The Cyprus Pavilion Christodoulos Panayiotou: Two Days After Forever

Two Days After Forever takes as one of its starting points the invention of archaeology and its instrumental role in forging the master narrative of history. Incorporating the architecture of the backstreets of the Palazzo Malipiero, where the Cyprus Pavilion has purposefully moved to this year (it was previously located in another part of the palazzo), the exhibition is staged in the oldest surviving part of the building, dating back to the eleventh century. The work herein manifests in a number of forms: as architecture—floors and walls; as choreographies—of movement and stillness; and as text that is both revealed and concealed. It is an open-ended topography that seeks to question the individual’s relationship to the constantly fluctuating act of making history. At the heart of the exhibition is the idea of materiality, as it is layered over time. As such, the undulating floor of the palazzo becomes a horizon and a stage. It becomes transformed into a container surrendering before the rising waters of the acqua alta.