Venice Biennale – International Art Exhibition

The Venice Biennale – Biennale di Venezia – is located in the city of Venice, Italy, and is one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world, promoting new artistic trends and organising international events in the contemporary arts for over a century. The Venice Biennale Foundation spans a wide range of artistic practices, from architecture, to dance, to film, to music. Its most celebrated manifestation is the International Art Exhibition, which is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place in the city of Venice, Italy, every two years, since it began in 1895.

During its first editions, the Biennale focused on decorative arts but the event became increasingly international in the first decades of the 20^th Century and from 1907, several countries started installing national pavilions and significant modern artists were selected="true"="true" to exhibit their work there.

The formal Biennale is based at a park called the Giardini that houses 30 permanent national pavilions. The Giardini also includes a large exhibition hall that houses a themed exhibition which is curated by the Biennale’s director. Swedish curator Daniel Birnbaum has been appointed artistic director for this year’s, 2009, edition.

Alongside the national pavilions runs a formal Biennale programme which is overseen by the Biennale director and allows for a wider range of artists and curators to participate in the Biennale who are not represented by the permanent national pavilions. These Collateral Events are proposed by international institutions and bodies, and the exhibitions of which – set up throughout Venice – remind us of the space beyond the Giardini and the Arsenale: the city of Venice itself.

Key Facts:

-          2009 marks the 53^rd edition of the Venice Biennale, International Art Exhibition.

-          The Biennale will be open to the public from the 7^th June until the 22^nd November, 2009.

-          The preview days, known as the vernissage, run on the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th of June, and are for collectors, artists and media.

-          This year’s Biennale is titled ‘Fare Mondi’ – or ‘Making Worlds’ – which Birnbaum qualifies by stating “the artists makes worlds, not objects”.

-          This edition will be the first time a new bridge will link the far side of the Arsenale with city.

-          This year there will be 77 National Participations, which is the largest total in the history of the Biennale

-          This year there will be 38 Collateral Events, which is an unprecedented amount.

-          Daniel Birnbaum, Director of the the 53^rd Venice Biennale, is the youngest director of the Visual Arts Sector for the Biennale since it began.

-          The Giardini measures 50,000m/squared.

-          The Arsenale measures 38,000m/squared.

-          The press preview will take place on June 4^th, 5^th and 6^th, 2009.

-          The Awards and Opening Ceremony of the 53^rd International Art Exhibition will take place on the 6^th June 2009.

-          The official website for the Biennale is www.labiennale.org