“Compared with the Venice Biennale, which creates a set of events linked to other disciplines – such as art, dance, films, and theatre – and permanently exploits the heritage of the Arsenale, the UABB strategically changes location every two years but it regenerates post-industrial zones and – as also desired by the Chinese government – avoids places that may polarise attention. China can, for instance, learn from Venice the political and  commercial model of the permanent pavilions.” One of the most fascinating works is the Bug Dome, a reinterpretation by TCA Think Tank of the bamboo structure created for the 2009 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale by the Weak! group of architects. In Venice, it has found both a new material and a space in the Giardini delle Vergini at the Arsenale.

In Hong Kong, this structure served for poetry-readings and performances but here it hosts intimate chats and interviews, some political, in the sense linked to the Polis.

The very concept of lightness, both unsustainable and sustainable, in a complete Yin/Yang metaphor is integral to Tales of Silk Road by Shan Shan Sheng, an international artist born in Shanghai but who has moved to America and also present in Venice with Open Wall, exhibited at the 53rd Venice Art Biennale in an exhibition organised by UNESCO and the Italian Committee.

“The red and yellow colours of the work were chosen with the same reasoning of symbiosis and synergy because they represent China and Venice. These colours are, for different reasons, a part of Chinese and Italian history and both are a part of the exhibition. The installation, which took long periods of preparation, is composed of recycled glass and small precious pieces of Murano glass. The work launched a broader project on the recycling of glass for artistic purposes.”