Wander and Travel To…ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELATIONSAT THE 59TH INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION –LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA

Encyclopedia of Relations (2022) by artist Alexandra Pirici premieres today as a Special Project at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, The Milk of Dreams, curated by Cecilia Alemani, Artistic Director of Biennale Arte 2022. Encyclopedia of Relations is supported in part by Audemars Piguet Contemporary and will take place in the Giardini’s Central Pavilion from 23 April through 27 November 2022. Notably, Pirici’s artwork is the only performance in this year’s International Art Exhibition.

Alexandra Pirici is known for staging ongoing performative actions that consider histories and social structures. A trained dancer, Pirici often assembles groups of performers into formations that she describes as live sculptures, which act, move, shift and sing. Her works are conceived as continuous actions that develop over long periods of time. Her practice focuses on making a topic that appears fixed to become fluid—whether it be centred on public memory, history or art.

Pirici’s work for Biennale Arte 2022 is an ambitious new project that at once pays tribute to and challenges the notion of the encyclopaedia. While encyclopaedias present disciplines or elements of our world as distinct and separate entities, neatly organised by classification, Pirici’s work focuses on the relationships that exist between elements as a way of understanding deeper complexities. The artwork directly responds to Alemani’s theme for the International Art Exhibition, The Milk of Dreams, a reference to the children’s book by Leonora Carrington, which features an imaginary world where life is re-envisioned.