JOAN JONAS: THEY COME TO US WITHOUT A WORD

They Come to Us without a Word documents Joan Jonas’ (born 1936) project for the US Pavilion of the 56th Venice Biennale, an installation that incorporates multiple components, including projected videos (with music by Jason Moran), drawings and photographs. Each section of the pavilion represents a particular creature (bees, fish) or natural condition. Recited fragments of ghost stories sourced from the oral tradition of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, form a continuous narrative linking one room to the next.