I USED TO GO TO THE BEACH 2026
Participatory installation
Fragments of recycled fabrics, plastics, packaging,
Small table with chair, white cards, red yarn, scissors, pen and texts
Sail dimension : 700 x 280 x 350 cm
Installation dimension : Variable
2026
I Used to Go to the Beach is a participatory installation centered around a monumental sail made from fragments of fabrics and everyday materials contributed by people from different parts of the world. Through the act of sewing, the work transforms scattered elements into a collective fabric of care, memory, and solidarity.
The title draws on the original meaning of the name of the island of Nauru «I go to the beach», shifting it into the past tense. I Used to Go to the Beach thus becomes the memory of a place profoundly altered by environmental exploitation, turning Nauru into a metaphor for the ecological and social fragility of our present.
The fragments, cut into circular shapes and joined by deliberately visible seams, create a surface that evokes fish scales; a skin in which the stitches become scars and traces of repair.
Throughout the exhibition, the sail receives messages from visitors, gradually transforming into a participatory archive of wishes and hopes. The work imagines a geography built on relationships, where solidarity emerges as a shared practice of repair.
61. Biennale di Venezia, Nauru Pavilion
Credits: © Patricia Jacomella Bonola