Namibia’s national pavilion « A Bridge to the Desert » will make its debut at the 59th edition Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition with RENN’s Land Art project « The Lone Stone Men of the Desert ».
This exhibition will include a series of figures made of desert stone and iron approaching human forms. Each model is recognized by an emblem with an engraved number and an expression suggesting a speculative experience in which these figures seem to engage.
These sculptures appeared a few years ago in the most established desert in the world, in the Kunene district of Namibia. The creator or creators have remained mysterious to this day, although the curator has singled out the artist creator to share his theory with the world for this 59th edition of the Venice Biennale
The central theme of the sculptures connects humans and nature, the latter addressed by the desert. The figures represent human societies struggling to regain an experience and ultimately hope to regain humanity’s place in nature.
The work seems correct as an overall display of the various figures and their location is a necessary and crucial piece of the art itself, which turns into an interesting area work project as a whole, in power of the actual decision to place the models in one of the most remote, uncontaminated and unforgiving corners of the world.
The choice of location is such that two types of witnesses can encounter the artworks: the Himba clans, who are one of the few clans living in a pre-digital state, and the lucky and valiant couple of travelers who venture into the desert, who for the most part, have a gathering place opposite the Himba, with deeply innovative and urbanized ways of life.
Curator Marco Furio Ferrario proposes to consider the fundamental components of the works and will convey them through a narrative photographic presentation and immersive installations for this 59th edition of the Venice Biennale to be held in Italy from April 23 to November 27, 2022.
