As part of Maria Eichhorn’s contribution for the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2022, eight videos have been made to bring together various aspects of her Relocating a Structure. German Pavilion 2022, 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in the medium of film. Over a period of eight weeks, the films were presented here.
The film Relocating a Structure. The Pavilion conveys the concept for a temporary translocation of the pavilion, which was the starting point for Maria Eichhorn’s artistic contribution. Her reflections on the trans- and relocation of the German Pavilion were accompanied by an analysis of the specific structure of the pavilion, which consists of two buildings: the Bavarian Pavilion, built in 1909, and the Nazi extension of 1938 in its present form. In this way, Eichhorn’s artistic intervention into the very fabric of the German Pavilion and her investigations into the original structure can be accessed through the medium of film. The actress Ruth Rosenfeld reads from Maria Eichhorn’s catalog text.
The film Relocating a Structure. The Publication provides insights into the wide-ranging publication, which is a reference work on the history of both the German Pavilion and the Venice Biennale. The authors Dana Andrei, Marco Baravalle, Giulio Bobbo, Yilmaz Dziewior, Arno Löbbecke, Vittoria Martini, Anh-Linh Ngo, and Leonie Radine give performative readings of their texts, while Ruth Rosenfeld reads from Maria Eichhorn’s catalog text.
Five additional films under the title Relocating a Structure. Places of Remembrance and Resistance take visitors to sites in Venice that commemorate anti-fascist resistance activities and also the deportation of the Jewish population during the German occupation of 1943-45. The sites include the Santa Lucia train station, the Santa Maria Maggiore prison, the former tobacco factory, the Monument to the Partisan Woman, and the Jewish Ghetto. The city tours were part of the art project and took place twice a week for the duration of the Biennale, from April to November 2022. They were devised by Maria Eichhorn in cooperation with historian Giulio Bobbo of the Istituto veneziano per la storia della Resistenza e della società contemporanea (Iveser), and accompanied by him and tour guide Luisella Romeo.
In addition to these seven films by Maria Eichhorn, an essay film directed by Sabrina Labis and Kristina Paustian has been created that links the different components of the art project and visualizes the detailed search for traces of both historical and contemporary resistance movements in Venice in all their facets. For this, excerpts were used from the overall film series together with historical and current footage.
9 March 2023, 8 pm (CET)
Relocating a Structure. The Pavilion
2023, 12:05 minutes, HD 1080p25, 16:9, color, sound
16 March 2023, 8 pm (CET)
Relocating a Structure. The Publication
2023, 58:33 minutes, HD 1080p25, 16:9, color, sound
23 March 2023, 8 pm (CET)
Relocating a Structure. Places of Remembrance and Resistance, Jewish Ghetto, Ghetto Nuovo. A tour with Luisella Romeo
2023, 15:48 minutes, HD 1080p25, 16:9, color, sound
30 March 2023, 8 pm (CET)
Relocating a Structure. Places of Remembrance and Resistance, Santa Lucia Station, Santa Maria Maggiore Prison, Stazione Marittima. A tour with Giulio Bobbo
2023, 19:42 minutes, HD 1080p25, 16:9, color, sound
6 April 2023, 8 pm (CET)
Relocating a Structure. Places of Remembrance and Resistance, Santa Lucia Station, Santa Maria Maggiore Prison, Stazione Marittima. A tour with Luisella Romeo
2023, 16:35 minutes, HD 1080p25, 16:9, color, sound
13 April 2023, 8 pm (CET)
Relocating a Structure. Places of Remembrance and Resistance, Arsenale, Riva dei Sette Martiri, Monument to the Partisan Woman of Veneto (Leoncillo), Monument to Italian Military Internees and Prisoners of War, Monument to the Partisan Woman (Murer). A tour with Giulio Bobbo
2023, 27:05 minutes, HD 1080p25, 16:9, color, sound
20 April 2023, 8 pm (CET)
Relocating a Structure. Places of Remembrance and Resistance, Arsenale, Riva dei Sette Martiri, Monument to the Partisan Woman of Veneto (Leoncillo), Monument to Italian Military Internees and Prisoners of War, Monument to the Partisan Woman (Murer). A tour with Luisella Romeo
2023, 22:08 minutes, HD 1080p25, 16:9, color, sound
27 April 2023, 8 pm (CET)
Relocating a Structure
2023, 30:54 minutes, HD 1080p25, 16:9, color, sound