Venice 2021: Hong Kong’s ambition on show at the architecture biennale, while titanium sculptor Wallace Chan keeps faith with the Italian city
- Venice has felt the pinch during the pandemic, but artists such as Hongkonger Wallace Chan and the biennale’s organisers are determined the shows must go on
- The curator of the Hong Kong biennale pavilion says related shows will take place at home later in the year
As the vaporetto water bus slowly steams past majestic palaces, it is evident life has not yet returned to normal in Venice. Italy may be slowly coming out of its latest lockdown but the waters of the Grand Canal remain eerily calm, and the vaporetto does not have to weave through a flotilla of gondolas and water taxis full of tourists. La Serenissima is still anxiously awaiting their return.
Having passed beneath the Rialto Bridge, my eye is drawn by a poster on a wall of the ancient Fondaco Marcello. It announces, “Titans: A Dialogue between Materials, Space and Time”, the inaugural exhibition of titanium sculptures by Hong Kong jeweller Wallace Chan.
Further on, just before the vaporetto approaches St Mark’s Square, I catch sight of another announcement. The ornate gothic Palazzo Giustinian is emblazoned with a banner declaring the Biennale Architettura 2021 will open here – with all the necessary distancing and precautions – on May 22. The title of the architecture biennale, which should have been held last year but was postponed because of the pandemic, is “How Will We Live Together?”
Given recent global events, that is a good question.
The biennale, which will run until November 21, will be staged across two main event spaces: the Giardini gardens and the sprawling Arsenale grounds. Hong Kong will, as usual, stage a significant collateral event. Its pavilion will occupy a position that has always attracted crowds, opposite the Arsenale entrance in a discreet courtyard with a red-brick exhibition space that was once a glass workshop.
Visitors to the Hong Kong display may be surprised to find a seemingly minimalist experience, with just 21 booths suspended from the ceiling.
