A new template for international cultural collaboration
The Venice Biennale is one of the world’s most influential cultural events. Like many other such events, the 2021 Architecture Biennale has faced postponement and the inevitability of decreased visitor numbers due to travel bans and gathering restrictions. The repeated closure of museums, exhibitions, and events worldwide has exacted a heavy toll on the culture sector over the past year, making it clear that this moment in history demands new ways of thinking and working.
On May 23, 2020, curators from across the globe gathered at the instigation of Hae-Won Shin, the curator of the Korean Pavilion, and confirmed their shared interest in turning the Biennale’s postponement into an opportunity to work together. Since then, the Curators Collective (CC) has grown into a coalition of architects that currently includes the curators of 48 National Pavilions participating in the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.
The CC has developed a layer of independent programming and collaborative projects to run during the Architecture Biennale. This will begin with an online ”opening” on May 23, 2021 for all the CC's participating National Pavilions. The CC will gather physically in Venice for a midissage event on August 28, 2021 and will organise a Pavilion Festival in October, with a guided passeggiata around the pavilions in the Giardini, Arsenale, and across Venice. Other events will include lectures, talks and moments of collaborative action that will unfold during the course of the Biennale.
With official recognition by the Biennale and inclusion in the Historical Archives of Contemporary Arts (ASAC), the Biennale Foundation’s archival programme, the CC is also looking beyond the 17th Architecture Biennale to explore how this collective, collaborative approach can inform the future of the National Pavilions.
“How will we live together?” This question, set by the lead curator and director, Hashim Sarkis, lies at the heart of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. Understood as one possible answer, the Curators Collective aims to demonstrate how effective curators can be in engaging both people and issues beyond the conventions of existing institutions and systems that might otherwise struggle to respond to the rapidly changing world around us.
Signatory National Pavilions / Curators’ Team
Albania / Fiona Mali, Irola Andoni, Malvina Ferra, Rudina Breçani
Armenia / Allen Sayegh
Australia / Tristan Wong, Jefa Greenaway
Austria / Peter Mörtenböck, Helge Mooshammer
Bahrain / Noura AL-Sayeh, Ghassan Chemali
Belgium / Dirk Somers
Brazil / Alexandre Brasil, André Luiz Prado, Bruno Santa Cecilia, Carlos Alberto Maciel, Henrique Penha, Paula Zasnicoff
Canada / Thomas Balaban, David Theodore, Jennifer Thorogood
Croatia / Morana Matković, Idis Turato
Cyprus / Marina Christodoulidou, Era Savvides, Evagoras Vanezis, Nasios Varnavas
Denmark / Marianne Krogh
Dominican Republic / Roberta Semeraro, Jesus D'Alessandro, Alex Martinez Suarez, Lidia Leon Cabral, Julia Vicioso, Orisell Medina-Lagrange
France / Christophe Hutin
Germany / 2038, Arno Brandlhuber, Olaf Grawert, Nikolaus Hirsch, Christopher Roth
Great Britain / Madeleine Kessler, Manijeh Verghese
Grenada / Marco Ballarin, Stefano Tornieri, Massimo Triches
Hungary / Attila Róbert Csóka, Dániel Kovács, Szabolcs Molnár, Dávid Smiló
Iraq / Rashad Salim with Hannah Lewis
Ireland / Annex, Sven Anderson, Alan Butler, David Capener, Donal Lally, Clare Lyster, Fiona McDermott
Israel / Dan Hasson, Iddo Ginat, Rachel Gottesman, Yonatan Cohen, Tamar Novick
Italy / Alessandro Melis
Japan / Kozo Kadowaki
Korea / Hae-Won Shin with Chris Ro, Ryul Song, Christian Schweitzer, Annie Pedret
Kuwait / Asaiel Al Saeed, Aseel Al Yaqoub, Saphiya Abu Al-Maati, Yousef Awaad
Lebanon / Hala Wardé
Lithuania / Jan Boelen, Jan Boelen, Milda Batakytė, Julija Reklaitė
Luxembourg / Andrea Rumpf
Mexico / Natalia de la Rosa, Isadora Hastings, Mauricio Rocha, Elena Tudela
Montenegro / Svetlana K. Perovic
Netherlands / Francien van Westrenen
Nordic Countries / Martin Braathen, Gudrun Eidsvik, Cathrine Furuholmen, Karianne Ommundsen, Joakim Skajaa
Pakistan / Sara M. Anwar with Madeeha Yasin Merchant.
Peru / Felipe Ferrer
Philippines / Sudarshan V. Khadka Jr., Alexander Eriksson Furunes
Poland / Mirabela Jurczenko, Bartosz Kowal, Wojciech Mazan, Bartłomiej Poteralski, Rafał Śliwa, Robert Witczak
Portugal / depA architects, Carlos Azevedo, João Crisóstomo, Luís Sobral, Miguel Santos
Romania / Irina Meliță, Ștefan Simion, Ștefania Hîrleață, Radu Tîrcă, Cristi Bădescu
Russia / Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Erica Petrillo, Giacomo Ardesio, Vladimir Nadein, Liza Dorrer, Dasha Nasonova
Saudi Arabia / Uzma Z. Rizvi, Murtaza Vali
Serbia / Slobodan Jovic
Singapore / Ho Puay-peng, Thomas Kong, Tomohisa Miyauchi, Simone Shu-Yeng Chung, Sarah Ichioka
Slovenia / Blaž Babnik Romaniuk, Martina Malešič, Asta Vrečko, Rastko Pečar
Spain / Sofía Piñero, Domingo González, Andrzej Gwizdala, Fernando Herrera
Switzerland / Mounir Ayoub, Vanessa Lacaille, Fabrice Aragno, Pierre Szczepski
Turkey / Neyran Turan
United Arab Emirates / Wael Al Awar
USA / Paul Preissner, Paul Andersen
Uruguay / Federico Lagomarsino, Lourdes Silva, Federico Lapeyre
