British Pavilion, Great Britain - British Pavilion, Giardini, Castello - City of Venice
(Photo: © British Council)
Exhibition in progress from April 20th to November 26th 2024
The 60th Biennale Arte will open to the public on April 20. But on the 17th, 18th and 19th there will be the various events and collateral events that always enliven
suddenly Venetian artistic life. The awards ceremony will take place the day of opening to the public.
The title of the 60th edition of the Art Biennale is Foreigners Everywhere - Foreigners Everywhere.
The exhibition will be divided into between the Central Pavilion in the Giardini and the Arsenale, including 213 artists from 88 nations. There are 26 Italian artists, 180 first participations in the International Exhibition, 1433 works and objects on display, 80 new productions.
Go to the page of the 60th Venice Art Biennale
Curator of the 60th Venice Art Biennale
The 2024 edition is curated by Adriano Pedrosa.
Adriano Pedrosa, curator of the 60th Venice Art Biennale
– Adriano Pedrosa (born 1965) is a Brazilian curator. He is the artistic director of the São Paulo Art Museum (MASP) and the 2024 Venice Biennale.
British Pavilion, Great Britain at 60th Biennale Arte of Venice
The title of the exhibition at the British Pavilion is Listening All Night To The Rain.
Artists: John Akomfrah.
Curators: Tarini Malik.
Commissioner: British Council.
Seat: British Pavilion, Giardini - Venice
Press Release of British Pavilion
Listening All Night To The Rain continues artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah’s investigation
into themes of memory, migration, racial injustice and climate change with a renewed focus
on the act of listening and the sonic. The exhibition, conceived as a single installation with
eight interlocking and overlapping multi-screen sound and time-based works, is seen as a
manifesto that encourages the idea of listening as activism and positions various progressive
theories of acoustemology: how new ways of becoming are rooted in different forms of
listening. Encouraging visitors to experience the British Pavilion’s 19th century neoclassical
building in a different way, Akomfrah’s commission interprets and transforms the fabric of
the space in order to interrogate relics and monuments of colonial histories.
Open-ended in structure, the alliterative nature of the exhibition is reflective of the artist’s
abiding interest in non-linear forms of storytelling and collage. Listening All Night To The
Rain repositions the role of art in its ability to write history in unexpected ways, forming
both critical and poetic connections between different geographies and time periods.
John Akomfrah said:
“Listening All Night To The Rain alludes to the performative power that the sonic will hold in
the Pavilion. The final ensemble of installations – iterations of acoustemology – detours
back to questions of memory and of memorial but from a different vantage point,
questioning the architectonics of the present and the spectres of the past, with the idea of
listening as activism in mind. I sense that one can know the world – that you can find a
name, an identity and a sense of belonging – via the sonic.”
Tarini Malik, Shane Akeroyd Associate Curator of the British Pavilion said:
“John Akomfrah’s landmark commission for this year’s British Pavilion is true to his longstanding motivations as an artist in platforming voices from the global south and the
experiences of diasporic people in Britain. Addressing vast and complex historical narratives
that reveal and reposition our shared humanity, Listening All Night To The Rain is a
testament to art’s potential in challenging and enriching our perceptions of contemporary
life.”
Skinder Hundal, Global Director of Arts at the British Council and Commissioner of the
British Pavilion said:
“Listening All Night To The Rain promises to be aesthetically brilliant, contextually rich and
provocative. Akomfrah’s immersive style has a mesmerising quality, reaching and touching
the hearts and consciousness of audiences often unseen or unheard, which is fitting for this
body of work that encourages the idea of listening as activism. I look forward to April when
John’s work is presented on the world art stage in Venice and beyond, thereafter”.
For the first time, the British Council will work with partners on an expanded public
programme of events and artistic responses to bring the themes of the British Pavilion to
global audiences. This cross-disciplinary programme recognises Akomfrah’s impact and
influence on younger generations of artists and filmmakers to platform new voices and
narratives. Throughout the run of the La Biennale di Venezia, it will connect audiences in the
UK and beyond with stimulating and diverse international practice, encouraging a global
dialogue around the most pressing issues of our time.
The sponsors for Listening All Night To The Rain include returning headline partner
Burberry, Richard Mille, Frieze and returning sponsor Christie’s.
Art Fund is generously supporting the commission, along with a tour to bring Listening All
Night To The Rain to venues and audiences across the UK. More details including locations
for the UK tour will be confirmed in the coming months.
Support for the exhibition also comes from LG OLED, Kavadrat and UniFor.
The exhibition is also made possible through the support of Lisson Gallery.
Bloomberg are digital partners for the British Pavilion in 2024.
The British Council Patrons Board, chaired by Ebele Okobi, has seen a record number of
individual patrons supporting this year’s commission.
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 April 22, June 17, July 22, September 2, September 30, October 31, November 18).
Tickets: please visit the official website.
Phone: +39.041.5218711; fax +39.041.2728329
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: Biennale
of Venice |
