Agenda

Ina Lou / Dear Mother Earth is a two-day symposium during the closing week of the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia that binds the South-East Asian, Portuguese and Timor-Leste pavilions with dialogue, performance and film screening. Forming a cross pavilion alliance, artists, curators, activists, academics and researchers will come together to delve into shared concerns and commonalities.
Ina Lou / Dear Mother Earth is a title derived from a traditional Timorese song performed in the Indigenous language Tetum by artist Maria Madeira invoking environmental reverence and harmony. A clarion call to mother earth, the symposium will collectively consider ecological art practices, soil and sovereignty, water and wellness. 
The Spirits of Maritime Crossing reflects on how ocean and waves wash up maritime memories of long forgotten geopolitical histories and Buddhist teachings from South-East Asia. Greenhouse is a living garden habitat, a Creole garden inside Palazzo Franchetti, blending plant species with a stage for discussion and assembly. NICHE at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice is a research institute devoted to transdisciplinary environmental and water studies, ecological art practices and public engagement initiatives. 

Venues:
Timor-Leste Pavilion (Spazio Ravà),
Portuguese Pavilion (Palazzo Franchetti)
Palazzo Smith Mangilli Valmarana
Ca' Dolfin, Aula Magna Silvio Trentin
NICHE (Ca’ Bottacin)

Partners: THE NEW INSTITUTE Centre for Environmental Humanities (NICHE), The UNESCO Chair on “Water Heritage and Sustainable Development” and the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage (DFBC) at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice; Maria Madeira: Kiss and Don’t Tell, Timor-Leste Pavilion, Greenhouse, Portuguese Pavilion, Hangar–Artistic Research Center and Mónica de Miranda Studio, The Spirits of Maritime Crossing (BAB–Bangkok Art Biennale) at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. 

Organizers: Cristina Baldacci is associate professor of Contemporary Art History in the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage (DFBC) at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and principal investigator of the Ecological Art Practices research cluster at NICHE; Natalie King is enterprise professor of Visual Arts in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, Victorian College of the Arts at University of Melbourne and curator of Timor-Leste Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia; Francesca Tarocco is full professor of Buddhist Studies and Chinese Religions in the Department of Asian and North African Studies (DSAAM) at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and director of NICHE. 

NICHE, UNESCO Chair, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage (DFBC), Timor-Leste Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Portuguese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Bangkok Art Biennale

>> PROGRAMME 19 November 2024

>> PROGRAMME 20 November 2024

Read the interview on My Art Guide "Art as Activism: Cristina Baldacci, Natalie King and Francesca Tarocco on “Ina Lou / Dear Mother Earth” and the Call for Ecological Reverence at the Venice Biennale"