For the 2018 Architecture Biennale Caruso St John and Marcus Taylor created “Island” a proposal that left the British pavilion empty and placed a platform atop the neo-classical building offering a place to congregate with views over Venice. We were invited to take over the pavilion for two weekends of programming, utilising the interior “Freespace” to address issues of freedom, exclusion, isolation, comfort, security and identity.

 August weekend

A series of participatory and performative workshops used sound, movement and actions to invite audiences to witness, experience and to participate in developing ‘alternate languages’ that challenge how we experience architecture. The workshops emphasised a connection with the building while exploring ideas of disconnection and island states.

 'Spatial Listening Games' by Alex de Little (researcher, sound artist and composer)
'Embodying Space' by Suzy Willson (Co-artistic Director of CLOD ENSEMBLE)
'Ike Rust/Icarus' & 'The Venice Mini-Midnight Run'  by Inua Ellams, (Nigerian-born poet, playwright, performer and designer)

November weekend

Artist Rachael Young curated “No Woman is an Island”, that brought together three performance artists – herself, Toni Lewis and Louisa Robbins – working across continents to inhabit the pavilion. With vast swathes of the British empire built off the back of migrant communities over the course of generations, the artists questioned how we can come together in the wake of Brexit, nationalism and other divisive political agendas. Collectively this group reclaim the space between the divide; they move beyond borders, culture and place, exploring not what divides us, but rather what connects us. They utilised the universal languages we share, those of love, care and humanity.