Europan Identity and Culture: Imagining a European Pavilion

The European Pavilion (EP) program is an initiative of the European Cultural foundation; since its first ideation in 2020 the EP has developed a series of events, supporting artistic and research activities involving several other institutions and individuals. Initially sparked by the idea of adding a European Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, the EP developed into an independent program that aims at becoming established as “a new cultural reference” for the European public sphere and at “driving the debate on the future of Europe”. In this chapter I will present an analysis of its rationale, actors and outcomes so far, in the framework of current debates on how a European identity and imaginary are emerging, in discourse and practice, as a new layer, or perhaps type, of cultural allegiance (and repertoire) along with local, national, regional and global. Through a detour to the Venice Biennale exhibition park, the presentation considers the pavilion’s role as a mapping device for the representation of collective identities and the creation of repertoires or canons indicative of both dominant paradigms and struggles for access, inclusivity and de-centering.