Ode To Joy: Vennice Biennale – Amanda Coogan

Amanda Coogan is performing and exhibiting at a Collateral Event at the Vennice Biennale.

The Spirits of Maritime Crossing 2026 is an exhibition by 20 artists from Southeast Asia, Serbia, and  Ireland at the Venice Biennale de Arte at Palazzo Rocca Contarini Corfù. As part of the collateral  events, the exhibition focuses on the theme of maritime routes as pathways of exchange, rupture,  and renewal, tracing how stories of migration, diaspora, and spiritual resilience move in quiet  tones across oceans and generations.

In this exhibition, Coogan will explore strangeness, melancholy and solace in relation to  identity, diaspora, displacement and human migration. Coogan will show her Ode to Joy – Thai Sign Language video work, transposing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony into body language. The work hones the spirits of rage, resistance, resilience and hope.  Working with a Thai Deaf choir the work re-members this totemic symphony with the magnetic power of Coogan in performance. Coogan’s participation is gratefully supported by Culture Ireland. For The Spirits of Maritime Crossing 2026 Coogan will make a specially commissioned live  performance; Sabat Mater.