14 Jan 2014

Competition for the curatorial/artistic proposal for the Georgian Pavilion at the Architecture Biennale

The Pavilion of Georgia at the 55th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, based on the idea of the artist Gio Sumbadze and curator Joanna Warsza, was constructed as a parasitic extension to an old building in the Arsenale and hosted an exhibition including the artists Bouillon Group, Thea Djordjadze, Nikoloz Lutidze, Gela Patashuri with Ei Arakawa and Sergei Tcherepnin, and Gio Sumbadze. It was based on the concept that the absence of a permanent Georgian pavilion in Venice could be turned into an advantage. After officially renting 60 square meters of a roof on the Biennale premises the pavilion-artwork, Kamikaze Loggia, was built as a temporary structure attached to a pre-existing building, echoing the post-Soviet tradition of informal architecture in Georgia.

The Georgian Pavilion was considered to be one of the highlights of the 55th Venice Biennale, and was covered widely by international press. Reviews and articles appeared in newspapers such as The New York Times (USA), The Guardian (UK), and Gazeta Wyborcza (PL), as well as in magazines such as Art Monthly (UK), Flash Art (IT), art (D), or Monopol (D), amongst others.

The upcoming 14th International Architecture Exhibition, will be curated by Rem Koolhaas. The plan to preserve the structure of the Georgian Pavilion for the Architecture Biennale was first discussed in May 2013 with the director of the Venice Biennale, enthusiastic visitors, and the Rem Koolhaas research team. Now the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia has announced that the pavilion will remain. Slightly shifting its form and meaning for the new context of the Architecture Biennale, the Pavilion will host a new exhibition responding to the general title: Absorbing Modernity. As the saying goes: there is nothing more permanent than the temporary. Hopefully this will be the case for the Georgian pavilion in Venice for the coming years.

The competition for the project has been announced on the website of the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia, the deadline for the projects is January 30, 2014. The new project will be selected by an international jury under the supervision of the commissioner Marine Mizandari, First Deputy Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia. The 14th International Architecture Exhibition will be held from June 7 to November 23, 2014.