The Venice Biennale art festival that opens to the public this weekend will be as much about what visitors can hear as what they can see. Many presentations from the Arab world emphasise listening, such as Egypt’s Silence Pavilion, which is framed around stillness, and Palestine’s Gaza – No Words – See the Exhibit.
UAE creatives at the Biennale have embraced the idea of listening, too. Speaking to The National, Laila Binbrek, director of the National Pavilion UAE, explained that Washwasha – the Emirates’ six-artist exhibition – has an “element of sound and listening, which feels especially needed at this moment”.
Recent developments inside one of the world’s most prestigious art gatherings show what can happen when listening and dialogue break down. Just days before the event’s professional preview, the Biennale’s entire international jury stepped down. Jurors had made clear that they would not consider national pavilions from countries whose leaders are facing charges at the International Criminal Court. This would have affected the participation of Russia and Israel.
Organisers were forced to swap the Biennale’s coveted Golden Lion awards with two visitor-voted prizes, to be announced on November 22, the closing day of the exhibition. These are consequential departures from tradition and reflect how the Venice Biennale is taking place in an increasingly fractious world. Nevertheless, the relationship between art and politics has always been a thorny one.
Some of the world’s greatest artworks have poignantly reflected human suffering. Despite initial criticism for its abstraction, Picasso’s 1937 painting Guernica has since become a universal symbol of abhorrence at war and violence. Artistic expression can also be simultaneously sublime but propagandistic, such as the 1925 Soviet film Battleship Potemkin.
Yes, there is an argument to be made that because national pavilions are state sponsored, they should be subject to scrutiny and criticism if the governments in question have breached international law. Similar arguments abound in other cultural spaces. Several countries have pulled out of this month’s Eurovision song contest in protest at Israel’s participation. This week, musicians, artists and sporting figures in Ireland published an open letter urging the country’s football authority to boycott Uefa Nations League matches against Israel scheduled for September and October.
But art is there to challenge and be challenged. Artists have a responsibility to create works that reflect their views and – if need be – oppose those of others. This interplay is what creates space for dialogue and greater understanding. This doesn’t have to be genteel – artistic expression can be a heated and robust exchange – but it cannot take place if certain voices are excluded or ostracised. Just as artists from the Arab world in Venice this year have focused on the importance of listening, it is worth reflecting on what happens to the conversation if one or both sides refuse to hear what is being said.
