NZ at Venice Biennale

Maori kaumatua, Muriwai Ihakara (Te Arawa/Ngati Porou) led an early morning procession with Kapa Haka group Te Waka Huia through the streets of Venice today to launch New Zealand's official presence at the 53rd Venice Biennale.

Read on to see the virtual tours of exhibitions by Judy Millar and Francis Upritchard.

Artist Judy Millar's exhibition venue - the historic La Maddalena church and sculptor Francis Upritchard's Fondazione Claudio Buziol - an intimate former residence that looks directly onto the main canal -  were officially blessed before VIP's and media proceeded to Venice's historic Piazzo St Marco for a Powhiri performed by Te Waka Huia.

Representing the New Zealand Government, Ambassador to Italy, Laurie Marks said, “What better location than Venice to experience the transposition of the South pacific with such a historical centre of Italian art. It is fantastic that New Zealand is here at the Venice Biennale”.

Jenny Harper, who along with Creative New Zealand, commissioned the artists to represent New Zealand at the Venice Biennale said, “It is incredible to be back in Venice with such a great team and more NZ patrons than ever before. The exhibitions created by Judy Millar and Francis Upritchard are making us feel so proud and are sure to create a sensation here in this amazing city”.

About the artists and exhibitions

Artist Judy Millar will be 'taking over' the interior of the Neo-Classical structure La Maddalena, the only circular church in Venice, designed by Tommaso Temanza and built in 1780. The generous and unusual physical dimensions of La Maddalena will allow a full play of spatial disruptions, dislocations and inversions.

The exhibition ‘Giraffe-Bottle-Gun’ will instigate a lively dispute with the venue in which it intrudes, between the great history of Venetian painting and this contemporary practice.

See the Virtual Tour here.

The installation Save Yourself by Sculptor, Francis Upritchard includes clusters of figures situated on table-like wooden platforms extending out from the base of giant antique mirrors within the three chambers within the Fondazione Claudio Buziol at the Palazzo Mangilli-Valmarana overlooking the Grand Canal. Each grouping occupies an imaginary landscape which exists in an indeterminate historical period.

The figures populating these fantasy scenes are detailed with a psychedelic surface and a handmade quality. They are searchers, dreamers, dancers; consumed by their acts of meditation or lost in reverie.

See the Virtual Tour here (and below). 

New Zealand Room

A uniquely New Zealand display of the best of New Zealand’s contemporary culture, literature and design will support New Zealand’s exhibitions at the 2009 Venice Biennale. The New Zealand Room is located in the same venue as New Zealand artist Judy Millar, La Maddalena.

Visitors to La Maddalena will be able to participate in the New Zealand room’s interactive features as well as enter an online competition to win an “Arts Tour of New Zealand”. A virtual tour of the NZ Room will be available from 4 June.

Contemporary art and design featured are from Kennedy Brown, Candywhistle, Jamie McLellan, George Nuku, David Trubridge, David Moreland and Chris Bailey.  Also included will be some of New Zealand’s iconic literature showcasing our fresh and vibrant Pacific identity through architecture, visual art, film, music and performing arts.

Venice Biennale

With over 70 countries represented in their own pavilions, Venice will be abuzz of VIPs, film and music celebrities, media and invited critics, curators, and collectors ahead of the public opening this weekend. The official preview exhibition openings for the NZ aritsts will be on Thursday 4 June in Venice (Friday 5 June NZ Time)

Established in 1895, the Venice Biennale is now recognised as being the oldest, longest running cultural event of its kind, attracting hundreds of thousands of people to each event. Although there are now many other large-scale recurrent exhibitions, none compare to the Venice Biennale in terms of international networking and promotional opportunities.