Draft:A Bridge to the desert

A Bridge to the Desert is the title of the art exhibition on which the Republic of Namibia focused its first national participation with an official Pavilion in the contest of the 59th Venice Biennale, opening 23rd April 2022 and closing 27th November 2022.

The exhibition took place on La Certosa island, located in front of the Venetian Arsenal, and it involved both an outdoor path of interactive installations and an indoor exhibition of photographs and sculptures. With a total exhibiting area of over 13 hectares it was «the most extensive National Pavillion of the 59th edition» and one of the most extensive Pavillions of Venice Biennale's history.

The exhibition was centered on the work of a single Namibian artist concealed under the pseudonym RENN, but the main artworks were introduced by two installations: a 140 meters long wall of desert pictures by photographer Roland Blum and the Seek to believe interactive path by artistic duo Amebe Studio. The National participation in the form of the Pavillion was organized and curated by Marco Furio Ferrario, with the support of Stefano Morelli as Exhibition Director and Curatorial researcher.

Structure
The exhibition was articulated in four main area: an introductory walkway with Namib desert pictures by Roland Blum (area one) that led to a photo exhibit of the Lone Stone Men project by Renn (area two) and an outdoor path through interactive installation Seek to believe (area three) that led to the Sculpture Habitat (area four) where sculptures of the Lone Stone Men series were purposely hidden to engage the visitors in a "art-treasure hunt".

The exhibit also featured some abstract sculptures made with scrap materials collected by Renn around the island.

Controversy
The Pavilion faced controversy as a petition against the exhibition was issued on change.org. The petition focused on the alleged race, age and nationality of the artist behind the pseudonym Renn, and the representativeness of the Pavilion for the Country, stating that the artist would not be Namibian. The allegations have been rejected by the curator, who refused to disclose personal details about the artist in line with the Pavilion motto "Art before artist". However, the curator reported to the Italian press that the artist is Namibian and that the selection process "has been the most correct one" because the artworks were chosen by himself and by the Ministry of Culture before the identity of the creator was even known: "the controversy is specious, any consideration about age, race, gender, are irrelevant, we chose the works. Visitors can form their own idea about the actual contents of the Pavilion beyond sterile controversies that, among other things, never talk about the only thing that should be at the center of an exhibition: the artwork.".

The Honorary Consul of Namibia in Italy released an official disprove of the allegations stated in the original petition and in the following news: "Many are the articles that have been written about Namibia's participation in the 2022 Art Biennale. I have read them all very carefully and unfortunately, I must affirm that some of them contain a lot of untrue information, probably written by someone who is not aware of the real facts [...] As often happens, when something important is achieved, there are always those who, for some unknown personal reason or perhaps because they have not managed to obtain their own visibility, criticize and obstruct the work of others [...] Another reason that made me think is the fact that a person initially involved in the project withdrew, even though from the beginning they were aware of the works and the project. In recent weeks, this person had proposed to add some new artists to the selected artist. Unfortunately, due to the tight deadlines, it was not possible to accept their proposal."