Madinah Thompson from The Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture & Design (CASS) at the London Metropolitan University, spent October in Venice invigilating the British Pavilion as part of our Venice Fellowships programme. In her research time she explored the city and here she gives her roundup of the best the Biennale has to offer.
"As part of my research critically examining the experience of being a Black traveller in Venice I've been trying to see as many sites in the city as possible. Here are the top five spaces and places that I've been lucky enough to explore on my days off".
I was worried that due to all of the publicity around this new exhibition the work might be disappointing - it wasn't. The mixture of established and emerging artists had a great balance and the curation was exquisite. Artists work appeared several times throughout the building making the journey more cohesive and engaging. This is overall the best work I've seen in Venice, the sociopolitical, racial and colonial themes that ran through the show meant that it was poignant as well as being aesthetically pleasing.
Zimbabwe has taken part in the Venice Biennale for the third year, and this year’s show entitled Deconstructing Boundaries contains some beautiful work, a particular highlight is that of Dana Whabira. It's definitely worth visiting.
The house alone is amazing, and the collection contains works that I've studied, and loved, but never seen in the flesh. It felt like a privilege to see so much art work in such an intimate setting and it reminded me of the reasons I fell in love with art at school.
- Soroportego Riva Degli, Schiavoni 4209
Tehching Hsieh is one of the most well known performance artists, and the Taiwanese pavilion offers you the chance to see the documentation of two of his monumental One Year Performances - Doing Time and Outside. It was incredible to see the rigorous documentation that the artist made during his performances alongside previously unseen works. The stewards also give tours to those that want further information on the artist and his work, which is worth taking advantage of.
- Calle Fontego dei Tadeschi
This is a beautiful space and from the top floor you can access the roof terrace which has a fantastic panoramic view of Venice.
Find out more and how to get involved in the Venice Fellowships programme.
