Greek pavilion at Venice Biennale inaugurated
Xiromero/Dryland, the Greek pavilion at the Venice Biennale, has been inaugurated ahead of the official opening of the 60th international art exhibition on Saturday.
Drawing upon the experience of the local festivals of mainland Greece, Thessaly and the Xirómero area in Western Greece, the project “investigates the experience of a village festival by following its course from the village square all the way to its outskirts, and to the surrounding land,” according to the Onassis Stegi cultural center.
The work consists of a piece of agricultural irrigation equipment which synchronizes the sound, video and lighting environments that make up the installation in real time.
The project is an interdisciplinary collective work conceived by Thanasis Deligiannis and Yannis Michalopoulos, created along with the artists Elia Kalogianni, Yorgos Kyvernitis, Kostas Chaikalis and Fotis Sagonas.
It is curated by Panos Giannikopoulos.
Attending the inauguration were Deputy Culture Minister Christos Dimas, artistic director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Αthens Katerina Gregou.
Dubbed the “Olympics of the art world,” the biennale is one of the main events in the international arts calendar. This year’s edition, “Foreigners Everywhere,” is due to host pavilions from 90 countries between April 20 and November 24.
The artist and curators representing Israel at the biennale announced on Tuesday that they won’t open the Israeli pavilion exhibit until there is a cease-fire in Gaza and an agreement to release hostages seized by Hamas on October 7.
Their decision, praised as courageous by the festival’s main curator, was posted on a sign in the window of the Israeli pavilion on the first day of media previews, ahead of the biennale’s opening on Saturday.
