La Biennale di Venezia 53rd International Art Exhibition Fare Mondi / / Making Worlds | Art and Architecture: Giardini

La Biennale has never been a “white box” container. Since the Biennale beginnings at Giardini, national pavilions architecture was designed as symbol of the country of the pavilion. Although many pavilions architectural style is outdated, their architectural presence becomes is a memory of the time when they were built. Often artists works become specific to the architecture of the pavilion.
At the 2009 Biennale the most interesting examples of art installations relating to the architectural pavilions are from Russia, French, Japan, and Germany.

Video Installations at the Russian Pavillion

Claude Lévêque at the French Pavilion

MiwaYanagi's Windswept Women at the Japanese Pavilion

Liam Gillick at the German Pavilion

La Biennale di Venezia 53rd International Art Exhibition Fare Mondi / / Making Worlds | Parties: Abu Dhabi at the Peggy Guggnheim

The United Arab Emirates first participation at the Biennale was celebrated in two memorable parties.

The first party was at a celebrated "traditional" art venue, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Later a shuttle transported us through the water of the Canal Grande ---and less well know canals--- to the ADACH (Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage) a late-night party at Spazio Thetis, across the water from the Arsenale.

A few visual memories, including a snapshot of an unusual empty Arsenale, taken during my return to the hotel, recovering from getting lost in a rainy night at 3am in Celestia ---and those of you are familiar with the venetian labyrinths can sympathize!

Photographs and text are excerpts from the conceptual multimedia project
“Axes Mundi: Perceptions and Understanding of Places as Intersections of Space, Time and Culture”

Fuori Biennale | Performances: Diritti Negati by Maimuna Feroze Nana

On June 4 the Pakistani artist Maimuna Feroze Nana presented a performance in front of Teatro del Piccolo Arsenale, entrance to the Arsenale section of La Biennale: a group of 15 silent women wear the "burqua" representing the symbols inherent to this piece of clothing.

The performance has been presented in collaboration with Centro Donna del Comune di Venezia e del C.T.R. (Centro Teatrale di Ricerca di Venezia).

Maimuna Feroze Nana website: http://www.maimuna-art.com/

LA BIENNALE di VENEZIA 53rd International Art Exhibition: Making Worlds | Worldmaking...?

Tomas Saraceno at Palazzo delle Esposizioni

Nelson Goodman's "Ways of Worldmaking" (1978) stated how the facts of the “world” are not found but made: the worlds of science, arts and practices constantly prove this statement. Worldmaking was also a concept much in use in the nineties when cyberspace and virtual realities were expanding to our everyday world; the widespread use of computing and Internet reinforced the presence of virtual worlds and social interaction vs. the physical worlds.

The title of the 2009 Biennale is “making worlds” and the director Daniel Birnbaum emphasizes how a work of art is more than an object, represents a vision of the world and a way to construct a world.
Worldmaking in art is not new: for over 60 years contemporary art has expressed how process is more defining than the final product as art creation. Land art, arte povera, performance art, conceptualism and minimalism are art practices involved with the making of art beyond the production of objects: transformation of sites, use of text and ultimately the artist’s body itself create alternative worlds. Video art is another example of worldmaking where the projected moving images constantly transform the existing physical space and the viewer’s perceptions.
In this Biennale, but for some exceptions, I did not find so much of world making. The majority of works do not relate at all with the site. Although the Biennale exhibition spaces ---Giardini, Arsenale and Venice--- are not “white box” containers in the majority of works there was no relationship with the site. Worldmaking does not happen in a vacuum, but starts from an existing reality which get transformed, but still has a presence: space and time are definers of any possible world and should be expressed even in the most abstract worlds.

But…we are in Venice, the museum city where surreal and real worlds merge in a blend of memories, dreams, history, sublime and decadence. Enjoy!

Guyton Walker "Senza Titolo" 2009

The Cafe designed by Tobias Rehberger

LA BIENNALE di VENEZIA 53rd International Art Exhibition: Making Worlds | The Facts

L'Arsenale

Fare Mondi // Making Worlds the 53rd International Art Exhibition will open to the public on June 7 2009. The exhibition will open in the traditional venues, the Giardini and the Arsenale, as well as in various other locations around the city. This year Biennale holds record numbers: over 90 artists from all over the world in 77 national participations and 44 Collateral Events. The exhibition venues include 50,000 square meter at the Giardini and 38,000 square meter at the Arsenale, with several additional sites in the city of Venice and surrounding islands.
La Biennale di Venezia is 114 year old: The first exhibition opened on April 30 1895 with the title "Pro Arte" in the Palazzo dell'Esposizione in Giardini di Castello, at the presence of the Italian king and queen; the first exhibition counted over 200,000 visitors.

The 2009 Biennale visual art exhibition director is Daniel Birnbaum

For more information visit labiennale.org

Palazzo delle Esposizioni ai Giardini, formerly called "Padigione Italia"

Photographs and text are excerpts from the conceptual multimedia project
“Axes Mundi: Perceptions and Understanding of Places as Intersections of Space, Time and Culture”

La Biennale di Venezia 53rd International Art Exhibition Fare Mondi / / Making Worlds | Parties: Steve McQueens at Palazzo Pisani Moretta

A reception to celebrate Steve McQueen (representing UK at La Biennale) was hosted on June 3rd, by the Marian Goodman and Thomas Dane galleries at the Fifteenth Century Palazzo Pisani Moretta.
The palace, built in the Gothic floreal style, is located in the Canal Grande half way between the Bridge of Rialto and the Ca' Foscari, exhibits decoration and frescos by several Venetian artists of the XVIIIth Century, including Giambattista Tiepolo, Jacopo Guarana, Gaspare Diziani and Giuseppe Angeli.

Chandeliers and blue lighting

The ceiling by Gian BattistaTiepolo

Almost full moon on the Canal Grande

Steve McQueen

Events | Rome, Celebration of the Italian Republic at Giardini del Quirinale

Il 2 giugno e' la Festa della Repubblica Italiana, che commemora il referendum del 2-3 giugno 1946,in cui il popolo italiano venne chiamato alle urne e scelse la Repubblica come forma di governo, dopo 85 anni di monarchia. Il 2 giugno per gli italiani e' la piu' grande festa nazionale, simile al 14 luglio per la Francia o il 4 luglio per gli Stati Uniti.

Dal 1948 la ricorrenza viene commemorata con una parata militare in Via dei Fori Imperiali; quest'anno in solidarieta' con la tragedia del terremoto in Abbruzzo, il presidente della Repubblica Giorgio Napolitano ha cancellato la parata militare. Come celebrazione il nostro presidente ha invece aperto al pubblico le porte del Quirinale, la residenza presidenziale ufficiale edificata nel XVI secolo, con accesso ai magnifici giardini. Il presidente ha anche fatto un'apparizione pubblica, passeggiando (con pochissime guardie di sicurezza) tra le folle di adulti e bambini esultanti.

Un grosso applauso per questo bel

segno di democrazia: bravo Napolitano!

Events | TERRA LUNA Infinita Risonanza, Festival della Letteratura a Roma

Magical evenings at the Basilica di Massenzio, in the Foro Romano.
The Basilica, built by the emperor Massenzio at the beginning of IV century, hosts Festival della Letteratura ---a series of literary readings and musical performance inspired by meditations on the Earth-Moon resonance. Festival della Letteratura also celebrates the 40th anniversary of the first human steps on our satellite, from the astronaut Armostrong, the commander of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission.

PROGRAM

CONFERENZA STAMPA
LUNEDÌ 25 MAGGIO ORE 15.00 - CASA DELLE LETTERATURE
Margaret Mazzantini, Andrew Sean Greer

SERATA
MARTEDÌ 26 MAGGIO ORE 21.00
COLPI DI LUNA scritture di vita
Margaret Mazzantini con Sergio Castellitto
Andrew Sean Greer

CONFERENZA STAMPA
GIOVEDÌ 28 MAGGIO ORE 15.00 - CASA DELLE LETTERATURE
Edoardo Albinati (video), Vinicio Capossela

SERATA
VENERDÌ 29 MAGGIO ORE 21.00
LUNAR PARK scritture stralunate
Edoardo Albinati
Vinicio Capossela con Costantino Cinaski
Suona Alessandro Stefana

CONFERENZA STAMPA
MERCOLEDÌ 3 GIUGNO ORE 15.00 - CASA DELLE LETTERATURE
John A. Lindqvist, Licia Troisi

SERATA
GIOVEDÌ 4 GIUGNO ORE 21.00
L’OMBRA DELLA LUNA scritture dell’immaginario
John A. Lindqvist introdotto da Marco Baliani
Licia Troisi
Suonano Nuccini! From Giardini di Mirò

CONFERENZA STAMPA
GIOVEDÌ 4 GIUGNO ORE 12.00 - CASA DELLE LETTERATURE
Saranno presenti alcuni dei poeti ospiti della serata IL VERSO DELLA LUNA poesie
SERATA
VENERDÌ 5 GIUGNO ORE 21.00
IL VERSO DELLA LUNA poesie
Giuseppe Conte - Maurizio Cucchi - Michel Deguy - Eugenio De Signoribus - Mariangela Gualtieri – Jolanda
Insana - Antonio Riccardi
Suonano i Luna Reverse di Luigi Cinque con Alex Balanescu, Andrea Biondi, Sal Bonafede.

CONFERENZA STAMPA
LUNEDÌ 8 GIUGNO ORE 12.00 - CASA DELLE LETTERATURE
CONFERENZA STAMPA
Andrea Vitali

SERATA
MARTEDÌ 9 GIUGNO ORE 21.00
LA LUNA NEL POZZO favole e affabulatori
Roberto Piumini
Andrea Vitali
Suonano Giovanni Caveziel e i Sulutumana

CONFERENZA STAMPA
MERCOLEDÌ 10 GIUGNO ORE 15.00 – CASA DELLE LETTERATURE
CONFERENZA STAMPA
Antonio Muñoz Molina, Ermanno Cavazzoni

SERATA
GIOVEDI 11 GIUGNO ORE 21.00
IL VENTO DELLA LUNA dal passato al futuro
Antonio Muñoz Molina introdotto da Laura Morante
BESTIARIO DELLA TERRALUNA con le sue musiche e i suoi versi
Ermanno Cavazzoni
Suonano Vincenzo Vasi, Antonio Borghini e Mirko Sabatini

CONFERENZA STAMPA
LUNEDÌ 15 GIUGNO (ORARIO DA DEFINIRE) – CASA DELLE LETTERATURE
John Grisham, Petros Markaris

SERATA
MARTEDÌ 16 GIUGNO ORE 21.00
LA LEGGE DELLA LUNA le inchieste di carta
John Grisham
Petros Markaris
Introdotti da Isabella Ragonese e Filippo Nigro
Suonano i Calibro 35

CONFERENZA STAMPA
MERCOLEDÌ 17 GIUGNO ORE 12.00 – CASA DELLE LETTERATURE
Kader Abdolah, Nicolai Lilin
SERATA
GIOVEDÌ 18 GIUGNO ORE 21.00
I MOTI DELLA LUNA scritture migranti
Kader Abdolah introdotto dall’attrice Eleonora Danco
Nicolai Lilin
Suona Raffaele Costantino DJ set

CONFERENZA STAMPA
LUNEDÌ 22 GIUGNO ORE 12.00 – CASA DELLE LETTERATURE
Björn Larsson, Matthew Pearl
SERATA
MARTEDÌ 23 GIUGNO ORE 21.00
ECLISSI DI LUNA gialli di storie e lettere
Björn Larsson
Matthew Pearl
Introdotti da Valentina Carnelutti e Alessandro Benvenuti
Suona Gianni Music DJ set

CONFERENZA STAMPA
MERCOLEDÌ 24 GIUGNO ORE 12.00 – CASA DELLE LETTERATURE
Carlo Rovelli, Mario Tozzi
SERATA
GIOVEDÌ 25 GIUGNO ORE 21.00
MECCANICHE CELESTI dalla terra alla luna
Carlo Rovelli
Mario Tozzi
Suonano i port-royal

see also festivaldelleletterature.it