German Pavilion, 2011 – 54th Venice Biennale

By way of actions, films, installations, operas, theater pieces, television broadcasting, and teaching, Christoph Schliegensief produced work that boldly addressed contemporary culture and politics, particularly within Germany. Schlingensief's death in the summer of 2010, which occurred as he was planning the German Pavilion for the 54th Venice Biennale, shifted the course of the 2011 program. Instead of presenting elements of Schlingensief's project, Festspielhaus Afrika, which initiated the first “opera village,” curator Susanne Gaensheimer has developed a program and accompanying catalogue that pays tribute to one of Germany's most radical, experimental, and progressive voices.