The Pavilion of The Bahamas at the 55th Venice Biennale

By Martin Macdonald


2013 marks the fortieth anniversary of independence of The Bahamas from Britain. Fittingly, New York-based Tavares Strachan (Nassau, Bahamas, 1979), whose practice’s main themes include invisibility, displacement and the ability to endure inhospitable environments, is the representing artist for the inaugural Pavilion of The Bahamas at the Venice Biennale. Drawing attention to the nomadic and multicultural complexities of contemporary artistic production, Strachan questions canonised histories and geographies.

Polar Eclipse, Installation view.  Photo by Tom Powell Imaging.

The pavilion’s Polar Eclipse project is displayed on the one hand, as a comprehensive site-specific installation and on the other hand, as individual pieces. Comprising an assortment of media including video and sculpture, the project examines Arctic exploration, displacement, oral history and the progression of historic narratives. Strachan’s recent trip to the North Pole is evidenced in a 14-channel video installation, Magnetic (2013), a reenactment of Robert Peary and his African-American associate, Matthew Alexander Henson’s 1909 polar expedition.

Polar Eclipse, Installation view.  Photo by Tom Powell Imaging.

The piece challenges historic narratives - particularly claims that the white, physically handicapped Peary was the first American to reach the North Pole and whether Henson planted the American flag. Following their adventures, Peary was awarded medals, whilst Henson was left unrecognised for his many achievements. Currently, it is widely understood that neither men actually reached the geodetic latitude 90° North. Analysis of their complex relationship remains fluid and Peary’s treatment of Inuit people has been viewed in a bad light for quite some time – perhaps a sign of how much things have changed since the expedition itself but also a reflection of how much is left to do in correcting historical narratives traditionally written by Anglo-Saxon males.

Tavares Strachan, 40 Days and 40 Nights, 2013
Video, sound installation
Courtesy of the Artist.

Other pieces on display allude more directly to physical and cultural displacement. The video and sound installation 40 Days and 40 Nights (2013) touches on the issue of the Biennale’s national pavilion system and not only draws on the fortieth anniversary of independence of The Bahamas, but also on biblical iconography and themes. The number 40 alludes to the Temptation of Christ as detailed in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke whereby after being baptised, Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights and in refusing the devil’s temptations, angels finally rewarded him with nourishment. As a result, the piece represents the end of a struggle.

Strachan taught 40 Nassau school children a song from the disappearing Inupiaq folk tradition called ayaya. He then brought the Bahamian youths to Venice to sing it in the empty pavilion space and recorded their performance. In Inuit culture, ayaya functions as a mode of individual expression as well as bringing together different generations within the Inuit community. In this manner, various levels of physical and metaphorical displacement are established: performed by black Nassau children within the transnational context of the Venice Biennale, a virtually untranslatable Inuit song is given a unique iteration, injecting it with new meaning. “I’m fascinated by the idea of being in two or more places at once, and exploring difference that way,” Strachan points out in the press release. “The way that the Venice Biennale, historically and now, deploys the idea of “difference” as cultural tourism is an interesting problem to work with,” he continues.

Tavares Strachan, We Belong Here, 2013
Neon, 96 x 96 in
Courtesy of the Artist. Photo by Bill Orcutt

Polar Eclipse, Installation view.  Photo by Tom Powell Imaging.

Tavares Strachan, The Bear, 2013
Paper, pigment, Mylar on Plexiglass. 96 x 108 x 2in (2.43m x 2.74m x 5.08cm)
Courtesy of the Artist.

Here and Now (2013), comprising the three neon pieces I Belong Here, You Belong Here, We Belong Here, further explores the issues of geography and identification. Here First, Down (2013), a sculpture of a suspended Inuit figure in the Arctic resembles an astronaut floating in outer space. The collages The Bear (2013), The Walrus (2013) and The Owl (2013) add a sprinkle of Arctic wildlife. In the wake of globalisation, Strachan’s white Arctic terrains, suspended Inuit figures, ice blocks under glass and singing Bahamian children are at once reflective of complex historic narratives and exquisitely presented by curators Jean Crutchfield and Robert Hobbs - making Polar Eclipse a must-see at the Biennale.

Polar Eclipse, Installation view.  Photo by Tom Powell Imaging.

Polar Eclipse, Installation view.  Photo by Tom Powell Imaging.

Tavares Strachan’s shows include Orthostatic Tolerance: It Might Not Be Such a Bad Idea if I Never Went Home Again, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA (2010); Orthostatic Tolerance: Launching from an Infinite Distance, Grand Arts, Kansas City, MO (2010); Tavares Strachan: Orthostatic Tolerance, the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (2009); Where We Are is Always Miles Away, The Luggage Store, San Francisco, CA (2006); and The Difference Between What We Have and What We Want, Albury Sayle Primary School, Nassau, The Bahamas (2006).