Even though the 2022 Venice Biennale has only just ended, preparations for the 2024 edition of the largest recurrent art exhibition in the world are well underway.
Tuesday marked the first day that the specifics of Estonia’s pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale were made public. The Estonian Center for Contemporary Art’s Maria Arusoo has selected artist Edith Karlson to represent the nation, whose pavilion was commissioned this year.
Karlson’s pavilion doesn’t yet have a name. Still, according to the announcement, it will build on her 2021 exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia, whose three floors she transformed into a setting meant to promote an alternative way of life. The pavilion will also be interactive and provide chances for viewer interaction.
Her earlier works used animals as allegories to discuss the connection between people and the environment. In a statement, she stated unequivocally that humans have negatively impacted nature.
“I would like not to build up a gallery space with contemporary art objects,” Karlson said. “There is no escaping from that situation. No illusions, only dramas. Nothing will ever change, and it’s both tragic and comic, serious and laughable, terrifying as hell, and amusing as a circus. I think my job as an artist is to create spaces where the viewer’s fantasies are evoked because the most powerful dramas are in our heads.”
There have not yet been any additional pavilions for the 2024 Venice Biennale, whose main exhibition has not yet employed a curator. Even though some nations try to have their artists respond to themes found in the central exhibition, the main show and the national pavilions are separate.