The second day of the large-scale project turned out to be not less exciting, interesting and ingenious. I admired the beauty of different installations, have seen hundreds of creative projects. I have appreciated and even criticized some extremely avant-garde projects – both naive and fauvistic ones. Do you remember the main slogan of the art-event of the year – “Art for art’s sake”? No politics, no problems and troubles, no words, my friend, about the sad twists and turns of our days. Just the human being and his ideology.
Did it really happen, and did everybody adhere to the main idea of the famous Venice Biennale? The intrigue hangs in the air, and I will tell you everything about it a little bit later. And if you aren’t aware of my impressions about the first day of the Biennale – read my previous blog post about this exhibition. It seems like different styles were blended into one colourful and bright gamut. (Like in the quote from “Anna Karenina”, “everything was mingled in Obolonsy house”.)
The contemporary art started for me with the controversial painter and financial lucky beggar, Damien Hirst. Many years ago, I have visited his exhibition which was held in the “Oceanarium” (Monaco). It was very interesting for me that days to look at his creations, the famous sheep, world-famous sharks. The terrifying golden man, whose skin was ripped off, probably this project also has a deep subtext and meaning. Of course, I couldn’t help but admire the art of this artist at the Biennale as well, especially, since here was presented a big number of his avant-garde installations.
The main installation is – “Treasures from the wreck”, which is directly related to the excavations, water surface, depth, adventures and the frivolous fantasies of the artist. A curious fact is that every person, even with the lowest budget can acquire the work of Damien Hirst.
And of course, since I am a woman, I was interested in his jewellery as well. The women love with their ears, and the years that love Hirst, are in love with what? Correct, with jewellery. But let’s not make the men jealous to this rich painter-superstar, and just wander together through two locations, where there where presented the works of this creative person. There were just two locations, and I must say that in this day they have reached an insane wave of popularity: these are the Venice Palacio de la Grassi and Punta della Dogana. When you just step into the first Palazzo, you see a giant sculpture sized as the entire atrium. It seems that the headless titan will just fall upon you. It may seem that the statue is made of bronze, but in fact, the “king is naked!”, it is made of plastic.
The second Palazzo – Punta della Dogana, as well as the first one, has overshadowed everything with its amazing exhibits. The sunken Budha seems to listen carefully to all your thoughts, and mysteriously looks at you, smiling just with his eyes. Probably he symbolizes the inner peace and peaceful existence of all people on the planet. While admiring this installation, I wanted to take a yoga mat and start meditating: “om”… And there are a lot of things I can meditate upon, it seems that the author himself is in a deep meditation, because he has spent 50 million on his installations.
Ukraine
The Ukrainian project at the Venice Biennale was represented by the work of Boris Mikhailov, and was called “Parlament”. The pavilion was located in the Cannaregio region, and it took about 40 minutes to get to the place. What is Mikhailov’s project about? He tells the visitors everything about history and even about cubism. It is interesting that in the photographers “Parlament” is sensed the connection between photography and the contemporary mass-media. The author traces the connecting lines between digital and analogue television. And even though the slogan of the Biennale was “Art for art’s sake”, he couldn’t leave the topic about the war in Ukraine untouched. Scattered stones, feathers, garbage bags and next to them gold bars – the symbolism of the situation in the country is visible in every part of the exposition.
Azerbaijan
While walking through Venice, we have accidentally run into the exhibition of the Azerbaijan projects. I have very warm feelings for this country because in Chisinau I have many friends from Azerbaijan. Moreover, I am acquainted personally with the wife of the former ambassador of this sunny country. By the way, this fantastic woman has published recently a book about the Azerbaijani cuisine, where she had collected the recipes of her favourite national dishes.
Talking about the concept of the installation, it is representing the diversity of cultures in this country, diversity of art. The Lezze Palace in the Campo Santo Stefano has perfectly fit into this event. The abundance of ethnic cultures that are present in Azerbaijan, the tolerance and hospitality of the inhabitants of this country – these are the main ideas of the installations. And it isn’t like this by accident: in this sunny country for many centuries, different ethnical groups and religions live together peacefully. In there all the cultures and languages are equal, this country takes harmony and equality as a rule. At the Biennale there were presented interactive media-projects, video mapping, installation of the visual performance group HYPNOTICA and projects by the artist Elvin Nabizade.
Follow my travelling adventures on Insta, watch my Insta-Stories. Let’s live our lives, at least once in a while dedicating ourselves to art for art’s sake: let it be an evening at the theatre, Filarmonica, at the Biennale or just, a rendezvous with the person you love or a pizza with friends. The art doesn’t have any limits, the most important thing is to see the beauty in every single moment of life.
Photo: Yuliya Kave
