Venice Biennale

Visual art and sound installation exhibit at the 2024 Venice Biennale of Art took root when visual artist Parul Thacker and composer Frank Horvat shared in an expedition, north of the Arctic Circle, in the Svalbard Archipelago, in June 2023, aboard the tall ship, Antigua. The final product is an installation called, The Book of the Time-Travellers of the Worlds – a Fathomless Zero, which premiered at a historic Palazzo in Venice as part of a collateral event at the Biennale.

In the first exhibit of this installation, we are beckoned to appreciate and reflect upon the fragility of our planet’s melting polar regions while Venice’s Grand Canal hums directly adjacent to the exhibit, providing time and place to contemplate the interconnectedness of these two disparate landscapes and all life on Earth.

Water plays an important part in the Arctic experience. It is everywhere, especially in the summer and especially amidst our climate crisis. Drawing from audio recordings captured during their expedition, the soundtrack composed for this installation seamlessly weaves together the elemental sounds of the polar environment: the gentle lapping of water alongside the ice cap, the hypnotic feeling of whistling winds sweeping across open spaces, the cadence of sea birds, and the impact of calving glaciers. These regularly occurring sounds blend into the overarching layer of prevalent silence, all converging to create a sonic tapestry that mirrors the profound serenity and cathartic energy at the heart of the Arctic landscape, and Parul’s suspended translucent hand-sent double-sided stitched drawings.

This exhibition of fabrics features more of Parul’s works along with that of the talented French artist, Karine N’guyen Van Tham.