VENICE.- The PARADISO LUSSEMBURGO project proposed by artist Filip Markiewicz and art critic Paul Ardenne has been selected to represent Luxembourg at the 56th edition of the Venice Biennale. Filip Markiewicz will occupy the space of the Ca‘ del Duca, the Luxembourg Pavilion, from 9 May to 22 November 2015.

The idea of the PARADISO LUSSEMBURGO project is to portray Luxembourg in the European and global context as a sort of sample of Europe in which a significant number of nationalities and cultures are blended, constituting the very identity of the country.

"The goal is to write a new contemporary mythology of Luxembourg through the world of cinema and performance by including important figures from Luxembourg cultural life and confronting it with the context of Venice,» says the artist.

In the Pavilion there will be a film-set atmosphere, somewhere between a creative laboratory and a place of cultural entertainment, mixing dance, performance, DJing, reading, architecture and music.

Mudam Luxembourg is responsible for the organization of the Pavilion.

THE PROJECT PARADISO LUSSEMBURGO
With PARADISO LUSSEMBURGO, Filip Markiewicz presents a portrait of Luxembourg and, more broadly, a reflection concerning contemporary identities. The artwork takes the form of a vast theatre of which the six rooms of the pavilion are the receptacle. The movie Journey to the end of an identity, directed by the artist, is at the heart of this setup.

Through its title, PARADISO LUSSEMBURGO evokes the Paradise of Dante, the film Cinema Paradiso by Giuseppe Tornatore and the tax haven.

As the artist points out: "It is a title that can be interpreted in different ways. What interests me is, on one hand, the mythological aspect, close to the fable, and on the other hand, the popular aspect. The different waves of immigration recorded since the beginning of the twentieth century in Luxembourg have led to the country being seen as a kind of paradise for integration. Thus, the Italian language chosen for the title refers to art history (Dante, the film Cinema Paradiso) and also to the first wave of immigration to Luxembourg. Again, there is a strong allusion to the image given by some foreign media of Luxembourg as a tax haven, a theme with which I intend to deal frontally but also with a certain irony."

Filip Markiewicz offers a mixed and varied visit (ads, cartoons, a film, a speaker’s corner, etc) in order to immerse the viewer in the complex reality of Luxembourg. The reality of a country with rural traditions but which is also hypermodern, a pioneer in terms of European enlargement and integrated into the present world economy.

Visitors of the Luxembourg Pavilion are invited to participate in the production, like "speakers" in Hyde Park Corner or karaoke singers. "I like the idea of being able to develop this project into a random dimension which in turn would allow me, in a sort of utopia, to start finding answers to the questions posed by this installation," says Filip Markiewicz.

The project was chosen by a selection committee for its coherence and "complex reading of contemporary realities - including Luxembourg - thanks to the integration of various disciplines (drawing, installation video and performance), the use of news images and the use of collective work that strengthens the potential rhizomic sociability of the work."

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is participating in the Venice Biennale for the 14th time.