[-empyre-] Fwd: Call for e-action | Venice Biennale |Manifesto

[Ricardo Dominguez]

Hola Tim and all,

I will let the group that developed this gesture speak for itself (also 
a short manifesto as .jpg attached):

On 5/27/11 3:35 AM, statelessimmigrantspavilion at riseup.net wrote:
> We, the Anonymous Stateless Immigrants, will construct a "Stateless
> Immigrant's Pavilion" by occupying the Giardini during the Venice
> Biennale (June 5-15), pirate style, and we need your help!
>
> This is a call for participation to claim space for stateless
> immigrants in between the erected pavilions of all the nations for a
> sit-in with tents, bbq, music, dancing, etc. In solidarity with the
> Spanish Revolution and other emancipatory movements, our actions are
> closely aligned with our brothers and sisters all over the world who
> are struggling against the suffocating encroachment of capitalism in
> all its manifestations and forms. Advocating nomad-ism, autonomy and
> anonymity as alternatives to the representational border politics
> inherent within the structure of the biennale itself, this is a call
> for artists, activists and local people of Venice to join us!
>
> You could do so by replying to this email for further organizational
> support or forward it to relevant people in your network. More
> information about our statement can be found attached, but please do
> not hesitate to contact us directly for more info etc!
>
> statelessimmigrantspavilion[at]riseup.net
>
> Ps: This is not a mass email! our and your anonymity is important for us!
I did not attend VB and have only considered the event via this gesture
and this union strike:

"Italian unions certainly know how to get a point across. At the last 
*Venice Bienale*, in 2009, workers at the international exhibition went 
on strike 
<http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/news/artnetnews/moma-preview9-29-09.asp>, 
protesting the degeneration of working conditions and picketing the 
Giardini in August. This time around it was the vaporetto operators who 
called the "manifestazione," meaning that service on the affordable 
water buses had been shut down for 24 hours in protest of labor 
conditions. This being Venice, where private water taxis run a cool 
EUR60, and where the only other alternative to vaporetti is walking 
miles of twisty, staircase-ridden calli (narrow streets), there were a 
lot of blisters and missed art at the Biennale today. Chalk one up for 
the vaporetto union. (Some of the tonier exhibitions fought back, 
however --- the *Prada Foundation* and *François Pinault* both supplied 
water transport to ferry press and VIPs to their shows.)?

But I do think the questions you asking about the performative matrix 
playing out at VB in terms of routing around
the question of the "Global Citizen" and transborder_bodies in terms of 
presence - even as a frame of a question is
definitely out of the question for the state-driven definition of art 
that state's internal crisis (as in the case of the tactic
that you mention for Mexico etc.,) - but perhaps this has always been 
the case for VB specifically (since Hitler came by and
probably before) and the problem for most most Biennales in general.

But to be clear this is all from a distance.

Best,
Ricardo

On 6/8/11 7:58 AM, Timothy Murray wrote:
>> Thanks, Ricardo, for letting us know about this action.
>
>>   I'm wondering if you would mind saying a bit
>> more about the context of the action : "In order
>> to maximize impact and attempt to gain
>> visibility for
>> nameless, anonymous, stateless, non-represented
>> global citizens at theVenice Biennal."  In
>> thinking about this month's discussion topic,
>> Renate and I were hoping that the list would
>> address precisely this kind of disparity between
>> the (non)-representation of "global citizens" at
>> the Venice Biennale and those endorsed by
>> state-sponsored representation.  It's also
>> interesting to note that some national pavilions
>> seem this year to be engaging in an end run
>> around this thorny issue (i.e. Mexico) by
>> featuring non-national artists in national
>> pavilions.
> Best,
>
> Tim
>
>
>
>

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