They Come to Us without a Word II
July 20–22, 2015, 9pm
in collaboration with Teatro Fondamenta Nuove and the Università Iuav di Venezia (IUAV)
Teatro Piccolo Arsenale
Campo della Tana
Castello
Venice
Italy
Image: Joan Jonas,They Come to Us without a Word, 2015.
Pavilion of the United States
56th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
Joan Jonas’s They Come to Us without a Word
Presented by the MIT List Visual Arts Center
Commissioner and Co-Curator: Paul C. Ha, Director of the MIT List Visual Arts Center
Co-Curator: Ute Meta Bauer, Director of the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, Nanyang Technological University
Video and performance art pioneer Joan Jonas has created a multimedia installation entitled They Come to Us without a Word for the United States Pavilion at the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, which was awarded a Special Mention, and is on view until November 22, 2015.
In conjunction with her U.S. Pavilion exhibition, the MIT List Visual Arts Center in collaboration with Teatro Fondamenta Nuove and IUAV presents They Come to Us without a Word II, a new performance conceived and directed by Joan Jonas. The performance features newly composed music by Jonas’s longtime sound collaborator, the American jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran. Moran will play live, accompanying Jonas for the performance.
The performance premieres July 20, 21 and 22, at 9pm, at Teatro Piccolo Arsenale, Campo Della Tana, Castello, Venice.
Joan Jonas’s performance and her U.S. Pavilion installation both evoke the fragility of nature in a rapidly changing situation. “Although the idea of my work involves the question of how the world is so rapidly and radically changing, I do not address the subject directly or didactically,” said Jonas. “Rather, the ideas are implied poetically through sound, lighting and the juxtaposition of images of children, animals and landscape.” The performance will feature reedited video footage from the installation in the U.S. Pavilion as well as performative elements developed from a three-week artist led workshop conducted in June and July with students from IUAV.
Tickets for the performance can be purchased online at joanjonasvenice2015.com.
They Come to Us without a Word II is organized in conjunction with the United States Pavilion at the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia by the MIT List Visual Arts Center.
The performance is organized in collaboration with Teatro Fondamenta Nuove and the Università Iuav di Venezia (IUAV), with a specific support by Fundación Botín, Santander; Galleria Alessandra Bonomo; Max Mara; Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary; and an anonymous donor.
