Golden Lions Awarded to Top Artists at the Venice Biennale
The jury of the 60th Venice Biennale announced the winners of this year's festival. The first Golden Lion was awarded to Australian artist Archie Moore as the best representative of the national pavilion. The second Golden Lion, awarded to the best participant in the main exhibition, went to the Mataaho Collective – a group of four women from the indigenous people of New Zealand, the Maori. This is reported on the Venice Biennale website.
Archie Moore presented his installation titled "kith and kin" in the cube-shaped pavilion of Australia. It was created from thousands of white boxes and drawings on the walls, where, as the artist claims, there are documents reflecting "2400 generations of his family history."
The main element of the installation is a huge chalk drawing on all surfaces of the pavilion, representing a genealogical tree. Thus, the artist calls for reflections on human connections, kinship between generations, and colonialism issues.
Moore's exhibition is based on his research into history, genealogy, and identity, which have been key themes in his work for almost 30 years. The curator of his project at the Biennale is Australian Ellie Buttrose.
"Kith and kin" is a memorial dedicated to every living being that has ever existed. It's a space for quiet reflections on the past, present, and future," Archie Moore noted during the presentation of the work at the Biennale.
The Mataaho Collective installation is located on the ceiling and consists of glowing belts. It's called "Takapau," which is also the name of Maori carpets used during childbirth. This work reproduces the traditions of textile production in New Zealand and highlights manual labour, which is often undervalued.
The main exhibition of the Biennale "Everywhere Aliens," featuring the "Takapau" installation, is curated by Brazilian Adriano Pedrosa. He selected 331 artists for this project. The exhibition covers 7,000 square meters and is located in two locations.
The Silver Lion of the Venice Biennale was awarded to British-Nigerian artist Karima Ashadu for the video "Machine Boys" and the brass sculpture "Wreath," telling the story of a community of young migrant men in Lagos and their experiences.
It's worth mentioning that The Gaze reported that this year Ukraine presented the project "Weaving Nets" at the Venice Biennale, curated by Victoria Bavykina and Max Horbatsky.
"Weaving Nets" is a group project featuring works by Katya Buchatska, Liya and Andriy Dostlievs, Andriy Revkovsky, and Danylo Rachinsky in an architectural space designed by Oleksandr Burlaka.
The project's name "Weaving Nets" comes from the practice of collective weaving of camouflage nets, common among Ukrainians during full-scale invasions. This act is explored as a symbol of collective resistance in the face of war.