A Glimpse of the IB Installation at the 56th Venice Biennale of Arts
Photographs of the space-installation, A Trans-African Worldspace showing various facets and views of the space. The presentation is located at Section 8 (at the very end of the main building) in the Arsenale, right after the space show casing the works of Georg Bazelitz.
The Invisible Borders presentation at the Venice Biennale titled A Trans-African Worldspace is set up as a constellation of impulses, experiences, and deductions from five years of being active and on the road across myriad forms of borders. It is a space-installation aimed at presenting the project as a complimentary association between process and outcome. A part of the installation (Room 1) is designed to immerse the visitors in the processes of the road trip through collage of images, audio-visual documentations and cartographic depictions.
Another part (Room 2) focuses on outcomes: specific bodies of works – photography, video and writings – realised by artists who were part of the road trips, workshops and site-specific interventions.
Room 1: Collage of images; a video projection on the wall of the opposite wall (the actual wall of the Arsenale) and cartographic depictions on the floor that suggest a pathway leading to Room 2.
Room 2: Works are projected from a projector mounted almost 9 metres high and projecting vertically downwards onto three different screens laying flat on a black-carpeted floor. The room is kept dark to allow the projection pop out and be immersive. The dimension of the screen is 120 x 160 cm wide so the images look really vivid and immersive. The works are slides that advance at an average interval of 15 seconds.
Texts from Emmanuel Iduma play the role of a mediator, creating reflective intermissions but also pointers for the audience. There are also videos whose sound become the audio component of the entire installation. The images, videos and texts have been carefully arranged and synchronised across the three screens such that they relate and reference each other while retaining the specificity of each artist’s intentions. In this sense, this exhibition is not a group show, but a collective one, the difference being that the focus is on presenting our endeavour as the outcome of impulses which took shape within a collaborative frame and context.
The entire space is approximately 21metres long, 4.5 metres wide and 10 metres high.
Artists whose work make up the presentation include:
Ala Kheir, Amaize Ojeikere, Charles Okereke , Emeka Okereke, Emmanuel Iduma, Jide Odukoya, Jumoke Sanwo, Lillian Novo Isioro, Lucy Azubuike, Ray Daniels Okeugo, Teresa Menka, Tom Saater, Uche Okpa-Iroha, Venessa Peterson.
Read more about our presentation:
- A Trans-African Worldspace by Emmanuel Iduma
- Three Standout Exhibit at the Venice Biennale by Wall Street Journal
- New Venice Biennale Chief Beckons Artists on the Margin by Wall Street Journal
Artistic Director: Emeka Okereke
Curatorial input: Akinbode Akinbiyi and Emmanuel Iduma
