Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen-Korzinek on Friday inaugurated the Croatian pavilion at the 59th edition of the Venice Biennale, and this year it will represent Croatia until 27 November with the project "Untitled (Croatian Pavilion), 2022" by Tomo Savic-Gecan and curator Elena Filipovic.
This year, Croatia does not have a pavilion – we are everywhere in Venice, we show up in different places, the minister said, inaugurating this radically different and innovative project.
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Instead of an exhibition area, the Croatian pavilion is represented by five performers who perform several times a day in other national pavilions based on instructions received from a special computer algorithm. The instructions are based on randomly chosen headlines from about 250 world media outlets, include the time, place, and duration of the performance, and specify the relations the performs need to establish with each other and with the environment.
From 23 April to 27 November, this year’s Biennale will showcase more than 200 artists from 58 countries. Croatia’s participation is organised by the Ministry of Culture and Media. The project was also supported by Mondriaan Fonds, the Ministry of Science and Education, the Zagreb Tourist Board, Mato Peric and Collection Peric, as well as the residence of the Art Explora foundation in Paris.
The minister congratulated the committee that selected the project, the curator and the artist, as well as everyone involved in its realisation, underscoring that in this way, at a time when it is difficult to defend the role and importance of art and culture, the Croatian pavilion draws attention specifically to that.
I hope this may also be our contribution to thinking about the future development of the Biennale, Obuljen-Korzinek said.
At the invitation of Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, later today she will attend together with her other colleagues the grand opening of the Ukrainian pavilion.
In that way, we will send a message of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and their artists, Obuljen-Korzinek said.
On Saturday, the minister will sign a cooperation programme with Franceschini for the next four-year period in the areas of culture, education and sports.
