Our photos from Giardini are now online :-)
In brief:
The spectacular U.S. Pavilion by Allora & Calzadilla is definitely stealing the show and so is the parallel universe created by Thomas Hirschhorn inside the Swiss Pavilion.
The group show "Speech Matters" in Danish Pavilion is fresh, funny & has some of our all-time favorites in it, such as Mr Hoogerbrugge's video animations.
Christopher Schlingensief's installation at the German Pavilion (the artist died last year of lung cancer before he could complete his project) justly won the prestigious Golden Lion award for best national pavilion.
Not-to-miss is Christian Boltanski's "Chance" (French Pavilion) and Sigalit Landau's "One man's floor is another man's feelings" (Israeli Pavilion), both for its impressive visual impact & its interesting concept. Finally, great surprises were the intimate work of Hany Armanious in the Australian Pavilion (especially with the private tour given to us by Mr Adam Jasper) and the punky look & feel of the Romanian Pavilion, presenting the female duo Anetta Mona Chisa & Slovak-born Lucia Tkacova.
Further info:
U.S.A. Allora & Calzadilla: Gloria / Commissioned by Lisa D. Freiman
Switzerland Thomas Hirschhorn: Crystal of Resistance / Commissioned by Urs Staub
Denmark Speech Matters, various artists / Commissioned by The Danish Arts Council Committee for International Visual Arts, curated by Katerina Gregos
Germany Christoph Schlingensief: A Church of Fear vs. the Alien Within / Commissioned by Susanne Gaensheimer
France Christian Boltanski: Chance / Commissioned by Institut Français, curated by Jean-Hubert Martin
Israel Sigalit Landau: One man's floor is another man's feelings / Commissioned by Michael Gov and Arad Turgeman, curated by Jean de Loisy and Ilan Wizgan
Australia Hany Armanious: The Golden Thread / Commissioned by Doug Hall, curated by Anne Ellegood
Romania Ion Grigorescu, Anetta Mona Chisa & Lucia Tkacova: Performing History / Commissioned by Monica Morariu, curated by Maria Rus Bojan and Ami Barak