'The Fortress' the accompanying publication of the Dutch entry for the 61st edition of La Biennale di Venezia by Dries Verhoeven
Images: Samuele Cherubini (left: Interim Executive Director Mondriaan Fund Eva Postema & Minister of Education, Culture and Science Rianne Letschert, right: artist Dries Verhoeven & curator Rieke Vos)
Together with curator Rieke Vos, Dries Verhoeven transforms the Dutch Pavilion into part of the artwork itself through a large-scale performance installation.
The project marks a historic first: never before has the Netherlands been represented at the Biennale Arte with a performance work, nor has the Dutch Pavilion itself become an integral part of the artwork.
Image: Willem Popelier (The Fortress)
Image: Willem Popelier (The Fortress)
Designed by Gerrit Rietveld in the optimistic postwar years of the 1950s, the pavilion has long stood as a symbol of openness and transparency. In The Fortress, however, the building gradually closes itself off from the outside world.
During the 25-minute performance, steel shutters slowly seal the pavilion from daylight and from the Giardini outside. What was once open and light becomes enclosed, dark and defensive.
Inside the pavilion, thirteen international performers use guttural vocal techniques inspired by death metal to create an immersive sonic landscape. As darkness takes over the space, the work reflects on fear, instability and the fragile balance between openness and self-protection.
Image: Willem Popelier (The Fortress)
The accompanying publication contains texts by Dries Verhoeven and Rieke Vos, alongside contributions by Bas Heijne, Maurits de Bruijn and Eric Otieno Sumba, edited by Milo Vermeire, book design by Tariq Heijboer.
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Ronja Driessen
