The Fortress
At the 61st edition of La Biennale di Venezia, Verhoeven, together with curator Rieke Vos, presents The Fortress , an artwork that takes the contradictions of the Biennale itself as its starting point.
The Fortress is a work about self-protection and conservatism in the face of great geopolitical uncertainty. The Dutch Rietveld Pavilion, built with the optimism of the post-war 1950s, can be seen as a paragon of openness and progressive thinking. With its transparent and accessible design, it was a spatial expression of democratic ideals. Verhoeven’s intervention questions the ideology behind the design from the here and now. Every hour, the building transforms into an antithesis of itself. After a group of Biennale visitors has entered, steel roller shutters in front of the windows slowly begin to move. Rattling and creaking, the modernist monument shuts itself off from the outside world. The Biennale takes place from May 9 to November 22
A source of inspiration for the performance is the work HA (2025) by Jana Jacuka.
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work by Dries Verhoeven
curator Rieke Vos
dramaturgy Hellan Godee, Miguel A. Melgares
performance advisor Jana Jacuka
performers (alternating) Jana Jacuka, Jennie Bergsli, Melyn Chow, Maarten Heijnens, Dengling Levine, Diane Mahín, Maya Mertens, Marlen Pflüger, Marie Popall, Lisen Pousette, Olivia Rivière, Harald Stojan, Misty Superdeluxe. All performative material is developed in co-creation with the performers and rooted in their individual practices.
full credit list here