The arts ministry has responded to a petition by local artists regarding the artist and Italian curator who represented Namibia at the Venice Biennale, saying that by the time the petition was received, it was too late to salvage the situation.
The exhibition takes place under the theme ‘The Milk of Dreamsand’ and is being hosted in the Central Pavilion (Giardini) and in the Arsenale, which includes 213 artists from 58 countries.
The ministry confirmed that it endorsed Namibia’s participation at the Venice Biennalle Arte 59th International Art Exhibition, which has been taking place since 23 April and runs until 27 November 2022.
They also confirmed that they received a proposal from Italian curator Marco Ferrario, who wanted to stage a Namibian pavilion at the exhibition, to promote not only the arts but also the tourism industry of Namibia.
The artist representing Namibia is RENN, an anonymous artist known for stone sculptures in the Kunene region, who the ministry in its own communication said has little knowledge of the local arts industry.
In a media statement, executive director Sanet Steenkamp said the ministry had a meeting with local artists following the release of the petition, and the ministry urged Ferrario to consider the inclusion of other merit-worthy Namibian visual artists, to gain exposure to what is considered an important arts platform.
“Yet the time was against us as the biennale was about to commence, it was also agreed that the exhibition was already in its final stages of preparation, and it would not have been feasible to bring in changes. As a ministry, we acknowledge that lack of proper coordination, closer cooperation and consultations between the ministry and the event organisers could have led to some flaws in the process and possible misconceptions and misunderstandings between parties involved, and it is our commitment to redress this and avoid similar oversight in future,” she said.
Steenkamp added that the ministry believed the Venice Biennale exhibition and exposure would expand access for the visual arts in Namibia to the international arts community.
The petition asserted that there are numerous established individuals and organisations invested in the promotion of Namibian visual arts who have solid academic and technical expertise that would be far better positioned to do justice to the country’s participation at the event.
“The biennale is not a commercial art fair or a tourist expo, but an event that carries perceptions of symbolic and cultural prestige, with more than a hundred years of history: It carries with it a profound global significance. It enriches our discourses and articulates our sophistication as a people – and country – both to ourselves and to the world at large. It also goes a long way to inject much-needed commerce and cultural capital into our societies,” it was stated in the petition.
The Venice Biennale has for more than 120 years been one of the most prestigious cultural events in the world, and is attended by more than 500 000 visitors.
Attempts to reach Ferrario proved futile.
– UnWrap.online
