60. Biennale – The International Celebration of Blasphemy and the Sacred

The International Celebration of Blasphemy and the Sacred rappresenta l’Olanda.

Comunicato stampa

For the Dutch National participation in the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, the Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) collective – in collaboration with artist Renzo Martens and curator Hicham Khalidi – will present new artworks as part of their ongoing commitment for the plantation of Lusanga to be freed, regenerated and transformed back into sacred forests, as well as their commitment to a greater project of spiritual, ethical and economic reckoning. The exhibition will be on display at the Rietveld Pavilion in Venice and simultaneously in the White Cube in Lusanga (DRC).

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has confirmed the loan of the sculpture ‘Balot’, a carved wood ancestral power-figure made in 1931. CATPC requested the temporary loan of Balot in anticipation of the exhibition in the 2024 Dutch National participation at the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The sculpture is expected to be on display in Lusanga to the public from April 20 to November 24, 2024, parallel to the Biennale di Venezia. For both the Venice and Lusanga exhibitions CATPC will create new artworks from the earth of the last remaining patches of forest surrounding the plantation which will subsequently be cast in the raw materials extracted from the plantation.

An extensive international committee has advised the Mondriaan Fund board to further develop this idea into an internationally relevant presentation.