The Australian Pavilion
The Pool – Architecture,
Culture and Identity in Australia
Commissioner: Janet
Holmes a Court AC
Curators:
Amelia Holliday and Isabelle Toland (Aileen Sage Architects) with Michelle
Tabet
Exhibitors:
Conversations with Olympians Shane Gould and Ian Thorpe; authors Anna Funder
and Christos Tsiolkas; musician Paul Kelly; environmentalist Tim Flannery;
fashion designers Romance Was Born; and art curator Hetti Perkins.
“It was a pleasure to
share the pool with our Australian and International community in Venice. The
scent, the sounds, the visual effects of the rippling water – this setting for
life was appreciated by many – young and old, architect and non-architect.
Sitting in the exhibition during the frenzy of Vernissage or the quieter days
following it was great to see visitors interact with The Pool.”
Amelia Holliday
Australia. Eight prominent cultural leaders from various fields
have been selected to share their personal stories, using the device of the
pool as a platform to explore the relationship between architecture and
Australian cultural identity. Each
narrative touches on a different scale, from the scale of the body to the scale
of the continent, and together all reveal the myriad meanings and impacts of
the pool on Australian society; as a means to enable survival in an unforgiving
landscape, to tame our environment, to provide spaces that facilitate direct
contact with nature, to create democratic social spaces, but also spaces for
healing racial and cultural division. Through the description of events,
experiences, histories or memories, the narratives presented collectively
describe a powerful relationship between place and society, intrinsic to this
year’s Biennale Architettura theme Reporting from the Front.