- New ground-breaking work by leading Colombian architect Simon Velez and British landscape architect Todd Longstaffe-Gowan in the wild-flower garden of the Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice - This collateral event at the Venice Biennale from 23 May to 29 November 2020 brings together architecture, design and landscape within the conceptual umbrella of the Majlis, traditionally a place where people come together to interact - It is based on the principles of the Caravane Foundation which aims to restore awareness of the interconnectivity between people, culture and nature through craftsmanship, art, innovation, agriculture and education Before opening its seasonal Art Village in the Qatari Desert, the Caravane Foundation brings the first of its eight principal structures, the Majlis, to the re-designed wild-flower garden of the Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore at the 2020 Venice Biennale. Inspired by nomadic architecture, the Majlis is made from the most renewable building material on earth - bamboo - and shrouded in textiles handwoven in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Traditionally, a Majlis is the place where people come together to deepen their connection with each other. In this case, it will help to reflect on the Biennale theme: How will we live together? In recognition of its cultural significance in the Arabian Peninsula, the Majlis is inscribed on UNESCO's 'Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity'. This intervention explores the careful sourcing of materials, ethical processes of production and the legacy of the Majlis. The Foundation, with its international array of individuals and in dialogue with the Benedictine community, aims to restore a collective awareness of the sacred interconnectivity between Humans, Culture and Nature through craftsmanship, art, innovation, agriculture and education. A Rhodes Scholar, Thierry Morel is an art historian and curator who graduated from the universities of Paris and Oxford in law and history of art. He was a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Cambridge and for Venice in Peril co-authored The Venice Report: Demography, Tourism, Financing and Change of Use of Buildings. Thierry has done extensive research on the history of art collections and art provenance in Europe, wrote and produced Private View, a documentary series on leading international art collectors for Time Warner. Architect Simón Vélez has more than 50 years experience working with natural materials and is widely regarded for his innovative use of bamboo. Vélez discovered new and revolutionary techniques in bamboo joinery, allowing greater use of its natural strength and achieving more complex geometric forms. To date, he has designed and built over 200 buildings in Germany, France, USA, Brazil, Mexico, China, Jamaica, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, and India. Landscape architect Todd Longstaffe-Gowan read Environmental Studies at the University of Manitoba, Landscape Architecture at Harvard University and completed his PhD in Historical Geography at University College, London. He has carried out research at Yale University, the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Todd has advised on many public and private historic landscapes, including the National Trust and English Heritage, The Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, and Kensington Palace Gardens.

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