BIENNALE
PROVOKE
WATER. Essential. More present in Venice than in any other city. Austria reminds us of its importance through an installation that some may find surprising: urine collected from toilets is filtered and ends up in a small pool where a nearly naked woman (or frogman) leisurely paddles for several hours (around five).
SHIT is the title of the work presented by Luxembourg. It reflects on the body, social norms, shame, and the mechanisms of exclusion that define what we choose to accept or reject (video installation and mirrors).
FEAR is the emotion explored by the Netherlands, inviting visitors to reflect on collective withdrawal and the transformation of an open democracy into a fortress. The experience unfolds through screams echoing in semi-darkness before complete darkness takes over inside a sealed bunker.
SPERM becomes a precious resource. Denmark's pavilion questions how images and sexuality could influence human reproduction. Twenty litres of sperm are displayed in yellow containers.
SURPRISE
BABIES. Japan surprises visitors with numerous babies wearing glasses, prompting reflection on the declining birth rate—particularly in Japan—while introducing the notion of care. Visitors are invited to take the babies for a walk, change their nappies, and ultimately discover a touching poem. Charming.
TRANSFORMATION
Germany's pavilion has been entirely covered with mosaics made from materials salvaged from a former East German Socialist Party centre. Even the graffiti—including the famous "YSL" tag—has been faithfully recreated as mosaics.
REMIND
Many artists, particularly at the Arsenale, look to the past, recalling tragedies and the suffering inflicted by some upon others.
The theme of migration—so relevant today—is explored by Guadalupe Maravilla through his magnificent sculptural chairs (Arsenale).
Also noteworthy is Dana Awartani's installation, May Your Tears Never Dry, You Who Weep Over Stones. She transforms the entire floor of the pavilion into a vast artwork made of thousands of clay bricks and patterns inspired by mosaics from heritage sites in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine that have been damaged or destroyed by war and violence. The work powerfully evokes both memory and fragility.
SEDUCE
Belgian artist Miet Warlop draws us into an endless dance of plaster letters.
Italy enchants visitors with Chiara Camoni's monumental clay totems (With You, With Everything / Con te, con tutto).
India presents Ranjani Shettar's impressive suspended garlands in Under the Same Sky.
Finally, Spain concludes this journey of seduction with Oriol Villanova's installation Los Restos (The Remains), composed of thousands upon thousands of postcards.
LOVE
I would gladly highlight Greece, where Alexandra Bachzetsis explores the body as an archive through an installation and video work. Homosexuality is given a meaningful place through Andreas Angelidakis' installation Escape Room, featuring T-shirts associated with gay and queer culture.
I would conclude with Switzerland, whose pavilion addresses homosexuality and broader queer issues. The project, The Unfinished Business of Living Together, is the work of a collective of artists and researchers. It takes as its starting point a 1978 Swiss television programme, Telearena, dedicated to what was then called the "problem of homosexuality."
Both witty and subtle, the installation exposes the prejudices, hostile reactions, and social consequences that accompanied the public visibility of LGBTQ+ people at the time, while inviting visitors to reflect on how far society has come—and how much remains to be done.
