Klara Kristalova, 58, never imagined she would be chosen to represent Swedish art in Venice. She thought of the biennale as a stage for younger artists, plus she has always felt a bit odd with her glazed ceramic figures.
"I thought I was a bit passé or whatever you want to say, but no," she says on the phone from Venice.
This year's biennial is being criticized because Russia and Israel are allowed to exhibit. The Russian pavilion is also located opposite the Nordic one and a large demonstration is planned on the opening day, says Klara Kristalova.
"It affects us a lot, we don't really know how to act," she says.
The Nordic pavilion is curated by the Finnish art museum Kiasma.
"Their stance, we were just told, is that 'we should focus on the Ukraine pavilion and recommend people go there.'"
She herself finds it strange that what she has worked so hard on over the past year is now overshadowed by political turbulence. It was only in the Nordic Pavilion that she put the different parts together.
"It felt very risky and new; I was completely paralyzed when I was asked to be in. It was so big, almost too big, but now it's done and it's amazing."
Branch arms
Klara Kristalova has previously made girls with tree roots under their feet or birch trunks as legs. Now she has landed on making a twelve-meter-long female tree that stretches its branches upwards while lying down.
"She has fallen. I also had a thought about the ecological collapse that is rapidly approaching. It doesn't matter that trees and animals are being wiped out, we just live on as usual. There is also a kind of sadness about it built in."
She borrowed the title, "Lust for life", from a song by Iggy Pop.
"It's almost creepy rock'n'roll, but there's also something wild about it that I wanted to include."
Rag rugs
Colored old rag rugs became the trunk's bark. On and under it stand eleven sculptures in bronze, ceramic and wood.
"Like different voices in a choir, each one has its own personality. One is more angry and desperate, another is very heavy in mood - a giant mouse that's kind of pushing down the tree," she says.
"When I think of these figures, I think of the present and current events. They may look fairy-tale-like, but for me they are about the present."
Facts: Venice Biennale
Ongoing: May 9 to November 22.
It is: One of the world's oldest and most prestigious art exhibitions, held every two years in Venice.
Chief Curator 2026: Koyo Kouoh.
Theme: "In A minor".
This year's biennial has been criticized in advance because Russia is participating for the first time since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In 2022, the Russian artists and curator defected. In 2024, the Russian pavilion was opened to Bolivia. This year, the pavilion is curated by Anastasia Karneeva, a colleague of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's daughter. According to Artnews.com, citing information in Italian media, the Russian exhibition will only be open during the preview from May 5-8. This came after the EU threatened to withdraw support.
Anna Mustonen from the art museum Kiasma in Helsinki has curated the exhibition "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" with large sculptures and installations by Swedish Klara Kristalova, Finnish Benjamin Orlow and Norwegian Tori Wrånes.
