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 2025 it will be the turn of the Architecture Biennale, that will be held from Saturday 10 May to Sunday 23 November 2025 (pre-opening May 8 and 9), curated by the architect and engineer Carlo Ratti, who has commented: “To face a burning world, architecture must harness all the intelligence around us. I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to curate the Biennale Architettura 2025”. An architect and engineer by training, Carlo Ratti completed his PhD thesis as a Fulbright Scholar at MIT and now teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and at the Politecnico di Milano. He is the director of the Senseable City Lab and a founding partner of the architecture and innovation office CRA – Carlo Ratti Associati (Torino, New York City, and London).