Søren Dahlgaard, "Maldives Exodus Caravan Exhibition" (MECS), 2013/2017
September 2017, Brightlands Institute, Sittard, NL
In the early aughts, Søren Dahlgaard constructed a successful agricultural system in the Maldives. Earth's lowest country, the Maldives comprises 1200 sandy atolls, many of which risk to disappear given climate change. In 2010, he proposed the Maldives Pavilion, which was split in two following 2012's violent government coup. This caravan, which houses climate-change games, videos, and performances by mostly Maldivian artists, doubles as the pedestal for an inflatable island at risk of floating away or becoming a life-raft during a storm. Since its premier at the 2013 Biennale di Venezia, Dahlgaard's mobile pavilion has traveled to 8 art institutions on 3 continents. Like a hermit crab, it adapts a local caravan at each port-o-call.
Copyright 2017 Sue Spaid