Lydia Ourahmane presents a solo exhibition, 5 Works, curated by Polly Staple, at the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation, alongside the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

Lydia Ourahmane’s new commission follows a residency at the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation in Venice. The artist has worked with Venetian craftspeople and technicians but also collaborated with organisations in the city of Venice and the surrounding region.

5 Works combines a wide range of visceral media—including, for example, antique sculpture moulds, church lighting and decommissioned bed linen—with traditional conceptual gestures such as the recontextualisation of found objects and the presentation of documentary process. Several works in the exhibition are the direct result of negotiations, transactions and exchanges specific to historic sites and activist associations in Venice including Poveglia per tutti, Bancolotto No. 10: Il Cerchio and LSG: Lavanderia Spolaore Giuseppe.

The island of Poveglia has become a muse throughout the making of the exhibition. Situated on the outskirts of the Venice lagoon and largely inaccessible, its history is steeped in myth. The island has recently however been reclaimed by the association Poveglia per tutti (Poveglia for all) which is transforming the site into a public park. A central object commissioned for 5 Works is a fully functioning pier that will be transferred to Poveglia enabling public access by boat from the water to the land.

Ourahmane’s practice is focused on the real politics of daily life as much as exploring how art itself is valued and produced, distributed and displayed.

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