Sownd - Cymru yn Fenis / Wales in Venice

The Wales in Venice exhibition will be presented at Instituto Santa Maria della Pietà, located just off Riva degli Schavoni within accessible walking distance to the main Biennale Giardini and Arsenale sites. Cymru yn Fenis Wales in Venice is commissioned by the Arts Council of Wales with support and collaboration from the Welsh Government, Wales Arts International and the British Council.

Three site-specific events in Wales will run in parallel with the presence as a collateral event of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. (more info here)

‘Sownd’, combines organic and geological matter from North Wales and the Venetian Lagoon with words, sounds and sculptures responding to the venue's unique architecture. The title Sownd – meaning both “stuck” and “structurally sound” – reflects the artists' collaborative research on the unstable grounds of Welsh peatlands and the fragile ecologies of the Venetian lagoon. These sites underpin a tactile exploration of the precariously layered histories held within minoritised language cultures.

Awst and Huw said,

“Welsh peatlands, sticky and unstable environments, both conceal and reveal vast scales of material history. These sites, layered with organic matter and cultural memory, became a terrain from which we navigated sedimented histories of language, culture, and ecology. Our hope is that ‘Sownd’ invites connections between disciplines and across borders, informed by Wales’ celebrated history of site-specific collective practice and its oral poetic tradition,”

The Wales in Venice exhibition will be presented at Instituto Santa Maria della Pietà, located just off Riva degli Schavoni within accessible walking distance to the main Biennale Giardini and Arsenale sites.

9th May - 22nd November

10.00 - 18.00hrs.

Closed Mondays