Features Overview

Venezia Art Biennale

On the last morning of our Venice trip, I decided to get my moccasins and my 10 euro Venice gondolier’s hat on - to visit the famous Venezia Art Biennale. And thank God I did.

Little history

The history of the La Biennale di Venezia dates back from 1895, when the first International Art Exhibition was organized. In the 1930s new festivals were born: Music, Cinema, and Theatre (the Venice Film Festival in 1932 was the first film festival in history). In 1980 the first International Architecture Exhibition took place, and in 1999 Dance made its debut at La Biennale. 

(words from the official website)

May you live in interesting times

Carries the title “May You Live in Interesting Times,” an allusion to periods of uncertainty, crisis, and turmoil. The name comes from a speech given in the late 1930s by Austen Chamberlain, a member of British Parliament, in which he cited what had wrongly been understood as an ancient Chinese curse.

The curator of the 2019 Venice Biennale, Ralph Rugoff, said, “At a moment when the digital dissemination of fake news and ‘alternative facts’ is corroding political discourse and the trust on which it depends, it is worth pausing whenever possible to reassess our terms of reference.”

(words from artnews.com)