AZERBAIJAN PAVILION
Murmuri (Murmur) is a reflection on a universal language, an in-depth research on the material in mutation and the origins of form and sound.
Channeling the tradition of clay art, Andorran artist Eve Ariza works on the multiplication of the bowl as a container of truth and placidity. The ceramic bowl appears as the first form modeled by man with an intention. She purposedly tears its base to reveal a mouth-like shape, thus transforming its essence and leaving aside its conventional use. The enormous time consuming process of the practice of the clay becomes here an act of soothing rebellion. Listening and abandoning oneself to the material as it dictates, in a way, the artist’s living rythm.
The project carries on the artist’s battle against the « bla », the concept of overconsumption and overfeeding on images and sounds as the tangibly sole foundation of today’s society. The installation becomes a sensory experience as each bowl reveals its own natural resonance. Liberated from the burden of any explicit narrative content, the work first provokes an intense physical dialogue with the viewer. The modeled lines forming around the gaped mouths uniquevokely resemble the ripples formed by sound waves. The murmurs emanating recall that first purely poetic vibration that originated all human communication.
In the current context, Murmuri also refers to the many fluctuations of human populations, present and future, and their influence on social structures and the environement. The resonance phenomenon is perceptible mostly through sound but the propagation of that one initial movement could be transposed to human fluxes. Placed in calculated patterns, the different tonalities of the clay suggest the incessant migrations happening in the world. Breaking down border and other invisible barriers, Ariza places the viewer at the center of this original vibration that constituted all matter in the universe.
Eve Ariza’s entire body of work reflects, from ceramics to activist happenings, on human communication and the intrications of language in a post-consumerist society. Through often ephemeral actions, she has been a tenacious critic of the Andorran microcosmos and its downsides.
The Mongolia Pavilion explores modern-day mobility and displacement, raising questions about what and where “home” is and humans’ relationship with nature. The artists work with natural organic products from Mongolian nomadic traditions, such as felt, horsehair, horse dung, and wood. The Mongolia Pavilion consists of two types of art presentation: a sedentary pavilion space at the Palazzo Mora and a nomadic pavilion with artist Enkhbold’s performances presented at designated public spaces around the city of Venice.
The two artists were born and raised in Mongolia and experienced migration as young adults. Artist Unen Enkh attended art schools in Prague and Budapest and later moved to the German city of Freiburg im Breisgau, where he completely transformed his art from two-dimensional graphic media to sculptures made with natural materials from his homeland.
Enkhbold’s art includes a variety of media. His two-dimensional works, made primarily of horse dung, ash, sand, and wood, will be displayed at the Palazzo Mora. With these works, Enkhbold joins the artists who defy the traditional concept of painting and its usual materials. Enkhbold’s performance art in Venice further develops ideas that he has explored previously at different locales around the world. Enkhbold questions the division between urban forms and his nature-based ger (yurt).
Venice was built by residents fleeing invasions by nomads, including Attila and the Huns in the 5th century. Centuries later, Venetian merchant Marco Polo (1254–1324) traveled to the Mongol Empire, where he spent 16 years at the Mongol Khan’s court. Enkhbold, building upon the historical legacy of Venice’s relationship with nomads and Mongols, will bring his performance art to the heart of Venice by nomadizing around the city and socializing with Venice locals and visitors.
The Mongolia Pavilion is organized by Mongolian Contemporary Art Support Association and funded by leading Mongolian businesses with the support from Mr. E.Bat-Uul. Mayor of Ulaanbaatar City. The project team includes Commissioner B.Gantuya, Head of MCASA, Curator and Art Historian Ts, Uranchimeg and Scientific Committee with David A Ross, former Director of Whitney Museum of American Art and Ch.Boldbaatar, art historian and artist.
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