Kendell Geers' site specific installation, ‘Petals of Blood' is included in the display, ‘Take Care of Your Garden. Cultivating a New Humanism', at the Boatyard's Entrance of Giudecca Art District.
Curated by Valentina Gioia Levy and Pier Paolo Scelsi, the project consists of a varied program of temporary curatorial projects, performances, talks, video projections, and outdoor installations. The title of the project, which is drawn from Voltaire's famous satire 'Candide', reflects the project's exploration of how we manage relationships with ourselves and others in today's hyper-globalised world. The exhibition asks, as Professor Pangloss does in Candide, whether we are really living in ‘the best of all possible world', and whether art might help us to build a better one.
In recent years, artisans' studios and ateliers began popping up on the residential island of Giudecca, and it has become something of a hub for contemporary art. The island hosted Marina Abramović's first performance in 1976, Damien Hirst's debut Venice show and Ai Weiwei's 2013 Biennale survey at Zuecca Project Space.
During the 2019 Venice Biennale this May, the island of Guidecca launches as Venice's first ‘permanent art district'. Led by Venetian directors Paolo Scelsi and Valentina Gioia Levy, Giudecca Art District encompasses 11 art galleries in addition to the national pavilions of Iceland, Estonia and Nigeria during the Biennale. Over 60 artists are taking part in 20 inaugural exhibitions in the District over this period.
