A few days are left until the inauguration of the Venice Biennale 2017; the 57th International Art Exhibition will be open to the public between Saturday May 13 and November 26, at the Arsenale and at the Pavilions in the Giardini di Castello.
Viva Arte Viva: this is the title chosen by French curator Christine Macel (photo below), an exclamation of encouragement and trust that holds within it the spirit of this Venice Biennale, a celebration of art and artists.
Participants from 86 nations, 120 artists invited and 103 among them are at their first experience at the Biennale — a clear message: the new generation of artists can express themselves.
Curator Christine Macel, who since 2000 is the chief curator of Paris’s Musée National d’Art Moderne Centre Pompidou, refers to a “new humanism” in which “art builds us up and edifies us”; Viva Arte Viva was conceived like the Biennale of the dialogue between art and world, artists and audience, a platform open to the confrontation between several individualities eager for a future in which the uncertainties and paradoxes of the contemporary age become opportunities for renaissance.
“It is a yes to life, obviously followed by a “but” in an age of global disorder. More than ever the role, the voice and the responsibility of the artist are more crucial than ever before within the framework of contemporary debates. It is in and through these individual initiatives that the world of tomorrow takes shape, which though surely uncertain, is often best intuited by artists than others.
This statement by Christine Macel contains the generating reason of this 57th International Art Exhibition.
Christine Macel conceived for the Central Pavilion and the Arsenale an original structure: the exhibition is divided into nine worlds – two within the Central Pavilion and seven in the Arsenale – called Trans-Pavilions: an homage to national pavilions of the historic Giardini venue, with a new transnational impetus that goes beyond individual identity and involves many universes.
The Trans-pavilions, with their evocative and exotic names, are like the stages of a tour, the steps of a choreography of dancing demons, or the chapters of a literary work visitors can move through fluidly: the itinerary doesn’t impose a default direction. Christine Macel invites us to follow a free cathartic stream to understand ourselves and who/what surrounds us.
To satisfy your curiosity, here is a short summary: in the Central Pavilion at the Giardini you’ll find the Pavilion of Artists and Books and the Pavilion of Joys and Fears, whereas at the Arsenale you will discover the Pavilion of the Common, the Pavilion of the Earth, the Pavilion of Traditions, the Pavilion of Shamans, the Dyonisian Pavilion, the Pavilion of Colours, and, finally, the Pavilion of Time and Infinity.
Also the Padiglione Italia, curated by Cecilia Alemani, relies on young artists, with works by Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Roberto Cuoghi, and Adelita Husni-Bey on display. The last tip for this Biennale 2017? Don’t miss the Applied Arts Pavilion created in collaboration with London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.
Have a nice trip into art!
Opening Photo: ILLUSTRATION BY RICCARDO MIOTTO
