Oh Biennale...... part 1

Oh, Biennale… 61

1. It arrived quietly.
   A message, in the middle of an ordinary Friday.
   

2. “Can I call you?”

3. 
   A voice follows.
   
   Soft. Direct. Certain.

5. “Rani… I’m curating an exhibition in Venice.
   The Venice Biennale.
   Would you like to participate?”

There are moments when time doesn’t stop, it dissolves.

1. I answered before understanding:
   “I’ll go with you to the end of the world.”

2. And then, silence.
   

3. The kind of silence that feels unreal.
   Like waking up inside a dream you’re not ready to believe.

5. I asked him to write it.
   To make it exist outside my mind.

6. Twelve words arrived.

7. 
   Italian.

8. Unreadable.
   Unfamiliar.
   Untouchable.

9. Copy. Paste.
   
   And then - Biennale.

1. A word that suddenly held weight.
   History. Distance.
   A place I had only ever imagined from afar.

3. I stared at the screen.

4. It felt too big to be mine.

5. So I made it small.
   I held it close.

6. 
   Shared it only with my wife And my children-
   who has always seen the sky within me,
   even on the days I look down.

8. Some dreams are too fragile to expose to the world too early.

9. I carried it in silence.

11. Until Monday.

12. 20:58.

13. “Rani, please send the Countess tonight the information about two artworks.”

15. Tonight.

16. 
    Two.

17. 
    How do you choose between pieces that carry your breath,
    your doubts,
    your becoming?

18. How do you reduce yourself
    to two moments?
    

19. I couldn’t sit still.
    I walked the dog.

20. Let the night air hold the weight I couldn’t.
    

21. Voices of people I trust.
    Thoughts crossing oceans in seconds.

22. Dana come to help

23. 
    Dana - sharp, precise.
    Me - lost somewhere inside the excitement.

25. She asked the kind of questions that don’t let you hide behind instinct,
    that make you look again and then again, until the truth appears.
    

26. We had five finals to choose from.

27. 
    We debated, questioned, returned, until only what refused to be ignored remained.

29. 02:00 - clarity, or something that feels like it.

30. 04:00 - the PDF is ready.

32. And then another unfamiliar space:

33. How do you speak to a Countess?

35. Language becomes distance again.
    Formality, structure, invisible rules.

36. So I borrow a voice.
    Not mine, but close enough.
    A bridge.

38. The message is sent.

39. The next day - a reply.

41. A file. Heavy.
    Italian again.

42. Once more, I don’t understand.
    Once more, I translate.

43. But this time, something shifts.

45. “This is the draft of the Biennale 61 catalogue…
    Congratulations, your name is included…”

46. I read it once.
    Then again.
    Then slower.

48. As if the meaning might disappear
    if I move too quickly.

49. My name.

50. Inside something I had only ever seen from the outside.

52. For a moment, everything becomes very quiet.

53. Not empty. warm

54. Full. Happy.

56. Like the exact second before a photograph is taken,
    when everything aligns
    without asking for permission.

57.  

58.  click

59. part 2.. - read here