I’ve never been in Venice during the century-long tradition of the Venice Biennale, an international art festival held every other year in Venice since 1895. It’s an intriguing concept, rooted in Venice’s maritime past, when the city by the sea was the epicenter of trade routes that brought staples and luxuries alike through its ports.
This year, the festival has art exhibits from 89 countries, one-third more than 12 years ago according to this recent article in the New York Times. In addition, there are 37 affiliated exhibits and dozens of unofficial ones scattered all over the city. Whatever your thoughts on contemporary art, if you’ve in Venice through November, you should consider exploring at least some of the festivals offerings, whether it’s to reinforce your thinking that modern art is frivolous and/or inaccessible, or to celebrate artistic renderings in all their high-concept abstraction and manifestation.
Footnote: The Venice giardini is the festival’s epicenter. From Wikipedia: The gardens were created by Napoleon Bonaparte who drained an area of marshland in order to create a public garden on the banks of the Bacino di San Marco which is a narrow stretch of water dividing the gardens from St. Mark’s Square and the Doge’s Palace.
LINKS:
The Venice Biennale Official Web Site
Wikipedia Entry for the Venice Biennale
Yours in linking Italy,
Barbara Fellini
One Comment
Whao, nice information. Thanks. I’ll travel to Italy in my next vacations. I’d like to go with you.