biennale stories

A Case Study

A Case Study The German Pavilion #3

Collage © Avital Greenshpon, Ferdinand Knecht, Axel Schneider

The Potential of National Pavilions as Public Spaces: For Whom and About What? Amarildo Ajasse

Visitors waiting to be admitted to the Giardini at the Biennale di Venezia © photo: picture alliance/dpa | Felix Hörhager, 2022

The Venice Biennale national pavilion structure has often been criticized for its exclusivity and inability to change its own features.

What if the country of Germany by chance moved its geographical location? Would the relocated country continue to be called Germany? What if Germany had to find a new space for its national participation at the Venice Biennale every other year?

View of the French Pavilion seen through the pillars of the German Pavilion and view of the German Pavilion seen through the pillars of the French Pavilion. © photo: ifa/Clemens Wildt, 2022 View of the French Pavilion seen through the pillars of the German Pavilion and view of the German Pavilion seen through the pillars of the French Pavilion. © photo: ifa/Clemens Wildt, 2022

Imagination about such a shift characterized the German pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013. For that edition, Germany switched national pavilions with France. In starting from this swap, the main goal is to examine and illustrate how the pavilion idea was challenged.However, new forms of national presentation are not always accepted without criticism or protest.