The Pavilion of Iceland at the

54th International Art Exhibition— La Biennale di Venezia

In the context of

Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson:
Under Deconstruction
Curated by Ellen Blumenstein

We proudly present:

A Live performance of “Il Tuo Paese Non Esiste”

Route I: GIARDINI

June 2, 3.30 p.m.

Parcours: Rio di San Giuseppe and Rio dei Giardini

Route II: VENICE CENTER

June 2, 5:00 p.m.

Parcours: Naranzeria by Rialto, Gran canal, Rio di San Luca, Rio dei barcaroli, Rio della Veste

Route III: ICELANDIC PAVILION

June 3, 7:30 p.m.

Parcours: Campo s. Pantalon into Rio di S. Margherita and Rio dei Carmini, Rio di San Sebastiana, passing the Icelandic Pavilion in the former laundry house of Palazzo Zenobio, Collegio Armeno Moorat-Raphael Fondamenta del Soccorso, 2596

Il Tuo Paese Non Esiste is a contemporary serenade for mezzo-soprano, guitar and trumpet, to be performed on a gondola in the Venice canals. The artists commissioned and collaborated with the Icelandic composer Karólína Eiríksdóttir to write the music, which is performed by mezzo-soprano Ásgerður Júníusdóttir, guitar Alberto Mesirca, and trumpet David Boato.
The project is a new iteration of the ongoing campaign Your Country Doesn’t Exist, that Castro and Ólafsson started at Platform Garanti CAC in Istanbul in 2003, the beginning of which year was marked by global antiwar protests against the invasion of Iraq by the US and its allies. Since then, the project developed to include different forms and formats, and it traveled the world spreading the message, “Your country doesn’t exist” in different languages and through various visual modes, including billboards, TV advertisements, postage stamps and wall-drawings. A video displayed in the pavilion documents the previously life-recorded performance in dialogue with different aspects of the city and its omnipresent touristic reality, while a sound file of the piece will be broadcast on the radio.

In its two additional new iterations for the Venice Biennial, Il Tuo Paese Non Esiste becomes manifest as a neon sign on the façade of the Icelandic Pavilion, and it also formed the base of a “Do-it-Yourself” painting painted by the Icelandic ambassador to Germany Gunnar Snorri Gunnarsson who accomplished the art work in collaboration with the artists in February 2011.