Polish pavilion at Venice Biennale explores fluidity of language with film recorded underwater

"This time around, the country's entry—an audio-video installation by the Polish artists Bogna Burska and Daniel Kotowski—is less likely to cause such friction, with the more progressive side of the art scene currently coexisting more comfortably with Tusk's coalition government than was the case under the previous regime."

"Created in close collaboration with the curators Ewa Chomicka and Jolanta Woszczenko, Liquid Tongues centres on a performance by the Chór w Ruchu (Choir in Motion) that includes both hearing and deaf performers, with much of the content recorded underwater in a Warsaw swimming pool. Presented across two screens, with one of those set to be suspended above the heads of visitors as they enter the Polish pavilion, early previews suggest audiences can expect a visually arresting and sonically charged production that takes inspiration from whale song to explore "alternative modes of communication"."

"Liquid Tongues builds on a performance by the Choir in Motion the artists collaborated on at Warsaw's Zachęta National Gallery of Art last year. Originally founded in 2014, the choir has a shifting membership that adapts to different projects, with Kotowski facilitating the inclusion of deaf performers for both the Zachęta performance and the Venice project. While the former featured a combination of spoken Polish and Polish Sign Language, Liquid Tongues uses spoken English and International Sign."

"Two years ago, Poland's entry for the 2024 Biennale caused a stir domestically after the original selection, a project by the artist Ignacy Czwartos, was cancelled by the incoming centrist government of Donald Tusk. Having viewed Czwartos's work as being too closely aligned with the previous government's nationalistic agenda, many working professionally in the art scene were delighted to see the Polish painter replaced with a video-based project by Ukraine's Open Group collective."

Poland’s 2024 Biennale entry previously sparked domestic controversy after a centrist government cancelled an earlier selection tied to nationalistic concerns. The current entry, Liquid Tongues by Bogna Burska and Daniel Kotowski, is less likely to create friction because the art scene’s more progressive side is more comfortable with the governing coalition. The work, created with curators Ewa Chomicka and Jolanta Woszczenko, centers on a performance by the Chór w Ruchu choir that includes hearing and deaf performers. Much of the content was recorded underwater in a Warsaw swimming pool and presented across two screens, including one suspended above visitors. The production draws on whale song to examine alternative modes of communication, using spoken English and International Sign.

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