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Chinese contemporary art
SIMON DUFF walks us through a fascinating display that is bold, optimistic and spiritual
View of the China pavilion
[Andrea Avezzù]
RON JACOBS recommends a book that charts the disparate circumstances that defined the lives of two prominent black Afro-Americans — one a communist, the other an anti-communist
CHRIS MOSS joins the hunt in Argentina for the works of Poland’s most enigmatic exile
SYLVIA HIKINS welcomes a survey of successful contemporary worker co-operatives and economy-based co-operative systems
DAVID NICHOLSON recommends the staging of this Wagnerian classic minus one or two insignificant quibbles
JOHN GREEN relishes the record of a life well lived in the service of the fight for justice and socialism
Atlas: Harmony in Diversity
Chinese pavilion, Venice Bienale
VENICE, in all its majesty and cultural splendor, is a city that needs a Biennale more than ever. As the population continues to decline and many buildings lie empty a new focus and cultural re-awakening is vital.
The 60th Biennale, entitled Foreigners Everywhere, is designed to showcase art from around the world and runs from April to November in venues across the city. There are many highlights: painting in the Venice pavilion, the extraordinary film and sonic work about the Ukraine war in the Polish exhibition, the ambition of hyper-historical migrant themes in the Spanish Pavilion.
But the work that perhaps best demonstrates the tightrope balancing act of looking both to the past and future is highlighted at the China Pavilion.
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