Her practice deconstructs the ways in which notions of taste, authenticity, and persistent stereotypes of Indigenous people are used to delegitimize cultural expressions that exist outside the mainstream.

5. Japan: Yuko Mohri, 'Compose'

Inspired by the ingenuity seen in Tokyo subway repairs, Yuko Mohri has created an unusual orchestra using similar materials. A fan vibrates a rubber tube, causing the noise of a shopping bag; rain hitting a plastic sheet creates a symphony with wind chimes. Clusters of rotting fruit are connected to electrodes, generating synthetic sounds and lights based on their moisture levels. These kinetic sculptures recall Erik Satie, Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, Nam June Paik and the Fluxus movement.

arsenal

6. Malta: Matthew Attard, I will follow El Vaixell

The Malta pavilion examines how contemporary drawing and digital technology merge with historical imagery. It focuses on ship graffiti, drawings and exvoto motifs found on the facades of Maltese chapels. The artist collaborates with an eye-tracker, a sophisticated scientific tool, to create complex drawings. He sees this tool as an extension of himself, exploring the intersection between humans and machines. The eye-tracker becomes an intelligent partner in the production of modern art.

7. Benin: Chloé Quenum, Moufouli Bello, Ishola Akpo, Romuald Hazoumè, 'Everything Precious Is Fragile'

For its first participation in the Venice Biennale, Benín presents an exhibition that explores the themes of the slave trade, the figure of the Amazon and the spirituality of Vodun. It also delves into the contemporary realm with Gélèdé philosophy, focusing on “rematriation,” a feminist interpretation of restitution that advocates not only the return of objects but also Beninese philosophy and ideals prior to the time colonial Moufouli Bello's large-scale portraits of women with bright blue backgrounds and luminous colors provide. Visitors are invited to enter Romuald Hazoumè's sculpture made from oil cans which, he says, captures energy and transfers power to viewers.

National pavilions off site

8. Holy See (Vatican): Bintou Dembélé, Simone Fattal, Claire Fontaine, Sonia Gomes, Corita Kent and Claire Tabouret, Marco Perego 'With my eyes' at Giudecca Detention House for Women

Inside a women's prison on the island of Giudecca, an exhibition promises a unique experience, although securing one of the 100 daily viewing spaces can be a challenge. The Vatican Pavilion displays works of art created in collaboration with the inmates. A moving short film titled Columbusdirected by Marco Perego and starring Zoe Saldaña (Avatar) alongside twenty inmates, adds depth to the exhibition. Guided tours of the Pavilion, led by two dams, are available in four slots each day. It should be noted that Pope Francis will make his first pontifical visit to the Biennale on April 28. Of particular interest to the Pope could be the large mural on the wall of the prison chapel, inspired by the feet of paintings by Mantegna and Caravaggio, and painted by Maurizio Cattelan, known for his controversial 1999 sculpture depicting the Pope John Paul II hit by a meteorite.

9. Nigeria: 'Imaginary Nigeria, Palace Canal

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Ndidi Dike, Onyeka Igwe, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Abraham Oghobase, Precious Okoyomon, Yinka Shonibare, Fatimah Tuggar

In a grand 16th-century palace, a national exhibition offers a hopeful vision. Curated by Aindrea Emelife of the Museum of West African Art, Nigeria (MOWAA), the exhibition features various artworks including painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, installation, sound, AR and film. Called Nigeria Imaginary, it serves as the current Mbari Club, a center of cultural activities established in 1961 by Ulli Beier, Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe, who saw artistic creation as a national duty. The exhibition displays a variety of historical objects, including fragments of a yellow bus, a two-faced Ikenga (a carved wooden figure representing power) and vintage magazines such as Drum Magazine and Black Orpheus. Highlights include a vibrant painting by Tunji Adeniyi-Jones stretched across the ceiling and a detailed sculptural installation by Yinka Shonibare featuring replicas of looted artwork.

10. Ethiopia: Tesfaye Urgessa, 'Prejudice and Belonging' at Palazzo Bollani

For this first Ethiopian pavilion in Venice, curated by the British writer and broadcaster Lemn Sissay, Tesfaye Urgessa presents 18 oil paintings inspired by his thirteen years spent in Germany, helping to translate in the fields of 'immigration: “People tend to think that I am painting victims on my canvases. but it is completely different. The figures contain all kinds of emotions, fragility and confidence. It is the figure presented without any judgment. It's saying this is who I am, this is what I am.”

11.Portugal: Monica de Miranda, Sonia Vaz Borges, Vania Gala 'Greenhouse' at Palazzo Franchetti

greenhouse, the collective project of artist-curators Mónica de Miranda, Sónia Vaz Borges and Vânia Gala, uses indigenous plants from African countries to create a “Creole garden” in the beautiful Palazzo Franchetti, referring to private plots tended by people enslaved as acts of resistance and survival. The project proposes the soil as a vector of decolonial and ecological commitment, capable of both sustaining growth and archiving traces of historical violence, connecting past, present and future, land politics, history, the body and identity .

Practical aspects

Stranieri Vunque – Foreigners everywhere runs until Sunday 24 November 2024, organized by La Biennale di Venezia. Closed Mondays, except April 22, June 17, July 22, September 2 and 30 and November 18.

Summer opening hours (until September 30): Giardini and Arsenale: from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Autumn opening hours (October 1 to November 24): Giardini and Arsenale: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Tickets: Full price €30 or 3 days €40/weekly €50 Reduction of €20 for over 65s and residents of Venice. Students and/or under 26 €16. A valid ID is required upon entry.

Off-site exhibitions throughout the city are free and most run through the fall, but check the dates.

where to be

There are many apartments to rent, but for a more comfortable stay, the three-star Hotel Wildner is a guesthouse with character, ideally located for the main stages of the biennale. Prices for double rooms are between 100 and 250 euros, depending on the season.

For a truly luxurious stay, overlooking the Grand Canal, just minutes from Piazza San Marco, is the glorious art-filled St Regis, with a chandelier designed by Ai Weiwei and works by Gregor Hildebrandt, Julien Opie, Jaume Plensa and Tony Cragg. Prices for double rooms start at 850 euros/night, depending on the season.