Venice Biennale 2017: Salon des Réfugiés

Abstract

This single review of a sprawling international exhibition takes as a conceit the comparison of three Pavilions within the 2017 Venice Biennale – that of Korea, the United States, and Antarctica. The author seizes on the opportunity afforded by the esteemed event’s organization around nation-states to reflect on the radical ways in which the exhibited artists are engaged with the distinct challenges and struggles of their respective homes (or non-homes). This essay is therefore an attempt to culturally compare with nuanced interpretation, as a way to stay close to the formation and ramification of world culture today. To diversify the potential in the read, the piece calls to unfold in rhetoric of postcolonial terms, related to new media scholarship.