Biennale

The Venice Biennale is an important world-renowned institution that has been promoting new trends in contemporary arts since 1895. The program is rich and includes exhibitions, performances, training and research activities. The historic location of the event, which hosted the first editions, is the current Central Pavilion of the Giardini della Biennale, once Palazzo Pro Arte and then the Italian Pavilion. Today there are 29 national pavilions and to these are added other locations in various districts of Venice, the most famous being the Arsenale.

The Biennale was born as an art exhibition but during the twentieth century it expanded its range of interest by proposing festivals and exhibitions dedicated to other disciplines and subjects, in particular music, cinematographic art, dance, theatre and architecture. The adoption of a multidisciplinary model is therefore the most significant characteristic of this event, which contributes to maintaining Venice as an extremely stimulating city from an artistic and cultural point of view.

The Art and Architecture Biennale

Although the areas of interest of the event are multiple, the term Biennale usually refers to the Art and Architecture exhibitions. As per tradition, the two exhibitions are held in alternate years and are mainly held in the Central Pavilion and in the 29 pavilions, each assigned to a country, of the Giardini della Biennale. To these is now usually added the Arsenale.

In 2024 it will be the turn of the Art Biennale, which will take place from Saturday 20 April to Sunday 24 November. It will be curated by Adriano Pedrosa (Brazil), who since 2014 has been the Artistic Director of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand – MASP, where he has curated numerous exhibitions, including Histories of Dance (2020) and Brazilian Histories (2022). He was awarded the 2023 Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence, presented by the Central for Curatorial Studies at Bard College in New York.