The Soul Expanding Ocean #1: Taloi Havini. Answer to the Call
Ocean Space, Venice, 2021

Marking Taloi Havini's first solo exhibition in Europe, Answer to the Call, 2021 is a 22-channel sound installation that seeks to reorient the audience’s relationship to knowing the ocean. Using the traditional logic of call and response from her native Bougainville, a semi-autonomous island in the South Pacific, the work creates a dialogue using a mix of elements, from the artist’s mother tongue—Hakö language—to archival recordings of sonar mapping of the ocean floor, to musical samples by the celebrated Bougainville musician, Ben Hakalitz.

D.H.office coordinated the production of the exhibition in close collaboration with Havini and her studio, helping to define the installation design as well as produce all display elements. We also managed logistics and installation, as well as day-to-day operations and visitor services, and documentation of the show.

As the exhibition was produced in 2021, at the height of the global COVID-19 lockdowns, Havini was unable to travel to Venice from Australia, where she currently lives and works. This required all exhibition production to be executed remotely, a challenge that we were ready to meet after many years of experience coordinating projects around the world. For example, precise dimensions of the Chiesa di San Lorenzo were sent to Havini such that she could faithfully recreate the space in Sydney and accurately simulate and test the sound installation she designed.