Tamed and wild, natural and created

Inge Beckel

2. 六月 2016

The pool, part of the Australian identity (Photo: Brett Boardman)

The Australian Pavilion at the Biennale deals with the motto of Reporting from the Front – as predetermined by general curator Alejandro Aravena – in a rather pragmatic way, at least at first glance. The topic addressed: the pool.

The new pavilion designed by architectural practice Denton Corker Marshall is dominated by a large pool. The Pool. Architecture, Culture and Identity in Australia is the exact name of the exhibition. However, those thinking that this title means nothing more than a basin filled with clear water are wrong.

There are certainly countless pools in cities and agglomerations, but people, for example, also bathe in the outback. Accordingly, a sand drawing surrounding a fire pit can be found – at least, it could be found on Thursday during the preview – outside the building on the bank of the canal. It analogously refers to the culture of the indigenous people of the fifth continent, the Aborigines, who traditionally do not bathe in pools but in open waters. Here, it is a canal.

The other bathing place – outside the pavilion (Photo: Alexander Mayes)

Consequently, the exhibition is more than the representation of bathing places and possibilities. It rather aims to thematize public spaces in general, including the associated public debates. Every Australian has, after all, his or her own pool bathing history. The exhibition has been curated by Amelia Holliday and Isabelle Toland from Aileen Sage Architects together with Michelle Tabet.