What Is Left for Art to Say – with Dries Verhoeven en Rieke Vos

What is the meaning of art in a world adrift?

At the Venice Biennale, the Dutch Pavilion is presenting the performance artwork The Fortress by Dries Verhoeven and Rieke Vos. Visitors are literally locked inside a fortress sealed off from the outside world by rolling shutters. It is a powerful work that questions both Europe’s position in the world and the ability of art to reflect on that.

Geopolitics made its presence loudly felt at this year’s biennale, particularly through the participation of Russia and Israel. More than anywhere else, the biennale is a place where the question is brought into sharp focus: what does it mean to make art in a world adrift?

“A museum is a symbolic space; at most, something can be resolved symbolically, never actually,” Verhoeven observes with sobering clarity. Using his contribution to the biennale as a starting point, we explore this tension. What is the role of art when war and large-scale killing dominate the news? What is the meaning of beauty in an increasingly ugly world? Or is the time when art offered salvation long gone?