LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA

from RPS Germany Chapter eMagazine 4th Quarter 2022

ABANDONED AND SHUNNED

The fantastic international art show in Venice usually takes place every two years. After the exhibition in 2021 was cancelled due to Corona, the entire art public was pleased that the 59th Biennale opened its doors again from 23 April to 21 November 2022. Our member, Siegfried Rubbert, visited this year’s Biennale for us and reports about it.

My wife and I have been visiting the Biennale since 2003, so this year’s exhibition in Venice was our 10th in a row and a fixed date in our travel plans.

And let me say in advance that there is never enough time for this city, which is far too crowded but virtually inexhaustible in motifs. And like this place, the Biennale offers an incredible reservoir of photographic motifs, not only the exhibition venues with their buildings but also the artworks, installations and videos shown there.

With very few exceptions, which can be counted on one hand, all works of art may be photographed. But in today’s times (mobile phone photography), with so many visitors, I don’t think it could be prevented.

The Biennale di Venezia is divided into two large exhibition areas: firstly, the Giardini, a park landscape in the Castello district of the historic city, where various countries have erected their exhibition buildings. The Arsenale is also located in the Sestiere Castello and originally consisted of a few buildings that served as workshops and storage rooms and a more extensive water basin in which the ships built here could be launched.

The first national Pavilion opened in 1907 with Belgium, followed by Hungary, Germany, and Great Britain in 1909, France in 1912, Russia in 1914 and so on. The first Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte Della Città di Venezia opened on 18 April 1895.

No biennials were held from 1916 to 1918 because of the First World War, after a six-year hiatus because of the Second World War, the International Art Exhibition returned in 1948 with a significant exhibition and by the way, the Russian Pavilion remained closed in 2022. Why do you think?

The request of nations who also wanted to exhibit in Venice increased steadily. So in 1999, with the 48th International Art Exhibition, Venice opened a second large exhibition area, the historic halls of the Arsenale. After the Italian Pavilion had already moved its permanent seat to the Arsenale in 2006, more and more countries and institutions rented their pavilions in the Arsenale from 2007 onwards. Later, the area became larger and larger, and a shipyard and the naval base of the Republic of Venice developed.

The area of the former Arsenale is about 48 hectares; one-third of the site is still used by the Italian Navy today, and two-thirds of the state property was donated to the city of Venice in 2013.

However, this still does not satisfy the desire for exhibition possibilities. So further exhibitions, the so-called Collaterali, are held in various buildings, palaces and museum spaces in Venice, rented by the exhibitors or countries.

In this article, I will deliberately limit myself to the artworks or installations exhibited in 2022 and leave out the city of Venice and the buildings of Giardini and Arsenale.