The role that official country pavilions play

More than 40 Collateral Events are slated to be held by international institutions and organizations that will set up their initiatives and exhibitions in various important locations around the city of Venice on the occasion of the 2011 Biennale. These events are also a key component.

Those who are selected for the collateral events will be titled with the Venice Biennale’s logo; they shall be incorporated into the catalogue’s special section and advertised officially by the Biennale. Thus subjects, in a position to express quality choices, are given a means of making their presence felt. In some instances, this opportunity has been grabbed by ethnic minorities that choose the Biennale d’Arte for making their voice be heard and showcasing their cultural identity.

The organizers have always given a great importance and relevance to this bit of opportunity (this year they received over 80 requests and the curator’s final selection approved around 50 percent of them). In the fall preceding the International Exhibition, a meeting is organized where the curator officially appointed by the Biennale gives an illustrative presentation of his/ her project design for the exhibition. It’s an informative meeting. The curators from the various participating countries are not necessarily bound to it. They may implement their respective choices and ideas freely.

One may then wonder as to what extent these pavilions finally bring with them, however broad the autonomy to the curators, also the keen desire for representation evinced by the organizing country. Obviously, each of them will have its story and its style to narrate.

In their official pavilions, countries unveil the crucial role played by contemporary art, as messenger of their cultural heritage and of their present. Actually, from the official pavilions other revelations do emerge, on riches and realities that are much deeper than the traditional claims or usual stereotyped images put forth.