Making a splash – The Pool

Australian Exhibition at the La Biennale di Venezia 2016

One of Australia’s greatest cultural symbols - The Pool - will form the foundation of the Australian Exhibition at the La Biennale di Venezia 2016, which will run from May 28 to November 27 2016.
The exhibition, presented by the Australian Institute of Architects and curated by Aileen Sage Architects (Isabelle Toland and Amelia Holliday) with Michelle Tabet, uses the pool as a lens through which to explore Australian cultural identity.

The Australian Pavilion will be transformed through the use of light, scent, sound, reflection and perspective to create a series of perceptual illusions within a designed landscape. The exhibition will engage visitors through an immersive experience that will transport them poolside and evoke the pools of Australia in all their forms, be they natural or manmade, inland or coastal, temporary or permanent.

The Pool: Architecture, Culture and Identity in Australia - the companion publication for Australia’s highly anticipated contribution to La Biennale di Venezia 2016.

The book explores the Australian affinity with the pool, and was unveiled in Sydney, Australia on Wednesday 30 March by the Creative Directors, who were joined by Olympian Ian Thorpe, author Anna Funder and Indigenous art curator Hetti Perkins, who all feature in the book.

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Contemplative pool, Cathedral Gorge, Purnululu National Park, WA. Photo: Andy Wong

Fitzroy Baths, originally constructed in 1908, restored post 1994, Fitzory, Vic. Photo: Peter Bennetts.

Visitors enjoying the Lightning Ridge hot artesian baths, northern New South Wales. Photo: Simon Bayliss, courtesy of Lightning Ridge Tourism Association

Prince Alfred Park Pool, upgrade by Neeson Murcutt Architects and Sue Barnsley Design, NSW, 2013. Photo: Brett Boardman