The Estonian Centre for Architecture has chosen the exhibition “Home Stage,” curated by Aet Ader, Arvi Anderson, Mari Möldre of b210 Architects, to represent the Pavilion of Estonia at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Hosted in a rental apartment close to the rear exit of the Arsenale complex, the exhibition explores the contradiction between the living place as a home and as an exchange value. Various Estonian performers will each spend a month in the Venetian rental apartment, which will become both a home and a stage. The exhibition will be open from May 20 to November 26, 2023.
The project hopes to expose the contradictions between home and real estate, between dreams and realities, tenants and owners, and residents and visitors. The purpose of the home now extends beyond living: investment and speculation have become an integral part of more and more dwellings as rental and real estate prices continue to grow. Many dwellings, especially in city centers, have owners, but no occupants, while elsewhere, residents struggle to find owners. The stability of the home as an intimate and familiar place is put into question by the flexible and fleeting nature of real estate, with its rapid buy-and-sell markets.
In the Estonian Pavilion, performers will highlight these contrasting ideals by dwelling on almost farcical domestic situations. Each performance is scheduled to last for one and a half hours, and it will loop during the day within different rooms inside the apartment. Some of the acts engage visitors, inviting them to take part in the enjoyment of domesticity and rest. The apartment will open its door from morning till afternoon during the exhibition.
The curators have designed the path that visitors will take. The journey starts from the open street, where daybeds will allow people to rest before entering the space. Inside the apartment, the living room and kitchen area will showcase a cabinet of curiosities filled with different artifacts along with a selection of peculiar kitchen tools. The bedroom will feature a mirrored ceiling, while the bathroom will be the stage for a “fountain of sinks.” According to the curators, the pavilion is “an invitation to be a curious neighbor, an architectural explorer, and a guest at a private housewarming party, but above all it states: everyone is welcome.”
The Estonian pavilion exists in the format of a durational performance, where ordinary domestic duties as well as fictional outbursts, both scripted and non-scripted, all take place in the public eye. - curator Mari Möldre
Several other countries have also announced their curators and exhibition themes in response to the overarching theme of the biennale, “Laboratory of the Future,” set by curator Lesley Lokko. Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira was chosen by the Holy See to create the installation that will represent the Vatican at the Venice Architecture Biennale; Finland focuses on the history of sanitation and water accessibility, while the Romanian pavilion looks to past technological innovations to inspire the future. Besides the national pavilions, the Venice Architecture Biennale also includes the international exhibition, which is curated by the Biennale’s curator, Lesley Lokko, along with several other collateral events.
