The exhibition of a Polish-Romani artist Małgorzata Mirga-Tas titled “Re-enchanting the World” was inaugurated today (April 21st) at the Venice Art Biennale. It’s the first project by a Romani person in Art Biennale’s history. It will be available for a broad audience from April 23rd to November 27th in the Polish Pavilion.
The Art Biennale is an exhibition of contemporary visual art held in odd-numbered years in Venice. This year is an exception to the rule caused by last year’s sanitary restrictions due to Covid-19. The event is curated by Cecilia Alemani, who chose the theme “The Milk of Dreams” inspired by Leonara Carrington’s book with the same title. This year, there are 213 participants from 58 countries.
“Re-enchanting the World” is a collection of 12 pieces of tapestry portraying the Polish-Romani experience and West-European influences in art. It’s inspired by Silvia Federici’s “Re-enchanting the World. Feminism and the Polics of the Commons” – a study of feminism in regards to capitalism and the destructions of commons. The goal of the exhibition is to create space for dialogue and to build positive relations between people of different cultures. Her project was picked to represent Poland by the Zachęta National Art Gallery officials mostly because of the interesting format and the idea behind it. The jury praised the intersection of Roma iconography and personal stories with renaissance paintings and classic symbols and allegories.