August 27–29, 2021
From August 27–29, the Curators Collective will host a series of public events to mark the midterm of the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale, one of the most important cultural events this year. Taking place ahead of the postponed awards ceremony for the 17th International Venice Architecture Biennale and bringing together collaborating national pavilions in the Giardini, Arsenale, and throughout Venice, the Midissage programme is part of the Curators Collective’s ongoing effort to fulfil the Biennale’s potential as a platform for collaboration, solidarity, and accessibility.
Ranging from panel discussions to exhibition presentations to book launches and walking tours, these events will open space for collective reflection on the ways in which curators of national pavilions have responded to the core question of the 2021 Architecture Biennale, “How will we live together?”
The Midissage events will be open to all visitors of the 2021 Venice Biennale. Selected events will also be streamed online for those who cannot attend the exhibition in person.
A preliminary programme can be found below. Further details, including the full programme and schedule, will be announced closer to the date in the final weeks of August and will be made accessible via the Curators Collective website, the Biennale website, and the webpages of individual pavilions.
The Curators Collective (CC) is a coalition of National Pavilion Curators participating in the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale. Its goal is to investigate new avenues for synergistic and accessible collaboration more suited to the challenges we all face in the age of COVID-19 and beyond and open up a space for engagement between curators and commissioners of participating countries.
Through transnationally programmed events hosted by the participating pavilions and curators, the Midissage will offer audiences—both onsite and online—the opportunity to take part in this unique forum of global exchange. It will exercise and enact the CC’s intention to forge new collaborative possibilities, to better address the great challenges we face today in inhabiting our built environments.
CC Midissage – Preliminary Programme
Friday, August 27, 2021
Midissage opening ceremony, CC gathering and inauguration
11am – 12:45pm
UAE and Philippines pavilions, Arsenale, and online
Welcoming remarks and a gathering of the Curators Collective to celebrate the launch of the Midissage programme and collaborative CC projects.
A Bench in Venice
The National Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates will host an inauguration ceremony for the winners of A Bench in Venice, a Curators Collective open-call competition where students from around the world were invited to design a bench to be installed in Venice. The students of the three winning benches will be invited over Zoom to participate in a celebratory gathering.
Evolving Manifesto launch
From 11:30am, the opening event will focus on the launch of the CC’s Evolving Manifesto. This launch will take the form of the physical/virtual activity, where drafts of the CC manifesto will be presented, and visitors/viewers will be encouraged to respond, question and engage with these evolving claims. By presenting the manifesto as a liquid space for co-produced, evolving guidelines, the manifesto will respond to our contemporary moment’s urgent need for active questioning, diversity and collaboration, rather than universalising claims and reductive answers.
Quarta Tesa: Sound Ecology and Contemporary Sound Practices
Listening session and discussion
11am–12pm
Republic of Uzbekistan Pavilion, Arsenale
The Uzbek Pavilion will host a listening session inside their pavilion in the Arsenale. Following the listening session, curators Carlos Casas and Franceso Berhamo will engage in a public dialogue about the the context and historical background of the Sound Ecology movement and the soundscape and field recording practices from early ’70s, which have persisted until today. Contextualising an architectural dimension of sound, they will connect these soundscapes to the Uzbek pavilion project.
Private vs. Public Spaces
Panel discussion
1–2pm
Room F, Central Pavilion, Giardini
The British Pavilion, in collaboration with the Austrian Pavilion, will engage in a panel discussion in Room F within the Central Pavilion in the Giardini. The panel discussion will explore the conceptual and architectural differences between private and public space, and how these can be performatively enacted across various sites of encounter.
Transborder Bench: Japan and Korea
Public discussion
2–3pm
The Korean Pavilion and the Japan Pavilion, Giardini, and online
As part of the project A Bench in Venice implemented by the Curators Collective under the leadership of the UAE Pavilion, there is a plan to install a bench—selected through a student competition—between the Korean and Japanese pavilions. In this session, we will discuss the significance of placing a bench that transcends the boundaries of the national pavilions from the perspective of both the Korean and Japanese pavilions.
Quarta Tesa: The Image of Architecture
Mixing session and discussion
2–4pm
Pavilion of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Arsenale
Emanuel Christ and Christoph Gantenbein, curators of the Uzbek Pavilion, will engage in a discussion with Gayane Umerova, Bas Princen, Kersten Geers, Andrea Lissoni, Ekaterina Golovatyuk and Saodat Ismailova on the topic of Uzbekistan and the mahallas as a source of inspiration for artistic work and cultural exchange transfer. The event will be followed by a special mixing session from Carlos Casas and Armand Lesecq, based on the 8 hour composition that inhabits the pavilion.
Missing Pavilions: The Political Space of Representation
Online panel discussion
3–4:30pm
Online
Moderated by Marina Otero and produced by Nick Axel, this online event addresses the issue of agency and presence at the Biennale. The panel discussion is presented by the curators of the pavilions of Canada, Germany and Russia Pavilions in collaboration with e-flux architecture. The livestream will take place here.
Mazzocchioo #7 launch
Magazine launch event
5–6:30pm
Romanian Pavilion, Giardini
This event, hosted by the Romanian Pavilion, will take place in the Romanian Cultural Institute in Palazzo Correr, Campo Santa Fosca, Cannaregio 2214, Venice. It will be the official launch of Mazzocchioo magazine #7 (the printed issue), as part of the Romanian participation in the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale. The magazine includes responses from architects all around the world to the question, “How will migration influence architecture and the city?”
CONEXION: The Dominican Republic Pavilion with the CC members meets the city of Venice
Cocktail event
5–6:30pm
Dominican Republic Pavilion, Campo San Vio (Dorsoduro)
Roberta Semeraro invites the members of the CC to a meeting with the local press, the public and private institutions of the city of Venice, to talk about the connections that have been created between the different pavilions in this special edition of the Biennale and the new need for the pavilions to connect with the city of Venice by expanding the physical boundaries of the Biennale beyond the Giardini and Arsenale.
Voices (Towards Other Institutions)
Book launch and music act
6:30–8pm
Lorenzo Mason Studio, Traghetto di San Tomà, San Polo 2811 B
The Russian Pavilion will host an event to launch and celebrate Voices (Towards Other Institutions), the book published in tandem with the project Open. The gathering will take place at Lorenzo Mason Studio in Venice, the graphic design atelier where the publication was produced. A brief discussion to introduce the book will be followed by a DJ set and a workshop.
The Curators Collective gathering in Venice
Meal – CC private event
8pm
Ristorante Al Giardinetto da Severino
A dinner will be held for CC participants at the Ristorante Al Giardinetto da Severino to celebrate the coming together of the CC.
Saturday, August 28, 2021
Othernity—Reconditioning Our Modern Heritage
Public discussion
10–11am
The Hungarian Pavilion, Giardini
The Hungarian Pavilion will host an open public discussion in their pavilion in the Giardini. The open discussion will involve the Hungarian pavilion’s 12 participating architects, who will discuss their experiences in the collaborative process of developing an exhibition.
Collaboration, Cooperation, Cohabitation: Possible Futures for the Biennale
Public discussion
11am–12pm
The Hungarian Pavilion, Giardini
This discussion, hosted collaboratively by the Hungarian, Korean, Polish and Russian pavilions, to take place in the Hungarian Pavilion in the Giardini, will explore collaboration as a tool to extend the future of the Biennale. Participants will include PROLOG+1 (Polish Pavilion), Hae-Won Shin (Korean Pavilion), Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli (Russian Pavilion), Daniel Tudor Munteanu and Davide Tommaso Ferrando (Unfolding Pavilion), and the Othernity team (Hungarian Pavilion).
Shifting the Gaze
Roundtable
11am–1pm
Republic of Uzbekistan Pavilion, Arsenale
This roundtable will be hosted collaboratively by the pavilions of Uzbekistan, Poland, and Israel, and take place in the Uzbekistan Pavilion in the Arsenale. The roundtable, exploring the territory, the rural, and the community, will attempt to present alternative perspectives on viewing what we define as “territory.”
The Generative Dialogues
Online discussion
10am–1pm
Online
The Korean Pavilion will play out a series of discussions in the format of a “Generative Dialogue”—a planned moment in which diverse parties come together in an open conversation that generates new ideas, actions and chains of thought for both contributors and audience—with the participants of Future School, the Korean Pavilion, and guest speakers.
Reflections on the Gulf in Venice
1–2pm
Panel discussion
Bahrain Pavilion, Arsenale
A joint conversation between the curators of the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain regarding the relevance and opportunities of national representation and architecture.
Quarta Tesa
Sound session
2–4pm
Republic of Uzbekistan Pavilion, Arsenale
The Uzbekistan Pavilion will host, in their pavilion in the Arsenale, a performance by musician and composer Andrew Pekler. The performance will explore imaginary landscapes and distant soundscapes.
Reflections on Curatorial Practice
Panel discussion
2–3pm
Austrian Pavilion, Giardini
The Austrian Pavilion will host a discussion in their pavilion about the practices of curating today, and their potential as self-initiated platforms. The panel will be organised in collaboration with the Korean and Polish pavilions, and include Irit Rogoff as a guest speaker.
Cartography of Common Themes
Roundtable and public presentation
3–4pm
Location to be announced
This roundtable, organised as a joint initiative within Curators Collective by the pavilions of Belgium, Iraq, Philippines, Poland, Slovenia and Switzerland will discuss and present the thematic relationships of the current biennale. The purpose of this map will be to chart a thematic cartography of shared conceptual interests across pavilions, challenging the presumption that the curation of each pavilion exists in isolation.
Labour in the Platform City
Panel discussion
4–5pm
Austrian Pavilion, Giardini
This panel, organised and hosted by the Austrian Pavilion in the Giardini, will consider the question of labour in the Platform City. Guest Speakers will include Peggy Deamer, Saskia Sassen, and Sandro Mezzadra, with moderation by the curators of the Austrian Pavilion: Peter Mörtenböck and Helge Mooshammer.
CC’s Passeggiata
Shared walk
4:30–7pm
The Spanish Pavilion will lead a guided route through the city of Venice, with stops to visit different national pavilions. The walk will be divided into two itineraries, one departing from Giardino della Marinaressa and the other, simultaneously, from Campanile di San Marco. We recommend bringing comfortable shoes and a hat.
2038
Magazine launch
5–6pm
Steps of the German Pavilion, Giardini
On the steps to the German Pavilion, we will celebrate the second edition of 2038 x Arts of the Working Class. After the first collaborative issue in summer 2020, the second edition of the street journal will bring the story of 2038 to the streets of the world, again.
Fiume Fantastika
Book promotion and public talk
6–7:30pm
Palazzo Michiel dalle Colonne, Cannaregio
This event, organised and hosted by the Croatian Pavilion in partnership with European Cultural Centre, will present a book based on the research behind the Croatian Pavilion’s exhibition Togetherness / Togetherless. The Fiume Fantastika book is the result of research into the phenomenon of the city of Rijeka, its history, and its potential futures. Located at the crossroads of cultures, nations, economic interests, and ideologies, Rijeka has experienced dramatic ups and downs from the beginning of the 18th century until today, which in turn seriously affected its urban physiognomy. Squeezed between the sea and the mountains, the urban culture of Rijeka is marked by simultaneous conflicts and cooperation between the industrial infrastructure complex and the public domain. The book outlines key episodes of its fantastic history in which numerous dilemmas of global modern society are sharpened to the extreme. Guest Speakers will include Idis Turato, Ida Križaj Leko, Vedran Mimica, Maroje Mrduljaš, Deyan Sudjic and Alessandro Rocca, with moderation by the Luka Skansi.
Rialto fish market celebration
Social gathering – CC private event
7–12am
A get-together at the Rialto fish market in the evening with music, food and drinks, hosted by the Austrian Pavilion, will be an opportunity to meet everyone involved in this Midissage initiative and to reflect on the Biennale thus far.
Sunday, 29 August 2021
The Peccioli Charter, Towards a Planet of Resilient Nations
Open discussion
10am–1pm
Italian Pavilion, Arsenale
The Italian Pavilion will host an open public discussion in their pavilion in the Arsenale. The open discussion will focus on the topic of “resilient communities,” deepening the Peccioli Charter as an open-source manifesto able to reimagine and reshape the planet as a network of resilient nations. The curatorial team and some guests will discuss their experiences in the collaborative process of developing the Peccioli Charter and the Pavilion itself.
American Framing
Guided tour
11am–12pm
United States Pavilion, Giardini
The curators will give guided tours through the addition to the pavilion and interior presentations of the Pavilion of the United States.
Playground: Artefacts for Interaction
Inauguration
11am
First floor of the Sale d’Armi D (in front of the Peru pavilion)
The inauguration of Playground: Artefacts for Interaction in the Peruvian Pavilion of the Venice Biennale will take place on August 29 at 11am in the Arsenale. The curator, architect Felipe Ferrer, will be attending with his associates and sponsors to celebrate the hard work it took to get there.
Upon Inhabiting Distances
Roundtable discussion between the Austrian and Cyprus pavilions
11:30am–12:30pm
Online
A discussion unpacking the two pavilions’ common threads on architectural practice as a means to inclusivity, locality and forms of community we can achieve.
Tolong/Tulung/Pummaci: Collaboration in Creative Practice
Virtual workshop
1–2:30pm
Online
This workshop will be orchestrated collaboratively by the curatorial teams from the pavilions of The Philippines, Singapore and Korea. Open to students internationally, the workshop is designed to provoke thinking about the processes and systems of designing spaces for collaboration especially in and within communities. In this 1.5-hour workshop, we will use examples that span across the countries that have also inspired the projects emerging from the Pavilions. Participants will delve deeper into the semantics of collaboration and how it might reorientate thinking about design strategies for communal spaces.
Curators Collective meeting
Online gathering
2:30–3pm
Online and the Korean Pavilion, Giardini
A special edition of the regular Curators Collective Zoom meeting will take place during the Midissage, with curators gathering in person at the Korean Pavilion to connect online with other participants around the world.
Going Live sessions: On Planetary
Panel discussion
3–5pm
Turkish Pavilion, Arsenale
The Pavilion of Turkey will host a panel discussion about the relationships between architecture and planetary imagination. Organised around the exhibition’s Going Live programming sessions, this panel discussion will take place in the Pavilion of Turkey in the Sale d’Armi Arsenale and will be streamed live online. The discussion will include guest speakers and will be moderated by Neyran Turan, curator of the Pavilion of Turkey.
The 8th Kilometre: promotion of the exhibition catalogue
Catalogue presentation
4–5pm
Serbian Pavilion, Giardini
This presentation, hosted by and taking place in the Serbian Pavilion in the Giardini, will present and celebrate the catalogue for their exhibition The 8th Kilometre. The event will be attended by the research and exhibition authors Moderni u Beogradu who will present the exhibition and catalogue, and afterwards, engage in a moderated discussion on the topic.
Lina Today
Roundtable and book presentation
5–6pm
Brazilian Pavilion, Giardini
Terrace of the Brazilian Pavilion, Giardini
The Brazilian curatorial team has invited Francesco Perrota-Bosch, architect and critic, author of the recent biography of Lina Bo Bardi, LINA UMA BIOGRAFIA, to a conversation around the contemporary relevance of Bo Bardi’s work. The event will be hosted from the outside terrace of the Brazilian pavilion in the Giardini.
