Manifesta purposely strives to keep its distance from what are often seen as the dominant centres of artistic production, instead seeking fresh and fertile terrain for the mapping of a new cultural topography.

Manifesta 13 Marseille was one of the only international biennials to take place during the global pandemic COVID-19, the biennial ended earlier than planned due to the second national lockdown

Antal Lakner, HU

Urban intervention at Main River

For this project, the Hungarian artist Antal Lakner created the Icelandic Army, a fictitious army which fulfilled solely peaceful and observational roles. The project served to explore the division between fiction and reality, and with its absurd military equipment totally unsuited for fighting it questioned the omnipotence of modern military engineering.