Chiara Camoni, the artist representing Italy at the 61st Venice Biennale, discusses her upcoming pavilion installation titled "Con te con tutto" in an interview with ArtReview. The single installation will fill the entire Italian Pavilion in the Arsenale, combining existing and new works that incorporate ceramic, stone, plant elements, industrial waste, plastics, and found objects. Camoni emphasizes the choral dimension of her practice, involving family, neighbors, friends, schools, and museum groups in the creative process, thereby expanding the concept of authorship. She notes that her project aligns with the Biennale's curatorial theme "In Minor Keys" by Koyo Kouoh, focusing on monumentality defined not by scale but by reiteration and presence.
This interview matters because it offers insight into how a national pavilion artist navigates themes of identity, collectivity, and national representation at a time of rising nationalism. Camoni's approach challenges traditional notions of Italian identity, emphasizing a Mediterranean cultural dimension over national boundaries, and advocates for a more complex, diverse representation of Italian contemporary art. Her comments also underscore the Venice Biennale's continued relevance as a platform for dialogue, debate, and artistic exchange in a polarized global context.