Finnish pavilion
The Finnish pavilion houses Finland's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals.
Background
The Venice Biennale is an international art biennial exhibition held in Venice, Italy. Often described as "the Olympics of the art world", participation in the Biennale is a prestigious event for contemporary artists. The festival has become a constellation of shows: a central exhibition curated by that year's artistic director, national pavilions hosted by individual nations, and independent exhibitions throughout Venice. The Biennale parent organization also hosts regular festivals in other arts: architecture, dance, film, music, and theater.[1]
Outside of the central, international exhibition, individual nations produce their own shows, known as pavilions, as their national representation. Nations that own their pavilion buildings, such as the 30 housed on the Giardini, are responsible for their own upkeep and construction costs as well. Nations without dedicated buildings create pavilions in venues throughout the city.[1]
Organization and building
The pavilion, designed by Alvar Aalto, was built between 1955 and 1956. It was later restored by Fredrik Fogh between 1976 and 1982. The building was briefly lent to Iceland following the restoration, but has been used by Finland since.[2]
Representation by year
Art
- 2005 — Jaakko Heikkilä
- 2007 — Maaria Wirkkala
- 2011 — Vesa-Pekka Rannikko (Curator: Laura Köönikkä)
- 2013 — Antti Laitinen, Terike Haapoja (Curators: Mika Elo, Marko Karo Harri Laakso)
- 2015 — IC-98 – Visa Suonpää, Patrik Söderlund (Curator: Taru Elfving)
- 2017 — Erkka Nissinen, Nathaniel Mellors (Curator: Xander Karskens)[3]
- 2019 — Larissa Sansour[4]
- 2021 — Pilvi Takala[5]
References
- Russeth 2019.
- Volpi 2013.
- Hannah Ghorashi (April 13, 2016), Erkka Nissinen and Nathaniel Mellors To Represent Finland at the 2017 Venice Biennale ARTnews.
- Claire Selvin (September 20, 2018), Larissa Sansour Will Represent Denmark at the 2019 Venice Biennale ARTnews.
- Selvin, Claire (February 5, 2020). "Celebrated Video and Performance Artist Pilvi Takala Will Represent Finland at 2021 Venice Biennale". ARTnews.com. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
Bibliography
- Russeth, Andrew (April 17, 2019). "The Venice Biennale: Everything You Could Ever Want to Know". ARTnews. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
- Volpi, Cristiana (2013). "Finland". In Re Rebaudengo, Adele (ed.). Pavilions and Garden of Venice Biennale. Rome: Contrasto. p. 187. ISBN 978-88-6965-440-4.
Further reading
- "Finland (Pavilion Alvar Aalto) at the 56th Venice Biennale". Artsy. May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- Frearson, Amy (June 14, 2014). "Huts demonstrate regional building techniques at the Finnish Pavilion". Dezeen. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- Talamini, Gianni (June 10, 2017). Against Aalto : How the Finnish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale had to change into a black box for contemporary video art and how it became a symbol for artists to defeat.