Established in 2014 as an international interface of the
Antarctic Biennale (with the support of the
AVC Charity Foundation), the
Antarctic Pavilion, commisioned by Russian artist, sailor, and philosopher
Alexander Ponomarev, was the first ever supranational pavilion at the
Venice Biennale, which now goes an step beyond by starting an expedition to the frozen continent.
Alexander has conducted several expeditions to Antarctica and organized a number of international artistic events on the continent, among which this one seems to be the most promising one.
Chosen to do so, architect
Gustav Dusing and artist
Sho Hasegawa will be sent to Antarctica in March 2017 to develop their artworks. The winners and finalists were selected from a pool of over 500 applications, from 59 countries, by an independent jury comprising the Commissioner of the Antarctic Biennale,
Alexander Ponomarev, and members of the Artistic Advisory Board –
Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Hani Rashid, Sheikha Hoor al-Qasimi and
Nadim Samman.
The expedition on the research ships will culminate in several inspiring interdisciplinary activities. The ship will become a vehicle for the generation of art and ideas, a travelling platform for dialogue between artists, researchers, and thinkers.
As said by the Biennale commissioner, Alexander Ponomarev, the aim is ''To design a platform for intercultural and transdisciplinary dialogue about the future of ’shared spaces’, do a unique artistic research into the sites on the edge of human experience, and create the foundation for effective communication in such spaces. Being at the heart of the process, only art can take on such a uniting function, since only art has escaped losing the ability to grasp the world as a whole!''
The Antarctic Biennale does not start or end with the expedition on March 27, 2017. This is a biennale «in process», constantly building space for productive cooperation and creation of meaning.