Giardini

It has been almost two weeks since I first whipped around the Giardini and Arsenale with Simon and Veronica. Yesterday returning for a more thorough investigation of the Giardini I started observing a few of the tell-tale signs of technological malaise and breakdown in several of the pavilions that people had warned me of. Some ominous black monitors for the most part with creative spelling on ad hoc signage.

On a similarly early and somewhat hazy stroll around the outside of the Giardini area I came across a kind of unwieldy balancing act comprising a standard-sized, rust-coloured shipping container sitting gingerly inside a rickety-looking boat made from roughly hewn logs. Because of its close proximity to the Giardini exit I suspected it might be part of the Biennale, but didn’t consider it further amongst all the other competing visuals at the time. Additional pieces of information such as an unfamiliar colourful flag and a painted logo ‘Capital Forwarding Solutions’ branded on the side were picked up on another visit. Then it wasn’t until chancing upon an article in a local magazine (cura. art magazine) that the mysteriously over laden boat come into a more focused view.

Djahazi

Union of Comoros flag

 

The simple, yet sturdy boat is called a djahazi and has been the main mode of sea transport in the Union of Comoros, an archipelago of three islands located between Madagascar and Mozambique, Africa and site of the recent and unfortunate plane crash. A young Italian artist Paolo W. Tamburella came across a photo of a djahazi online and intrigued, followed up his interest with a visit to the islands. Following discussion with some Comorian dock hands who agreed to collaborate with him they decided to repair and bring one djahazi to the Venice Biennale. Transportation involved the djahazi being bisected and squashed into, appropriately, a shipping container. Five Comorian men arrived two weeks before the opening to reassemble the boat and stayed for the Vernissage week to perform songs, dances and generally interact with the public.

More images and videos of the Camoros Island pavillion

 

Those who have been to the Giardini will be familiar with the different styles of pavilion architecture which ranges from the austerely neo-classical to modernist to quirky hodgepodge. By and large they are all solid, permanent and resilient structures. Outside the metal railings encircling the Giardini, beyond even the remit of the land this boat with its heavy burden lies tethered between four posts and utterly at the mercy of the waves and wake of passenger, cargo and pleasure crafts both small and epically large (massive cruise ships).

 

 

 

The djahazi were banned by the Comorian government following significant international investment by Comoro Gulf Holdings into a deep water port project and a $180 million tourist village. Described as a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC), Comoros is dependent on tourism in addition to exports of vanilla, cloves, ylang ylang, coconut, bananas, copra, tapioca. Ironically some of this information has been sourced from an online company called eStandardsForum which “collects and disseminates publicly available information on countries’ compliance with international best practices for managing economies and financial systems”. With certain adjustments it is then possible for all countries to “attract significant levels of domestic and foreign private investment”. 

More information about Comoros on eStandardsForum

 

In some ways the symbolism is overwhelmingly obvious – a container branded with ‘Capital Forwarding Solutions’ weighs in its first world privileges against a third world anachronism. The outlawed djahazi supplanted by larger vessels now negotiating the Comorian port of Moroni rimmed with luxurious tourist accommodation. The capital has been forwarded, along the customary routes however and this little reconstructed outlaw stays afloat just, waiting, knocking on the door.