Monthlong delay marks PH participation in this year’s Venice Biennale
Due to the “unprecedented” delay caused by international shipping issues, the Philippine Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale opened with what the local organizers described as “an offering” called Prelude which presents the theoretical framework of the country’s entry this year, “Soil-beings (Lamánlupa).”
Curated by Renan Laru-an and featuring the work of Christian Tenefrancia Illi, the Philippine Pavilion is housed at the Artiglierie inside the Arsenale.
This year’s event runs from May 10 to Nov. 23, with the vernissage on May 7 to May 9.
“While we address the unprecedented 31-day delay in the shipment of the works, the Philippine Pavilion becomes a site for conversation on soil as prime architectural element with its own agency,” the coordinating committee of the Philippine Arts in Venice Biennale said in a statement.
Participating in the art edition of the biennale in 2015 after a 51-year hiatus and the architecture edition starting 2016, the Philippine Pavilion is presented by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda.
In a statement, Legarda said that the Prelude “welcomes early engagement and encourages visitors to return for the full exhibition, where the ideas and spatial encounters come together in full form.”
Additionally, NCCA chair Victorino Manalo said “this year’s participation reflects not only our creative capacities, but also our commitment to contributing to critical discourse on architecture, environment, and cultural practice.”
Space for dialogue
With the full exhibition expected to open in June, the Philippine Pavilion will be a space of discussion and reading room where the processes and ideas behind the exhibition are presented.
Visitors are invited to reflect on soil as a vital, cultural, and ecological force in architecture.
“The Philippine Pavilion assures the public that the curatorial and installation teams in Italy continue to work with care and diligence to realize the full exhibition with the depth and intention it was designed for,” it said in a statement.
The statement further notes that the pavilion “continues to reflect the country’s commitment to artistic excellence, environmental sensitivity, and meaningful international engagement.”
In Illi’s work, “Soil-beings” is presented as an agent of resistance, remembrance, and relation, far from just being a “background in architectural discourse.”
Illi’s work is a structure that takes the form of a swirl. It consists of about a thousand tiles made from soil sourced from different parts of the country.
It has a deeply engaging characteristic which imitates what the curator describes as microclimates and weathering events that reveal the soil’s property to be felt and appreciated.
Laru-an likewise stresses the “gahum sa yuta” or the power of soil in this year’s Philippine Pavilion.
The country’s pavilion is among the 66 countries which participated in this year’s event done in three venues, namely Giardini, Arsenale, and Forte Marghera.
