The Wandering Pavilion
Constantin Boym
Portable structure to be carried/worn throughout the Biennale grounds and on the streets of Venice.
21” x 64”, digital prints and reflective foil on gator board.
21” x 64”, digital prints and reflective foil on gator board.
“Jews are everywhere as guests and nowhere at home.” This observation by 19th-century Jewish thinker Leon Pinsker serves as a conceptual foundation for The Wandering Pavilion, developed for the Yiddishland Pavilion in Venice. Yiddishland is not a physical territory, but an imagined, transnational space—stateless, diasporic, and held together by the Yiddish language and its cultural expressions. This culture is defined by mobility, adaptability, and a resistance to fixed borders.
Embodying these qualities, the pavilion takes the form of a wearable structure with no permanent site. It is activated by a performer who moves through the grounds of the Biennale, enters national pavilions, and traverses the city of Venice. Referencing the medieval legend of the Wandering Jew—a figure condemned to perpetual movement—the project reinterprets the myth as a living, performative presence. The performer becomes the pavilion itself, offering an embodied encounter with Yiddishland’s themes of displacement, memory, and resilience.
Clad in reflective surfaces, the pavilion captures and distorts the architecture of surrounding national pavilions and the city of Venice, generating fractured, shifting images. This visual language becomes a metaphor for the complex interplay between cultural preservation and assimilation that continues to shape the Yiddish experience.
Embodying these qualities, the pavilion takes the form of a wearable structure with no permanent site. It is activated by a performer who moves through the grounds of the Biennale, enters national pavilions, and traverses the city of Venice. Referencing the medieval legend of the Wandering Jew—a figure condemned to perpetual movement—the project reinterprets the myth as a living, performative presence. The performer becomes the pavilion itself, offering an embodied encounter with Yiddishland’s themes of displacement, memory, and resilience.
Clad in reflective surfaces, the pavilion captures and distorts the architecture of surrounding national pavilions and the city of Venice, generating fractured, shifting images. This visual language becomes a metaphor for the complex interplay between cultural preservation and assimilation that continues to shape the Yiddish experience.
Constantin Boym
Constantin Boym is a designer, educator, and writer whose work blends wit, curiosity, and critical thinking. Based in New York, he founded Boym Partners Inc. in 1986, now co-led with Laurene Leon Boym. Their studio is known for reimagining everyday objects and spaces through a playful, often unexpected lens—whether it's a souvenir, a piece of furniture, or an entire exhibition.
Boym’s designs have found their way into the permanent collections of leading museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. In 2009, Boym Partners received the National Design Award, one of the highest honors in the field.
Alongside his studio practice, Boym is deeply involved in design education. He chaired the Industrial Design program at Pratt Institute from 2015 to 2022 and continues to teach there as a professor. He has also taught at Parsons School of Design, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, and has been a visiting resident at the American Academy in Rome.
Boym’s creative work has been shown in major exhibitions around the world, from MoMA in New York to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. His books—including Keepsakes: A Design Memoir and Ecophilia—offer personal reflections on design, culture, and the things we hold onto.
Boym’s designs have found their way into the permanent collections of leading museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. In 2009, Boym Partners received the National Design Award, one of the highest honors in the field.
Alongside his studio practice, Boym is deeply involved in design education. He chaired the Industrial Design program at Pratt Institute from 2015 to 2022 and continues to teach there as a professor. He has also taught at Parsons School of Design, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, and has been a visiting resident at the American Academy in Rome.
Boym’s creative work has been shown in major exhibitions around the world, from MoMA in New York to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. His books—including Keepsakes: A Design Memoir and Ecophilia—offer personal reflections on design, culture, and the things we hold onto.