Curatorial Program by Careof

The curatorial strategy and proposal are developed in close connection to the context, examining its roots, values, history and geographical location, while reinterpreting some of its distinctive themes and recurring elements in a universal key, involving local artists as well as international professionals.

The objective is to convey the complexity of the present world and imagine new perspectives of coexistence through a reflection on the relationship between humans, the environment and technology, transforming the space into an interspecies garden where images, sounds, videos, interactive devices, sound installations and new media develop different levels of storytelling and interaction.

In particular, the curatorial idea originates from the etymology of Riyadh, which means “garden” in Arabic. Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia and the largest city in the country, is located in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a vast plateau surrounded by the ad-Dahna desert. Its geographical location makes it one of the greenest and most fertile areas of the peninsula, and this is where its name stems from.

The pavilion will be a garden where architecture, art, bodies, real and virtual, human and technological, organic and inorganic, come together to create a constantly changing and ever evolving habitat.

Starting from this assumption, the curatorial proposal builds upon the architectural structure of the pavilion, enhancing the possibility of change and transformation, based on the values of contamination and interdependence: visual arts, performing arts and cinema are the pillars that allow the pavilion to be a lively, animated, and inhabited space.

The pavilion is simultaneously a screen, a stage, a laboratory offering infinite possibilities, just as infinite are the configurations of the space. Not only a physical space, but an open and expanded format: not just an exhibition path, but an immersive environment, a space of constant crossing and transition, where mutations, shifts, encounters and contaminations occur between interior and exterior, physical and digital, virtual and real. In light of this, not only the main pavilion, but also the related satellite pavilion and digital platform accessible anywhere in the world are essential parts of the project.

It is difficult to envision what these gardens will look like, so an existence without form is expected. From my point of view, gardens of this kind should not be judged by their form, but, on the contrary, by their ability to generate and make available a certain joy of existence.

Based on the appreciation of empty space, the curatorial project follows the architectural design in defining three key questions revolving around the idea of making space and having space: towards new content, new audiences, new relationships.

FIRST SPACE: OBSERVATORY / How do young generations experience their relationship with nature? What does it mean to them? The observatory is a space for studying and meeting new generations, a place of experimentation. It is dedicated to collaborations with schools, universities, and academies, which can present themselves or participate in laboratory activities.

SECOND SPACE: SQUARE / How is community built? The square simultaneously refers to both the geometric shape and the public square. It becomes a place of gathering, research, dialogue, and activation of collaborations with the entities involved.  The program includes the Digital Art Work by Martin Romeo with a strong component of interaction with the audience.

THIRD SPACE: HORTUS / How to cultivate a heavenly and earthly interdependence, without the peculiarly human desire for control? The hortus is the foundation, the land to cultivate and from which to harvest fruits. The hortus embraces both the generation and the possibility of the unforeseen. The hortus is dedicated to heritage, from which new ideas can sprout. The program includes a series of talks on the themes of care, heritage, and cultivation as well as a series of in-depth explorations on the proposed topics through the collaboration of the archives and festivals involved.