As I’ve mentioned, in addition to the two main venues for the Venice Biennale at the Arsenale and Giardini, there are numerous individual country pavilions situated on the grounds of the Giardini and also around Venice at other locations.
The title and theme of the exhibit at the Indonesian Pavilion was Sakti,, a Sanskrit term connected to primordial cosmic energy and the divine feminine creative power. The atmosphere created by the different artist contributors to this pavilion was one of deep quiet reverence, agelessness and power.
Just inside the entrance, the work of Entang Wharso (b. 1967) used bronze, graphite and aluminum as well as other materials to create ominous and mysterious life-size figures mixing past and present, in this case, past presidents.
Further inside was the massive installation of Albert Yonathan Setyawan (b.1983) with its repetitive ceramic forms.
They formed a sort of courtyard or grand entrance or, more fancifully, might have been an audience for Sri Astari’s (b. 1953) installation, Pendopo: Dancing the Wild Seas. Pendopo is a special chamber in an Indonesian house used for welcoming guests and conducting ceremonies. These particular dancers express Sakti in the power of the South Sea Queen. Her strength is supposedly behind the Sultan’s power and also resides inside each person.
Back in the main building at the Giardini, I was fascinated by Guo Fengyi’s (b.1942) drawings and life story. Retiring from her job in a rubber plant at 37 because of severe arthritis, she began the practice of Qigong, a practice supporting wellness through focusing and strengthening energy. After a vision in 1987 related to her Qigong practice, she began a tremendous outpouring of art in the form of drawings in ink, ball point, pen and pencil, using long Chinese scrolls.
Fengyi's story intrigues me being that I create through a disability and my processes to create my quilts is a way I measure my sense of strength and well being. Thank you for sharing.
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