MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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Chinese contemporary art
SIMON DUFF walks us through a fascinating display that is bold, optimistic and spiritual
View of the China pavilion
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
Atlas: Harmony in Diversity
Chinese pavilion, Venice Bienale
VENICE, in all its majesty and cultural splendor, is a city that needs a Biennale more than ever. As the population continues to decline and many buildings lie empty a new focus and cultural re-awakening is vital.
The 60th Biennale, entitled Foreigners Everywhere, is designed to showcase art from around the world and runs from April to November in venues across the city. There are many highlights: painting in the Venice pavilion, the extraordinary film and sonic work about the Ukraine war in the Polish exhibition, the ambition of hyper-historical migrant themes in the Spanish Pavilion.
But the work that perhaps best demonstrates the tightrope balancing act of looking both to the past and future is highlighted at the China Pavilion.
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