The Venice Biennial
The Venice Biennial, being the world’s largest and oldest biennial of international contemporary art, is held in Venice every two years from June till November with participation from a large number of countries. The 53nd Biennial will take place in the summer and autumn of 2009. The artistic director is the Swedish curator and critic Daniel Birnbaum, whose other appointments include being dean of the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main and co-curator of the Yokohama Triennale 2008.
Since its beginning, the biennial has been centered around an international exhibition at Pallazzo d’Esposizione in the park, Giardini di Castello, and today the exhibition activities have spread into the old military compound, Arsenale, near the Giardini, housing another large common exhibition as well as into several other localities on the surrounding isles.
The selection of the participating artists has, since the very first biennials, been nationally based, but today the national curatorial contributions are joined by one or more international main curators appointed by the president of the Biennial. It is the main curators of the Biennial who set out the overall theme of the exhibition and who are responsible for curating the large common exhibition.
Throughout the years, the Venice Biennial has served as an example for the ever growing number of larger or smaller art biennials all over the world. However, despite increasing competition, it has managed to preserve its status as one of the most significant international events within contemporary art.
Visit the official website of the Venice Biennial: www.labiennale.org