Socle du Monde Biennale 2021
June 12–October 31, 2021
Planned originally for last year, the eigth edition of the Socle du Monde Biennale 2021, Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends is finally opening this summer. The show’s title originally did not refer to a post-pandemic opening of art exhibitions, but has since gained another significance. The central focus of this year´s edition is the integration and embedment of the city space. As a result, three museums, a former high school, a church, parks, public and private buildings are transformed into showplaces for site-specific exhibitions. Hereby linking past, present and future by fostering an exchange between different generations of international artists, as well as connecting historical works by Arte Povera with new emerging positions. Furthermore, a highlight of this year’s Biennale is the Open Call, which is occurring for the first time, inviting artists from various fields to join in with their works.
The juxtaposition of the public and the private is examining interpersonal interaction and communication, be it between close friends, or generations. Jaume Plensa anchors mutual tolerance in everyday life with a public intervention, placing aluminium doors throughout Herning that display the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Antony Gormley’s 15,000 miniature clay figures are questioning our responsibility facing the world. “With architectural interventions, playful objects and installations, thought-provoking images and sound, Socle du Monde 2021 invites visitors to participate in a festival-like experience where the real and the artistic life merge, where geographic and artistic boundaries are blurred, and where old and new friends meet. Welcome back my friends!” —Tijs Visser, Intendant of Socle du Monde Biennale
In seven stages (plus prologue) the Biennale travels through time and different locations.
Prologue: The Biennale starts with Piero Manzoni and artists such as Sven Dalsgaard, Asger Jorn, Carl-Henning Pedersen being invited to Herning by Aage Damgaard in the 1960s to create new works in Herning—the starting point of a vivid artistic activity in the City.
Stage 1 – The Past: An exhibition with iconic works by Arte Povera artists Giovanni Anselmo, Alighiero Boetti, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Luciano Fabro, Jannis Kounellis, Giulio Paolini, Pino Pascali, Giuseppe Penone, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Emilio Prini and Gilberto Zorio.
Stage 2 – The Past Extended: presents artists who continue to use traditional materials in their practise. Antony Gormley has been solicited to display his work American Field, with over 10.000 small handcrafted clay figures. Kimsooja shows a version of the installation work Archive of the Mind.
Stage 3 – The Present: Jaume Plensa has created an art piece with 21 doors, for Herning City, On every door, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is engraved. The doors are placed throughout the city in a path that connects all the venues.
Stage 4 – The Never Ending: Not all art pieces are static, some are bound to develop and others are ever-changing. By placing their installation works in natural environments, the artists leave the future of the pieces to nature.
Stage 5 & 6 – The Past and the Future: Features artists that are using textiles in their works and hereby referring to the city’s history of cloths production. I.e. the Ghanaian artist El Anatsui will show a large “blanket” consisting of thousands of aluminum pieces sourced from alcohol recycling stations and sewn together.
Stage 7 - The Future – Open Call – Heart invites Danish artists to propose art works, which will be exhibited at the Herning Højskole and the Deep Forest Art land.
Participating artists: Antony Gormley, Alighiero Boetti, Jannis Kounellis, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Bjørn Poulsen, Charles Ledray, Christian Megert, El Anatsui, Emilio Prini, Eva Steen Christensen, Gilberto Zorio, Giovanni Anselmo, Giulio Paolini, Giuseppe Penone, Herman De Vries, Jaume Plensa, Joël Andrianomearisoa, Kari Anne Helleberg Bahri, Kimsooja, Klaus Munch, Luciano Fabro, Mahsa Karimzadeh, Maria Roosen, Mario Merz, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Muriel Gallardo Weinstein, Paul Gadegaard, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Piero Manzoni, Pino Pascali and many more.
