First created for space missions—a literal gold and silver sign of Cold War optimism—emergency blankets now mark human conflicts and ecological crises. For the 2026 Venice Art Biennale, Velimir Zernovski has replicated Michelangelo’s Pietà, cocooning it in emergency blankets that not only glitter like gold but, more importantly, question fragile relations, shared conditions of exposure, and uncertain futures.

Curated by Tihomir Topuzovski, the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje, and the art historian Amanda Boetzkes, I’m lucky to have joined the conversation sparked by the North Macedonia Pavilion’s suturing of the familiar with the strange, of polyester with polycrisis, and it was an honour to speak to Amanda about Zernovski’s installation and the many meanings of blankets and emergencies and plastic.