Plumbing the System

Responding to the Biennale’s “Laboratory of the Future” theme introduced by main curator Lesley Lokko, the Dutch Pavilion aims to show how alternative systems might work on a macro scale, while attempting to enact (and test) real changes on a micro level. 

In Plumbing the System, theory collides with practice in an active construction site as we confront and reconsider seemingly unchangeable systems—financial, political, societal, spatial—to create a more socially and ecologically regenerative future. 

On the one hand, the pavilion presents The Waterworks of Money, a series of drawings by architect Carlijn Kingma that visualizes the flow of money through society as a fantastical waterwork whose design determines which parts of society flourish and what parts run dry. Kingma has collaborated with leading thinkers in economics to develop and illustrate tangible alternatives that can lead to a more regenerative economy. 

Zooming in, the pavilion then seeks to test a hypothesis of systemic change by implementing change on itself. Continuing with the metaphor of water—and given Europe’s and Venice’s current water challenges—pavilion curator Jan Jongert of Superuse proposes to integrate a low-tech water retention system onto the pavilion, while documenting and exposing the hurdles in doing so. The installation also draws attention to the arbitrary monetary value of water in relation to the real value of this common good. 

Asking the question of whether cultural events and organisations can do more than simply discuss, debate and raise awareness of the urgent issues of our times, Nieuwe Instituut, the Commissioner of the Dutch Pavilion, is building on its strengths in research and critical inquiry to become and offer a laboratory for testing and enacting new ideas.

What is learned, it is hoped, can act as a guide for future change.

Project team
Commissioner: Aric Chen, artistic and general director, Nieuwe Instituut
Curator: Jan Jongert / Superuse
Exhibitors: Carlijn Kingma in collaboration with Thomas Bollen and Martijn Jeroen van der Linden

For press: nieuweinstituut@camronglobal.com. Website here.

Plumbing the System is made possible by the generous support of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and Wavin.

Parallel research programme: The Biennale as Metabolism
Together with Creative Industries Fund NL, Nieuwe Institute launched an open call: The Biennale as Metabolism. The three selected proposals by Onur Can Tepe and Crispijn van Sas, V8 Architects and Ester van de Wiel all expose the invisible flows of material, waste and labour hidden behind the exhibitions at the Biennale. 

Since the previous Biennale in 2021, the Nieuwe Instituut has been working closely with commissioners of pavilions from other countries with the aim of ensuring that the presence of the pavilions will not harm the fragile ecosystem of the city, but have a positive effect on Venice as a liveable city.