Estonian Pavilion, Estonia at 59th Venice Biennale of Art

The Estonian Pavilion, Estonia at the Venice Biennale 2022: the artists of the pavilion, the works, the times, the periods, the cost of the tickets and the exhibition venue.

Estonian Pavilion, Estonia at Venice Biennale of Art - Giardini, Castello - City of Venice

(© Orchidelirium. An Appetite for Abundance. Photo by Luke Walker. Courtesy CCA Estonia_058.jpg)

Exhibition in progress from April 23rd to November 27th 2022

The 59th Biennale Arte will open to the public on 23 April. But on the 20th, 21st and 22nd there will be the various openings and collateral events that always suddenly animate the Venetian artistic life. The awards ceremony will take place on the day of the opening to the public.

The title of the 59th edition of the Biennale d'Arte is Il Latte dei Sogni that means The Milk of Dreams.

The invited artists are 213 from 58 countries. There are 26 Italian artists, 180 the first participations in the International Exhibition, 1433 the works and objects on display, 80 new productions.

In all, 80 nations will participate in the Venice Biennale in the pavilions at the Giardini, the Arsenale and in the historic center of Venice.

Go to the page of the 59th Venice Art Biennale

Estonian Pavilion, Estonia at 59th Biennale Arte of Venice

Press Release of Estonian Pavilion

Kristina Norman and Bita Razavi, in close dialogue with curator Corina L. Apostol, will present Orchidelirium. An Appetite for Abundance , an exhibition encompassing installation, film, photography, archive and performance�connecting the past with the present, all through the lens of colonial botany and its socio-political ramifications.

The artists and curator, with the guidance of advisor Sadiah Boonstra, and the contributions of a team of creative collaborators will create an immersive environment, featuring a film trilogy by Norman and a performative spatial inter - vention by Razavi.

The exhibition takes as its point of departure the overlooked story of the Estonian nineteenth-century artist and world traveler Emilie Rosalie Saal. Her work as an artist of tropical botanical flora combined with her personal history serves as a case study for entangled histories of self-determination, colonial experiences, neo-colonial structures, botany, science and art. The title of the project reflects the orchid madness that gripped Europeans in the nineteenth century, Saal included, fed by an abundance of botanical illustrations that erased contexts and promoted an extractivist vision of local landscapes and people. The obsession with collecting tropical orchids that spans histories and geographies inspired Apostol to research its symbolism as well as the abuse of power exercised by orchid adorers. What were the consequences of Saal�s choices for indigenous peoples and landscapes? Norman and Razavi reflect on their own cultural heritage and lived experiences, while trying to engage critically with the colonial and neo-colonial discourses in the context of Estonia today.

Norman�s films, entitled Rip-off , Shelter and Thirst , respectively, will explore the manor as an elite place of cultural transfer between upper-class Baltic German women and their servants through the knowledge of and fasci - nation with tropical flowers; the cage as a liminal place of transformation, divided between a perspective from the inside and the objectifying gaze from the outside; the orchid nursery as a site connecting the Estonian mires and peat excavation industries, the import of tropical orchids and the circulation of capital and natural resources.

Razavi�s spatial intervention begins outside the pavilion, where the audience�initially unaware�enters into a system of categori - sation. Re-enacting class divisions inscribed in architecture, she engages the viewer to reflect on the notions of hierarchy and privilege through performance. Addressing historical erasures and incomplete narratives, Razavi utilises changes of light in a site-specific instal - lation and in display cases. A kinetic sculpture invokes a kratt , an enslaved magical creature from Estonian mythology, producing botanical drawings on command for those who accept its consequences.

Additionally, the viewer will discover Apostol�s research behind the project, in colla- boration with Boonstra and the artists, which combines material from different archives in Estonia, the Netherlands and Indonesia and highlights positions of the colonial past and present.

In collaboration with Norman and Apostol, choreographer and dancer Eko Supriyanto will develop a film-intervention that also asks: to what extent has coloniality actually ended? He explores the extensions of coloniality in nature, highlighting its ongoing exploitation in Indonesia and tying in issues of gender and race.

Orchidelirium examines the historical experience of serfdom in Estonia from which the Saal emerged, her role in Dutch colonial history, and the experiences of the colonised people of Indonesia�in tandem with the alter - ation of their indigenous landscapes during the late colonial period and the ecological impact it continues to have to this day. Immersed in the exhibition, the viewer will access de-co - lonial ecological imaginaries and the socio-po - litical ramifications of colonial ways of being, thinking, misunderstanding and doing.

Participating since 1997, this is the thirteenth time Estonia is exhibiting at the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

The Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art is the official representative of the Estonian exposition and it is financed by Estonian Ministry of Culture.

About Kristina Norman

Kristina Norman (1979) is a Tallinn based artist and documentary maker, who explores the converging trajectories of national identity, politics of memory and public space.

About Bita Razavi

Bita Razavi (1983) is a multidisciplinary artist best known for her autofictional practice centered around observations and reflections on a variety of everyday situations.

About Corina L. Apostol

Corina L. Apostol (1984) is a curator at the Tallinn Art Hall and the co-curator and coordinator of the international collaborative, practice-based research project, �Beyond Matter�Cultural Heritage on the Verge of Virtual Reality�.

About Emilie Rosalie Saal

Emilie Rosalie Saal (1871�1954) was born in Tartu, studied art in Petrograd (St. Petersburg), then joined husband Andres Saal in Java between 1899 and 1920.

Useful information for the visit

Hours: Gardens from 10.00 to 19.00. Arsenale from 10.00 to 19.00 (from 10.00 to 20.00 on Friday and Saturday until September 30th). Closed on Mondays (except May 13, September 2, November 18).
Tickets: please visit the official website.
Phone: +39.041.5218711; fax +39.041.5218704
E-mail: aav@labiennale.org
Web: Biennale of Venice