British Council: Venice Biennale Art24 – Listening as a form of activism

Listening All Night To The Rain explores themes of post-colonialism, environmental devastation and the politics of aesthetics by telling stories of migrant diasporas in Britain. These themes deeply and personally connected with us as a studio.

Context 

The exhibition draws its title from 11th century Chinese writer and artist Su Dongpo’s poetry, which explores the transitory nature of life during a period of political exile. Organised in a series of song-like movements, or ‘cantos’, the exhibition brings together eight interlocking and overlapping multimedia and sound installations into a single and immersive exhibition.

Approach 

The campaign identity builds on the theories of acoustemology: the study of how the sonic experience mirrors and shapes our cultural realities. The identity is responsive and reactive to the audio of each ‘canto’ or sound bite. This is combined with graphic altarpiece compositions, which mirrorirror the configurations of the screens within the exhibition. 

The colour palette echoes each gallery space, which layers together a specific colour field, influenced by the paintings of American artist Mark Rothko.

The visual identity invites all the audiences into the pavilion both in person and digitally across an overall visual language, film, social media assets, merchandise and exhibition graphics.

Impact 

The fly through video received 250,000 views in the first 3 weeks.

Exploring the complex history and significance of the British Pavilion and the nation it represents