It features work from 82 artists and art collectives from the region and beyond, around the theme: “If the World Changed”.
There are multiple locations from which I visited the SAM and the SAM at 8Q.
There is a lot of interesting art to discover in this biennale. Like Forefinger by Tran Tuan from Vietnam.
The giant index finger sculptures are not just pretty as such, clothed in surprising materials like animal bone and cow hide. The concept behind this work is also interesting.
Apparently anti-war activists used to cut of their index-fingers. This way they protested against the use of guns and they could no longer be conscripted to the army.
The fingers stand for a world without war.
The following installation was both beautiful and intriguing. It is named Between worlds by Nasirun from Indonesia.
The half-a-room filling tableau consists of glass bottles and beakers with inside them leather wayang puppets and lights.
The artist links the traditional story-telling wayang puppets to the contemporary medium of television and television characters. He sees both media as entertainment for the masses, one in the past, one nowadays.
I love wayang puppets, since I first saw them in Indonesia, about 25 years ago. I bought a dozen of them back then, which I still have in my Haarlem home.
The next work is intriguing as well. It is called Cosmology of Life by Toni Kanwa from Indonesia.
On a table, lit from beyond, are hundreds of teeny tiny figurines. And a magnifying glass.
The artist sculpted these miniature, talisman-like figurines to express his view on the world, the micro- and the macro-cosmos. He is an animist, meaning that he believes that every object bears its own energy and character that influences the definite form of the artwork.
That sounds pretty Indonesian to me. In the same trip to Indonesia when I bought my wayang puppets, I was confronted for the first time with animism. The whole culture of Bali, in which animism plays an important role, struck me as beautiful and made me fall in love with Bali on the spot.
You can expect a few more posts about the Biennale in the coming weeks.
I can definitely recommend you to visit the Biennale yourself!
It is still on, until the 16th of february.
There are lots of interesting works, some of which are interactive. More about that aspect in one of my next posts about the Biennale.
Which one of the above art works are your favorites and why? Have you visited the Biennale yourself? What did you like most? Any recommendations?
Those fingers are interesting. The first one looks like it could almost be a piece of furniture and you’d sit on the nail bed.
This looks like a really interesting exhibit. So much art to see over there!
bisous
Suzanne
Yes, there is indeed a lot of art going on at the moment. This is not always the case, of course.
The fingers could be used as benches, I think. They sure have the right size for it.