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Foreigners Everywhere: an overview of Claire Fontaine’s installation at the Venice Biennale

On the occasion of the 60th International Venice Biennale, Mennour presents a glimpse of Claire Fontaine installation at its space in Matignon.

Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere, the title of the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, is drawn from a series of works started in 2004 by the Paris-born and Palermo-based Claire Fontaine collective. The works consist of neon sculptures in different colours that render in a growing number of languages the words “Foreigners Everywhere”. The phrase comes, in turn, from the name of a Turin collective who fought racism and xenophobia in Italy in the early 2000s.

As Adriano Pedrosa, curator of the Biennale, explains: “The expression Stranieri Ovunque has several meanings. First of all, that wherever you go and wherever you are you will always encounter foreigners— they/we are everywhere. Secondly, that no matter where you find yourself, you are always truly, and deep down inside, a foreigner”.

Foreigners Everywhere embodies the nuances ambivalence inherent in its title, referencing the languages spoken in different countries. It also deconstructs the established hierarchy between visual and verbal expression. For Amanda Carneiro: “These sculptures serve both as a factual statement against and a countermeasure to potential racist threats. It evokes a palpable sense of estrangement experienced by individuals navigating a globalized society – a sentiment relatable to immigrants and other marginalized groups”.