Sarkis - Respiro
The artist Sarkis made an installation called ‘Respiro’ for the Turkish pavilion at the Venice Biennale. In various places around the world, satellite programmes were running in parallel with this presentation—one of them in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (gallery 49). By not confining his installation to Venice, Sarkis was seeking dialogue with a wider public. Seven works of art from the museum’s own collection and from the Centraal Museum Utrecht were on display.
Curator
The curator of the Turkish pavilion is Defne Ayas, director of the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam. She selected Sarkis, a Turkish artist with Armenian forebears, to represent Turkey at this year’s Venice Biennale. In 2012 Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen invited Sarkis to work in the Submarine Wharf. He presented ‘Ballads’ in this 5,000-square-metre space in the Port of Rotterdam.
