“I honestly didn’t like this Italian Pavilion. I like the figurative, I hope the next Pavilion can be like this.”
These are the words of the Mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnarowho spoke at the press conference of the Italian Pavilion, in the presence of the curator Luca Cerizza, the artist Massimo Bartolini, the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano and the many professionals who worked on the creation of the pavilion Two Here/To Hear. The mayor of Venice, after the usual closed-door visit dedicated to institutional leaders, admitted that he had touched the water contained inside the tank and that he had not understood the intentions of the Pavilion. His judgment was direct and expressed through an unequivocal sentence, regardless of any mediation. After an initial moment of dismay, the reactions of the public were not long in coming, responding united with loud boos, especially due to the distressing reasons given.
“Dissent is important”, retorted the new president of the Biennale Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, who was called to speak immediately afterwards, citing “the Mona Lisa moustache” and “Brawl in the gallery” of Boccioni’s memory before launching into a praise of the work carried out by Cerizza – Bartolini couple and attempt a diplomatic and intellectual recovery. An appreciable attempt but which, unfortunately, was not enough.
