Transmitting Knowledge: the Singapore Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale
By Shona Mei Findlay
ZAI KUNING represents Singapore at the 57th Venice Biennale. Photo courtesy the National Arts Council, Singapore.
Zai Kuning’s haunting presentation for the Singapore Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale featured a 17-meter-long skeleton of a sea vessel that traverses the hall of the Sale d’Armi building of the Arsenale. The tenuous yet compelling structure of the ship is constructed from rattan and bound together by modest red string and beeswax. Looming above a sheet of metal, which is akin to the reflective surface of a pool of water, the vessel appears as a ghostly apparition or a resurrected relic of ancient history.
