Nordic Pavilion
Elmgreen & Dragset earn special mention at Venice Biennale
June 12, 2009
The 53rd International Art Exhibition opened 7 June with the
announcement of the official awards. The International Jury comprised
of Jack Bankowsky (USA), Homi K. Bhabha (India), Sarat Maharaj (South
Africa), Angela Vettese (Italy, president), and Julia Voss (Germany).A special mention for Curating Worlds went to Elmgreen & Dragset for "reimagining the national pavilion as a collaborative universe. Bringing together the work of 24 international artists in the adjoining Danish and Nordic Countries Pavilions, 'The Collectors' comprises a delirious network of narratives that interrogate the relationship between our desires and the material worlds we design around them".
Together with a selection of invited international artists, Elmgreen & Dragset have transformed the existing architecture of the Danish and Nordic Pavilions into domestic settings, inviting the audience to be guests in a homely ambience. Here, dining rooms and bedrooms, furniture, fireplaces, a stained glass skylight and the artworks nestled within the households will reveal the uncanny stories of various fictional inhabitants, their obsessive characters and their diverse lifestyles.
The Collectors
Elmgreen & Dragset
Venice Biennale 2009
7 June - 22 November 2009