Comores Islands pavilion at the 53rd International Venice Biennale exhibition

Paolo W. Tamburella's project focuses on the djahazi, the traditional vessels of the Comoros Islands used until 2006 to transport containers to the docks of the capital Moroni. In 2006, following the modernisation of the port the use of the djahazi was prohibited. In the words of the curator Octavio Zaya, in his text for the Biennale general catalogue, 'Paolo W. Tamburella has fixed and restored five of the twenty-eight boats forsaken at the port, with the help of workers from Moroni, but not as an antiquarian and nostalgic affectation. On the contrary, in Venice, these vessels, which will be loaded with the regular shipping containers used in most of today's trade, will stand as a metaphor for an ambivalent globality.' The boats will arrive in Venice managed by the dockers of Moroni and loaded with containers just as they were until 2006, docking in front of the Giardini della Biennale, where they will stay for the entire period of the Biennale (22 Nov 2009).

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• exhibition
• venice
• biennale
• comoros
• pavilion