by The Venice Biennale kicks off today, delighting art fans around the world. The seven-month, biennial, city-wide exhibition will present astonishing and illuminating works by hundreds of artists from around the world.
For those planning to go to Italy’s glorious floating city, there is more than enough to find through: 331 artists will show work in the central exhibition, Foreigners Everywhere, curated by Brazilian art director Adriano Pedrosa.
There are also 88 countries with National Pavilions, 30 official Collateral Events and many, many other concurrent exhibitions taking place across the city.
So, with so much to do and so little time, here are some of our top recommendations.
The Pavilions
Australia: friends and relatives, Archie Moore
Archie Moore explores the genealogy and commemoration of Indigenous lives in the Australian Pavilion. Completely in black and white, the walls of the space are filled with a hand drawing of the Moore family tree. It has Aboriginal heritage, so the tree stretches back some 65,000 years, a figure that looms large, literally and metaphorically, over the 254 years of Australian life today. Moore said the site is for “quiet reflection and remembrance”.
Britain: Listening All Night to the Rain, John Akomfrah
The pioneering British filmmaker, who founded the Black Audio Film Collective in 1982, is known for creating extraordinary, thought-provoking films. His piece Pavilion, an exploration of post-colonialism and environmental devastation, runs across six linked video installations. One paper called it “unbreakable, sad and utterly captivating”; another called it a “gibberish symbol”.
For those who can’t make Venice, the British Council-commissioned work will tour the UK in 2025, with confirmed stops at Cardiff National Museum and Dundee Contemporary Arts.
Croatia: Through the Media, Vlatka Horvat
Visual artist Vlatka Horvat’s piece at the Croatian Pavilion is a dialogue between artists. She has invited some of her friends from around the world to write pieces that talk about experiencing living away from home. The twist here is that the works will not be sent through postal services, but will be brought by friends, colleagues and acquaintances who will be traveling to Venice. The result, as the pieces slowly unfold, is an ever-changing exhibition, a reflection on friendship, companionship and trust.
Ethiopia: Prejudice and belonging, Tesfaye Urgessa
With the first National Pavilion in Ethiopia being celebrated in 2024, it is no surprise that the work of the chosen artist, Ethiopian painter Tesfaye Urgessa, is highly anticipated. Urgessa’s distorted human figures, often depicted in surreal domestic settings, seem to raise questions about the human psyche, intimacy, memory and identity.
Aliens everywhere
This year’s central exhibition, curated by Pedrosa, is set to be a true masterpiece. The first Latin American curator is showing artists mostly from around the world – many of them relatively unknown in the West, and usually less exposed in Venice.
“For the last ten years or so it has been unthinkable that you could do a Eurocentric biennale of contemporary art,” he told the FT. “We didn’t see the same rules applied to historical shows, so I wanted to look at Modernism in South America, Africa, Asia, and how Modernism traveled in the 20th century.”
The exhibition, which features 331 artists, will include the work of Lebanese-American poet Etel Adnan, renowned modernist painter Judith Lauand, and the renowned Yinka Shonibare, whose work is also on display in the Nigerian Pavilion.
Other
William Kentridge: Self-portrait as a coffee pot
South African artist William Kentridge, now 68, has spent his career exploring social injustice, conflict and political oppression in a variety of media including tapestries, prints and drawings, sculpture and film animated. In Self-Portrait from a Coffee-Pot, a nine-episode video series, he collaborates with friend and curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and reflects on living in the digital age.
“I love his work,” says Art Fund director Jenny Waldman. “This is a series he did during the lockout, so it will be very interesting to see what he’s up to now.”
Arsenale Institute for the Politics of Representation, until 24 November; arsenal.com
Crip Arte Spazio: The DAM in Venice
The first major international exhibition of the UK’s Disability Arts Movement (DAM) is not to be missed: it’s set to be joyous and high-spirited, bringing together artists including Terence Birch, Tony Heaton, Jameisha Prescod , Ker Wallwork, Tanya Raabe-Webber, Jason Wilsher-Mills and Abi Palmer. Artangel 2023 Palmer [the London-based arts organisation] The exhibition will include the commission, Abi Palmer Invents the Weather.
CREA, Venice; shapearts.org.uk
Non-contemporary
Carpaccio at the Schivoni
“If you’ve got a lot of contemporary art going around, the museums and churches in Venice are incredible,” says Waldman, who recommends taking some time to see the canvases painted by Vittore Carpaccio (1465-1526). to see hanging. in the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni – especially the 516-year-old Saint George and the Dragon.
“It’s one of the most amazing pieces,” she says. “It’s in a beautiful room with Carpaccio paintings around four walls. You can have a quiet evening sitting there.”
Jenny Waldman’s insider tips on doing Venice right
The veteran and director of the Biennale says that “Venice is a shared journey of discovery, a bit like an Olympic marathon” – the hours you spend across the city are part of the fun.
Download the Bloomberg Connects app
The Bloomberg Connects app, says Waldman, is the best way to get around. Download it to your mobile phone for seamless navigation of the exhibition throughout the city. Not only are all the pavilions, Collateral Events and the central exhibition marked on a map of Venice, but it also includes descriptions of artists and exhibitions that can be searched through QR codes or numbers dotted around the city.
Buy a battery pack
But of course, the app will only work if the phone is actually turned on, and as Waldman suggests, phones will be using it a lot. So make sure to fully charge your cell phone before you leave the house, and bring an extra (charged) battery pack for good measure.
A pair of tight shoes
It seems simple enough, but as you inspire Venice to put on your best, it’s important to remember the steps you’re about to take in the coming days – it’s true that exhibitions stretch from one side of the city to the other. But fear not—you don’t have to abandon all sartorial considerations; Loafers will do.
Venice Biennale20 April – 24 November; labiennale.org
