The Tourism Ministry outsourced the Maldives’ first national pavilion at the Venice Biennale art show to an Arab-European collective of curators, some of whom have alleged the Maldives government does not care about climate change or the arts.
The overarching theme of the Maldives’ pavilion, entitled “Portable Nation: Disappearance as a Work in Progress – Approaches to Ecological Romanticism”, is about how the survival of the nation, Maldivian people and cultural heritage are threatened by catastrophic climate change impacts, such as rising sea levels.
The pavilion is meant to raise awareness and be a call to action against climate change as well as explore questions of environmental impact, climate change and migration in the Maldives, as part of the art show taking place in Venice, Italy.
The art exhibitions also highlights Maldivians’ current efforts to archive and collect as much of their cultural heritage as possible, prior to the entire nation’s disappearance, due to rising sea levels, and the subsequent forced displacement of 350,000 people.
The Maldives pavilion was “almost abandoned” following the controversial transfer of power February 7, 2012, given that it was originally an initiative of former President Mohamed Nasheed and envisioned as a way to draw attention to climate change and the plight faced by the Maldives, according to an article published by the Inter Press Service (IPS).
Although Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Ahmed Adeeb commissioned the pavilion, President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik’s government “lost interest” in the initiative and allowed a joint Arab-European collective of artists, called the Chamber of Public Secrets (CPS), to curate the exhibitions, alleges the IPS.
Some of the Maldives pavilion curators have accused Waheed’s government of having no interest in the arts, the pavilion exhibitions, or climate change.
“They did not care. They did not mind. They don’t believe in the power of art to affect anything anyway,” associate curator Maren Richter told the IPS.
“The new government even denies the [climate change] problem and says that Nasheed was a liar. They say, ‘He built an airport and resorts, why would he do that if sea levels are rising?’,” added Richter.
CPS curator and Lebanese artist Khaled Ramadan echoed these sentiments in his documentary “Maldives To Be or Not”, which “explores Western preconceived notions about the Maldives and its ecology.”
The film focuses on the current socio-political challenges faced by Maldivians, which include climate change as well as “the corrupt tourism industry” and the struggle “to balance their life between modernity and traditions,” he explained to the publication BLOUIN ARTINFO.
Ramadan visited the Maldives in March 2013 as a “citizen of the Arab world who wanted to learn about what’s left of the shared history and how this amphibious nation is treating its contemporary culture in relation to its ecological strengths and weaknesses.”
“The environmental hazard about the Maldivian nature is an over politicised notion, and the nature has proven to be much more sustainable than the Maldivian culture,” wrote the Maldives Pavilion blog.
“Would our request to represent Maldives as outsiders have been accepted by Venice Biennale officials without official letter from the current Maldives government?” asked Ehsan Fardjadniya, an artist and activist based in Amsterdam participating in Maldives Pavilion.
The initial ideas for the Maldives pavilion were to unite a network of activists to discuss and act on climate change issues and the ongoing political turmoil in the country via a mobile pavilion representing the forced migration of these future climate refugees, Fardjadniya explained in an interview for the Maldives Pavilion blog.
“Right now, the project has found a venue and doesn’t seem to relate itself much or at all with the pressing issues in the Maldives,” said Fardjadniya. “On the contrary, we seem to be commissioned by the current government to represent the Maldives at 55th Venice Biennale.”
“I would rather be an outsider to this present situation and act against this cultural coup,” Fardjadniya declared.
The Maldives pavilion includes a variety of exhibitions created by international multi-media artists, individual contributors and group collaborations.
While the exhibitions were primarily created by artists of various nationalities, two Maldivians, Moomin Fouad and Mohamed Ali, contributed their film “Happy Birthday”. The film, about a kidnapping and disappearance, previously won 12 MFA Awards at the 2011 Maldives Film Festival.
The 55th Venice Biennale was launched on 29 May and will be open to visitors until 24 November.
The Biennale claims to be “one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world…promoting new artistic trends and organising international events in contemporary arts” since its formation in 1895.
Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Ahmed Adeeb was not responding to calls at time of press.
Addendum: Following publication of this article Minivan News received the following statement from Abed Anouti, Producer at the Chamber of Public Secrets, in response to an enquiry made by Minivan News the previous day.
In compliance with CPS’s copyright request Minivan News has also taken down an image of the pavilion’s promotional poster, distributed by CPS and used to illustrate the story.
The article by Ferry Biedermann published at IPS is full of miss information. Mr. Ferry NEVER interviewed anyone from the Maldives Pavilion, his claims stand for his own account. He has no sound recording, email correspondence, footage or even photos from the curators of the pavilion to support his claims.
As we do with all journalists, we only presented to Mr. Ferry our PR which is published on our website. CPS always asks journalists to look at our PR statement at our website to learn more about the project. He didn’t use time to study the artworks at the pavilion, he is not an art writer or even cultural writer, he is another journalist who is looking for sensations.
Mr. Ferry Biedermann is not the only journalist who took advantage of our positive pavilion to score political or journalistic points to himself or his agency.
Minivan is another agency that is spreading rumors and misquotations. Neither the curators of the Maldives Pavilion nor the participating artists have given any interviews to Ferry Biedermann or Minivan.
CPS team and the invited artists worked hard for over a year on the issue of climate change to present a research based art exhibition in Venice, our focus is not only Maldives but environment in a global context.
So far professional art writers have been given the Maldives Pavilion the best reviews and we are among the most popular destinations of the Venice Biennale. Furthermore, the Maldives Pavilion was the only one to be interviewed by the Italian national TV on the day of the opening.
As a professional artists group, we approach the Maldives with positive thinking, we are not journalists who seek negative stories. We don’t wish to politicize art and refuse to be part of any political sensational publishing agencies like Minivan.
Just for the record all conversations and emails with non-professional art writers or art critics are published on our web to avoid misuse or misquotation of any of us like in the case with Mr. Ferry.
Finally, Minivan unethically used our graphic poster without our knowledge or permission. Therefore we urge you to remove it from your website due to copyright.
Abed Anouti,
CPS – Producer
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Hahaha...
Mordis Government couldn't care less! Art? Culture? Pictures? NO... No way! That is against the beloved religion.
If a government official advocates this, there will be several Mullahs jumping up and down, ranting. You see, Mullahs feel they will no longer be required if Maldivians move past the 6th Century.
You are damn right we dont care! We dont care for any of our neighbors, any raajethere meehun, any bangalhees... YOu see we are the only nation, that has a permanent spot in heaven. We go in flying colours! 100%. So, tell me why? why should we ever care about anything else!!!
Why should anyone care? Bye bye you retarded Neanderthals. Better teach your kids how to swim.
Why should they care? The mullahs think climate change is a conspiracy. They believe that these holy islands will stay afloat till Judgment Day. All this bad weather, erosion and coral death is simply due to homosexuals and adulterers. Once Shariah is implemented these divine punishments would cease immediately.
As for culture, Dhivehistanis were uncivilized animals until 1153 when an Islamic missionary converted them to his Arab cult. Anything pre-1153 is not culture but ignorant barbarism and must be erased or destroyed. The only culture we have are floggings, hangings, stabbings, hypocrisy, child abuse and foaming at the mouth whenever someone criticizes their cult. It's quite similar to the Bedouin culture of Hijaz.
Indigenous culture has been all but obliterated by the invading religious meme of Islam, a process that began with the forced conversion and continues to the present. The current "government" comprises power junkies bent on enriching themselves at public cost. Islam, like religion generally is just another tool used to control the people.
The government has been outsourcing the climate change issue for some time. Gayoom's much publicized 1987 address to the UN general assembly on the topic was written by a foreign scientist (David Pugh) hired by the UN to do the job.
Who is Miss India? I have read your mad ravings for sometime now and I would like to let you know that I find what you write hugely offensive. I am a Mldivian and I am very proud of it.I accept that we are not perfect, we have problems and we don't always act as an enlightened nation. But then, I don't see any nation that hasn't got problems and social injustices.
Incidently, if you really are Indian, I'd be a little bit careful.Much as I admire aspects of your nation, there are a few things I can list that would make you cringe. So stop calling people names and stereotyping the entire nation. And may be you should try to be more of a decent human being.
C'mon, do you expect retarded sunni muslims who smash ancient pre islamic artefacts in their own museums to have any interest in the arts?
Arts are for civilised people.
Miss India may be a self opinionated cow, but Indian boys are real cute, unlike the short, fat and ugly locals I have to deal with.
Angagadha mithuru it's not stereotyping if it's true. Read andrew's comment. He is absolutely spot on. Almost every family member I have asked about the climate change issue has told me that allah would protect these islands from disappearing due to it. So, if this 'creator of the universe' is going to let these heaven bound maldivians survive, why do anything about climate change? Scientists are also obviously jews trying to spread atheism and homosexuality in this glorious dhivehistan by lying about climate change!
Us Bears think that the problem with climate science is the actual science behind it.
Us bears also conclude that miss India is a tranny
@Angagatha Mithuru is offended by miss India? LOL! Like anyone gives a damn if you are offended. True freedom of expression on the internet! Deal with it!
Enlightened nation? You are joking right? Tell that to the women and children you flog. Tell that to the men and women who cannot worship freely. Tell that to the men and women who have to pretend to stay safe and be citizens.
They are the people who should be offended with your oppression!
Hey there brer bears, yous confuses me with "actual science" which implies it is real, honest-to-goodness science of the sort that gets published in actual, real, honest-to-goodness peer-reviewed scientific publications. If, as you imply, you think these publications are wrong about anthropogenic climate change and associated sea level rise please substantiate your claim with contrary peer reviewed publications.
Ps: pity you succumbed to the vacuous name-calling that characterizes so many comments on these pages, Miss India providing a lamentable example.
We were contacted by Leah Malone who asked for clarification of a faulty article written by Ferry Biedermann about the Maldives Pavilion. The explanation underneath was sent to Leah Malone at Minivan who chose not to use our statement but rely on Biedermann’s article.
The article by Ferry Biedermann published at IPS is full of miss information. Mr. Ferry NEVER interviewed anyone from the Maldives Pavilion, his claims stand for his own account. He has no sound recording, email correspondence, footage or even photos from the curators of the pavilion to support his claims.
As we do with all journalists, we only presented to Mr. Ferry our PR which is published on our website. CPS always asks journalists to look at our PR statement at our website to learn more about the project. He didn’t use time to study the artworks at the pavilion, he is not an art writer or even cultural writer, he is another journalist who is looking for sensations.
Mr. Ferry Biedermann is not the only journalist who took advantage of our positive pavilion to score political or journalistic points to himself or his agency.
Minivan is another agency that is spreading rumors and misquotations. Neither the curators of the Maldives Pavilion nor the participating artists have given any interviews to Ferry Biedermann or Minivan.
CPS team and the invited artists worked hard for over a year on the issue of climate change to present a research based art exhibition in Venice, our focus is not only Maldives but environment in a global context.
So far professional art writers have been given the Maldives Pavilion the best reviews and we are among the most popular destinations of the Venice Biennale. Furthermore, the Maldives Pavilion was the only one to be interviewed by the Italian national TV on the day of the opening.
As a professional artists group, we approach the Maldives with positive thinking, we are not journalists who seek negative stories. We don't wish to politicize art and refuse to be part of any political sensational publishing agencies like Minivan.
Just for the record all conversations and emails with non-professional art writers or art critics are published on our web to avoid misuse or misquotation of any of us like in the case with Mr. Ferry.
Finally, Minivan unethically used our graphic poster without our knowledge or permission. Therefore we urge you to remove it from your website due to copyright.
CPS – Maldives Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale
Bear pelts make for excellent leather.
Miss India is working in this bloody country since the guy can not find decent job in India.
Since Nasheed had robbed this country, it is not possible for the government or can afford the Government to spend huge amount of money to take part in this kind of exhibition where hundreds of thousands of dollars are charged by the organizer.
Since bear can only catch fish with his hands, maybe billy the kid can do the research himself n explain why the current phase of global warming have anything to do with man-made emissions rather than solar flares n opportunistic scientists who need their precious funding...
Clearly billy the kid has never worked in academia
ofcourse they dont care. they call our culture and national heritage (anything pre-islamism/wahhabism, including 800 years of islam and sufism influenced stuff). they call all that jahiliyyah (days of ignorance). ironic, i know.
let me remind you that sheikh ilyas rejected that there could be any change in fish stock from irresponsible and unsustainable practices around the world. and he did refuted numerous data and scientific findings and research with his knowledge of everything there is to know (from medina islamic university, KSA). infact, they want to destroy old shrines and mosques in maldives.
and it is not just the fanatics. average maldivian just dont give a sh** abt climate change or even envrionmental impact of development. i mean, for gods sake we destroy the very reefs on which our survival depend on while still living on the islands protected by these reefs. maybe we are suicidal at some level.
to tell the truth, even nasheed (i will still vote for him though)is not much of an environmentalist locally. MDPs campaign promises are all about development policies. aiming for rapid and localized development ranging from taking tourism to villages and mariculture. and absolutely nothing about sustainability and possible envionmental impact of these projects.
true, EPA was established by nasheed, but only as a part of the government. under the same minister that requesting EIA approves the EIA. and it the ministry and EPA have both been hit hard by the budget cuts. so are we just going to sell our "harumudhaa" for maximum profit as nasheed puts it? eat the goddamn golden goose on bodu eedhu shall we? CCCMMOONN!!!! :@
there is no
freedom flowing through her,
for art to survive
in maldives.
we are killing art.
hating love,
loving hate.
we are;
now hollow as
rat-gnawed coconut husks.
lifeless
like a dead fish washed ashore.
as dead.
decomposing carcass
of dead maldives is
an incubator
for endoparasite
dhivehistan.
tamam shud...
This is the content of the letter from former Minister of Culture of Maldives Zulfa, proving the commissioning of CPS curator group to organize the first Maldives Pavilion at Venice Biennale.
The letter was send to Miniva in PDF format to publish as Addendumis.
The letter shows that Minister Zulfa did not appoint Mr. Soren Dahlgaard as he claim in the interview by Miniva. This shows how his credibility and working ethics are thin.
In the same letter notice how Mr. Soren Dahlgaard falsely changed the official address of CPS office to his own personal home address in Copenhagen, without the knowledge of CPS group.
Mr. Soren Dahlgaard kept this letter and all information exchange between him and the Minister of Culture Zulfa away from CPS curators until the current Minister of culture of the Maldives removed him from the project for unprofessional conduct.
CPS received this letter from the Venice Biennale office back in 2012 and NOT from Mr. Soren Dahlgaard.
This is the content of the letter from Former Minister Zulfa to the Venice Biennale office back in 2012:
Att: President of the Beinnale di Venezia – Mr. Paolo Baratta
Dear Mr. Paolo Baratta
On behalf of the Republic of Maldives it is an honour for me to hereby request for the participation of the first National Pavilion for the Republic of Maldives for the 55th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale.
We commission the international curator group CPS – Chamber of Public Secrets (Aida Eltorie, Alfredo Cramerotti, Khaled Ramadan & Soren Dahlgaard) to organize all practical aspects of the Maldives contribution and hereby ask you to please send a copy of your letter to:
CPS – Chamber of Public Secrets
c/o Soren Dahlgaard
Gothersgade 28, 4. Floor, DK-1123 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Thank you and we look forward to seeing you in Venice for the Opening in 2013.
Best wishes, Mrs Zulfa, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
The letter was signed by Zulfa and date to the 17th of July 2012 and carry the document number:
No: (IUL) 88-FS/2012/2
We discover the article written by Ferry Biedermann in the IPS under the title “Art
Confronts Maldives’ Climate Change Controversy” has removed all comments by the readers.
CLEAR CENSORSHIP by IPS editor.
We wander why the IPS ordered the removal of the comments and why Minivan is still keeping some information about Ferry Biedermann's article away from the readers.
Let me post again what IPS and to Ferry Biederm be professional and don’t order your editor from removing our comments. You could at least send us your proves instead.
The old posted comments by : Anouti Abed on Wed, 12th Jun 2013 2:43 PM
Mr. Ferry Biedermann is not telling the truth, I challenge him to email me on my address the sound files and the email exchange he claim he had with Miss Richter and Mr. Ramadan.
The only material you have Mr. Ferry Biedermann are the official PR of the pavilion and few dates you asked about. This is my email send the prove if you have it on: [email protected]
I challenge you to email me your claims why don’t you if you are a professional journalist?
Advisor and Producer
Abed Anouti
To Ferry Biederm we are still waiting for your response to send us the documents you claim to have, the sound interviews, photos and email exchange.
Because we are sure you don't have any of them and because your interesting ethical working way, we will keep demanding and widely publishing our demands till you meet them.
As professionals working in the field of media production, we have the rights to expose journalists and agencies who are harming our profession.
We give you one more chance so please send us the sound files and the email exchange you claim to have on: [email protected]
Or publish them on here on Miniva.
Thank you,
Abed
Advisor and Producer
Atta on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 6:20 PM
I don’t think there are many people in Maldives who appreciate a man who told the mullah that he was a muslim to grand him married to a Maldivian women. ‘Soren’ told my sister that he is an atheist and never believed in anything. That is true, the ‘Soren’ guy, is the son in low of defrauded MDP former foreign minister Naseem.
dailyhusband on Wed, 12th Jun 2013 9:22 AM
another attempt from the nasheed led mdp government to favour the families of mdp founders? soren must have planned to represent maldives and cash in from it… like Naseem has been doing for over three decades.. the guys was responsible for foreign investments during gayoom regime and cut many underhand deals… the guy’s corruption started from the time when he bagged kurumba during brother – in – law Nasir’s brutal regime…
Ga Sia on Sun, 16th Jun 2013 10:17 PM
This is the same Soren who was working with Naseem in an Island in Baa atoll growing vegetables using hydro-phonics drip irrigation in a fully covered green-house. After he complained that no cucumbers are growing, one agriculture guy visited and he later joked about this guy Soren who doesn’t know to differentiate male and female flowers and he had no idea that without insects, pollination has to be done manually in a fully enclosed green-house. Soren was supposed to be an artist but my friend never saw any of his works other than the constant disagreement with his wife. The wasted investment was approx. US$250,000 according to a staff who worked with him.