By Edward Christie – History of Art student at University College London

Now in its 56th Edition, the International Art Exhibition is currently taking place in Venice until the 22nd November, and is complemented by other events hosted by the Biennale di Venezia which focus on different media including cinema.

Murale nelle strade di Oaxaca, del collettivo Lapiztola, courtesy photo
Murale nelle strade di Oaxaca, del collettivo Lapiztola, courtesy photo

Now 120 years old, the Art Biennial aims to act as an international site in which to explore contemporary global realities. The event consists of many pavilions in which countries present the work of national artists. In addition, the Central Pavilion offers a larger cross-national exhibition space. Altogether, the event presents work created by over 136 artists from 53 countries, and 159 specially commissioned artworks.

Chi haru Shiota, The Key In Hand, installation , Japanese Pavilion
Chi haru Shiota, The Key In Hand, installation , Japanese Pavilion

This year, the exhibition is entitled “All the World’s Futures”, and has been curated by Okwui Enwezor. Through posing the event as a “parliament of forms”, Enwezor endeavours to host a discussion of the current global state in order to inform and assess the world’s futures. To help this process, he has introduced three themes or ‘filters’ which artists can use as points of departure: “Liveness: on epic duration”, “Garden of Disorder” and “Capital: A Live Reading”.
One site in which these filters are mobilised is “ARENA”- a cross-disciplinary politically and socially engaged exhibition which centres on an epic live reading of Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital” which is spanning the entirety of the event. This is complemented by contemporary works created in media including music and performance. While the focus of “All the World’s Futures” is on specially commissioned art for the Biennial, the event’s engagement with social and political affairs is added to by presentations of works by artists offering historical perspectives. These include artworks by Bruce Nauman, Robert Smithson and Hans Haacke.
With Venice being only a couple of hours from Florence by train, a day trip to the Biennial is easy and a must for anyone interested in contemporary culture.

vab2Biennale Arte
09.05.2015 – 22.11.2015
Venezia
Giardini – Arsenale
Orario/Hours 10.00 – 18.00
Chiuso il lunedì
Closed on Mondays
Ca’ Giustinian,
San Marco 1364/A
30124 Venezia
Phone: 041 5218711
Fax: 041 5218704
Email: aav@labiennale.org
For more information visit
www.labiennale.org