THE BRIDGE
THE GRENADA PAVILION AT THE 57th INTERNATIONAL ART BIENNALE IN VENICE
May 13th - November 26th 2017
THE BRIDGE. Grenada Pavilion at the 57th La Biennale di Venezia.
With works by Jason de Caires Taylor, Asher Mains, Milton Williams, Alexandre Murucci, Khaled Hafez, Rashid Al Kahlifa, Mahmoud Obaidi + Zena Assi. Curated by Omar Donia.
Location: Magazzino Zattere 417, Dorsoduro 30123, Venice. (Googlemaps link here)
Opening hours: 11:00 - 18:00, closed on Mondays.
The Bridge is based on gathering island-nations' artists from civilisations with deep roots in culture and art. Since the dawn of time, humans have longed to belong to some of collective idea contributing to shaping their own identity. The question of 'what' and no 'who' we are represents the centre of this dialogue.
The headliner artist is Jason de Caires Taylor, world known for his underwater sculpture parks. His first venture into putting human sculptures below the water was in Grenada, and from there it has grown to Mexico, Bahamas, and Lanzarote, Spain.
Asher Mains exhibits a new iteration of his Sea Lungs series, which was first seen outside of Grenada at the Trio Bienal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A larger, more involved installation portrays the life and death of the reef, and the human relationship with the sea.
Milton Williams’ art practice centres around the act of collecting. His work requires extensive travel, during which he collects objects of everyday life from the countries he visits. The work being shown in the Grenada pavilion is an installation of some of these objects.
International artists also join the Grenada pavilion, emphasizing the nature of the theme, that art is a bridge that connects and unifies people. The international artists are Alexandre Murucci (Brazil), Khaled Hafez (France), Rashid Al Kahlifa (Bahrain) Mahmoud Obaidi (Canada) and Zena Assi (Lebanon). They each bring a wealth of exhibitions experiences to share. A team of volunteers from all over the world bring this island pavilion to life. An advisory board guides; again an international selection. Amel Mekkawi is the Head. Others include Natalia Andakulova founder of Andakulova Gallery - Dubai, a prominent art collector from Spain, Mrs. Monica Mascaros, and Sandra Louison a freelance Arts Consultant, herself of Grenadian heritage, has advised and worked with artists of multi disciplinary genres, and also has a specific interest in creating international artist networks using social media as a resource tool. Sandra is also currently working at Whitechapel Gallery in London. The local organising committee works under the auspices of the Grenada Arts Council.
