“THE MILK OF DREAMS”
The Biennale – a good reason to travel to Venice
EVERY TWO YEARS THE ART EXHIBITION LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA TAKES PLACE IN VENICE. No art exhibition has more interesting exhibition buildings in historical surroundings. Visiting the Venice Biennale is one of the best reasons to travel to Venice.
The oldest art exhibition in the world is lively, political, poetic, didactic and at times exhausting, because the art is not only in the main areas, the pavilions of the Giardini and the former shipyard, Arsenale.
Many churches and other interesting buildings, scattered throughout the city and on the surrounding islands, serve as exhibition venues within the framework of the Biennial.
It does not have to be the opening
Often a lonely alley leads to a backyard building and there you discover a wonderful art installation that many of the VIP guests who jet into town for the opening and leave right after have never seen, but which alone would have been worth the trip to Venice.
But even if you focus only on the main sites, the Giardini and the Arsenale, due to time constraints, you will definitely return, because the combination of exciting art and the flair of Venice cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
“May you live in interesting times”
was the motto of the Venice Biennale 2019, curated by the US American Ralph Rugoff. After that came Corona.
For the current Biennial, April 23, 2022 – November 27, 2022, curated by Cecilia Alemani, the theme is“The Milk of Dreams.”
The Giardini, in the east of Venice, have been the original exhibition grounds since 1895. Here is the central pavilion as well as 29 country pavilions, including the German pavilion and the Austrian pavilion, the latter a work by Josef Hoffmann.
Each pavilion represents the respective country in its own way, and so you walk from Italy to Finland, from Israel to Australia, each immersed in a small, curated world.
In between, one wanders through the gardens, smells the lagoon, wanders over bridges under which barges pass and is served a tolerable espresso almost everywhere.
The second major exhibition complex is the Arsenale, historically one of the first industrial complexes in which the naval power of Venice had ships and weapons produced and with these secured its claim to power. The respective artistic festival director is responsible for the selection of artists at the Arsenale.
You stroll from room to room, let yourself be captivated by the ideas of different artists and step out again to enjoy the magnificent image of Venice and discover more art installations in the dock of the Arsenale .
In addition, you can always find excellent exhibitions in the rooms of private collectors, such as the Foundation Francois Pinault in the Punta della Dogana and Palazzo Grassi, or the Fondazione Prada in Ca’ Corner della Regina.
Excellent art in abundance in almost every corner of the Serenissima. More is not possible. A number of artists deal with the theme of ecology. If you find it irresponsible to arrive by plane, there is also a wonderful overnight train ride from Paris to Venice.
Let the cultural circus quietly move on to the opening of the Biennale and plan your trip for November now.
It may happen that one or the other installation is already closed for “technical” reasons, but we promise you that there will still be more exciting art to see and experience than you could possibly find even with good perseverance and with Sneakers can create in a few days.
Pavilion of GERMANY | Pavilion of AUSTRIA Discordo Ergo Sum | Pavilion of FRANCE Deep see blue surrounding you / Vois ce bleu profond te fondre | Sun Yuan and Peng Yu Can’t Help Myself, 2016 Mixed media | Photos by: Francesco Galli | Courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia | 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, MayYou Live In Interesting Times