Statement by the Liquid Tongues exhibition team presented at the Polish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Art
We are not indifferent to the decision to include aggressor states in this year’s edition of the Biennale. Therefore, as a gesture of resistance to this decision and as an expression of solidarity with communities affected by wars and violence, we are closing the Polish Pavilion on May 8 from 4.00 p.m. until the end of the day. We encourage participation in the protests taking place at that time, and we also encourage everybody to support the Ukrainian Pavilion and to visit it in large numbers in the coming days and throughout the entire Biennale.
Even this temporary closure of the Pavilion runs counter to the very idea of our exhibition Liquid Tongues—its aim is to amplify less audible and less visible voices—but this is precisely why we feel this gesture of temporary silence is necessary. This project is, at its core, about tales of loss and reconstruction – from the rebirth of whale cultures to contemporary attempts to restore marginalised languages, excluded cultures and micro-narratives. The stories evoked at the exhibition allow us to imagine, in spite of everything, alternatives for the world: opportunities to rebuild what has collapsed or has been—and continues to be—destroyed by the dominant voices.