The Venice Biennale has named the winners. Russia did not participate, but Ukraine dedicated the square – Afisha Plus – Saint-Petersburg News
On the afternoon of April 23, the first day of the Venice Biennale for the general public, the winners were announced. The British pavilion was recognized as the best – it presents the projects of the artist Sonia Boyce, which has absorbed the voices and video images of five women from Africa or Asia, among which is the festival pop singer Tanita Tikaram.
Another black Golden Lion winner is African-American Sim Lee, who was recognized as the best artist of the main project. “Silver Lion” – from the Lebanese Eli Cherry, who lives in Paris.
Russia this year did not discover itself on its own, after the works refused to reveal the artists important to discover in the discovery pavilion. The building itself, in the Giardini Gardens, recently renovated, was guarded by Italian security during press and guest prerequisites to protect it from vandalism. Nevertheless, on April 22, one actionist ruined the facade – it turned out to be Belarusian Aleksey Kuzmich, who attributed the letters “Belo” to the word Russia with red paint and stood in front of him in a half-naked form, painting his body in gold and red. He called his action “Trans-USSR version: delicacies for an enlightened eater, or Conjuncture”, listing among the “ingredients” everything sore – from the center and directed to servility, lies, obscurantism and danger to the West.
At the Biennale itself, one of the most frequently discussed topics is what is happening in Ukraine – for example, even the Ukraine Square appeared in the garden – the installation by Dana Kosmina of sandbags stacked in a large tower, where windows in buildings and other objects are now barricaded there. This is a project of the curators of the Ukrainian pavilion and the Ukrainian Art Fund for Emergency Assistance, created with the support of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.