Venice Biennale

The 59th International Art Exhibition was curated by Cecilia Alemani, The Venice Biennale took place in the Central Pavilion (Giardini) and in the Arsenale, including 213 artists from 58 countries, 180 of these are participating for the first time in the International Exhibition.

This year the name of the theme for the Biennale was "The Milk of Dreams. “The Milk of Dreams" takes its title from a book by Leonora Carrington in which the Surrealist artist describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination. It is a world where everyone can change, be transformed, become something or someone else.

This exhibition raised questions such as, How is the definition of the human changing? What constitutes life, and what differentiates plant and animal, human and non-human? What are our responsibilities towards the planet, other people, and other life forms? And what would life look like without us?

This year the name of the Azerbaijani pavilion was "Born to Love". Fidan has created a huge installation; an arched canvas with a mixed-media painting on it and seven additional round wooden panels. The installation and paintings were exhibited in the old part of the pavilion where the whole interior was full of old frames and murals so the contrast between contemporary and antique was stylish and bold. The name of the project was Totem, it reflected the evolution of mankind, the relationship of man with nature, and the fundamentals of life which is survival. Man’s struggle with himself as well as with the environment.

Created only in a month "Totem" describes seven different animals almost merging into each other. This is an idiomatic chain of different animals like a lion, a crocodile, a fox, a bird, a fish and the most importantly a frog reaching out to a target with her tongue. And her target is a crowd of humanoids that represents people. The main message of this installation is the complex relationship of nature and technologies. This huge vertical installation is located right in the middle of a beautiful antique room with a sealing covered in old.

The seven round wooden panels describe different animals from the main “Totem" piece interacting with artificial intelligence robots. Each panel has one animal and a humanoid mirroring every movement of the animal across him. As we all know humanity has a strong bond with animal world. Totem is the revealing of the evolution, evolution of humanity, evolution of new technologies and their controversial relationships.