Spin is offering its members a weekend trip to the oldest and most prestigious contemporary art festivals in the world, the Venice Biennale. Held every two years, the Biennale is an excellent opportunity to see works by leading, international and up-and-coming contemporary artists. Over 77 countries are taking part this year (a record number) and include first-time participations of Montenegro, Republic of Gabon and the United Arab Emirates.
There are two main strands to the Venice Biennale: the Giardini which houses 30 permanent national pavilions and a curated exhibition by the Biennale’s appointed director – Daniel Birnbaum, Rector of the Staedelschule Frankfurt/Main and its Kunsthalle Portikus – which is presented in the newly opened Palazzo delle Esposizioni (formerly known as the Italian Pavilion) in the Giardini and the Arsenale – the buildings of the adjacent formal naval dockyard. Birnbaums chosen theme is Making Worlds (Fare Mondi) and comprises works by over 90 artists from all over the world including John Baldessari, Carten Holler, Goshka Macuga, Yoko Ono, Philippe Parreno, Simon Starling, Wolfgang Tillmans and Richard Wentworth.
Steve McQueen has been chosen to represent Great Britain in the Giardini. McQueen, who works primarily in film, won the Turner Prize in 1999, was official war artist in Iraq in 2003 and won of the Camera dOr at Cannes for his debut feature, Hunger, about the death of Bobby Sands. For the Biennale, McQueen has made a film entitled Giardini which focuses on the gardens once the Biennale is over.
Other National Participation highlights include Liam Gillick (Germany), Fiona Tan (Netherlands), Bruce Nauman (USA) and the joint collaboration between Denmark and the Nordic Countries – The Collectors by artist duo, Elmgreen and Dragset.
Collateral exhibitions take place in venues spreading across the city of Venice. Scotland is presenting the work of Martin Boyce in the Palazzo Pisani Santa Marina where he has transformed the fading grandeur of a 15th century palazzio with a series of sculptural installations which echoes the maze-like nature of Venice. Representing Wales at the Giudecca is John Cale who has created an audio-visual film work.
In a labyrinthine city like Venice, given the sheer number of artworks to see, it is impossible to visit everything. So thats where we come in. We went on a research trip during the opening week in June and have come up with an itinerary which selects and showcases the very best of this years Biennale. This formula has worked well on our previous trips with members in 2005 and 2007.
The tour will take place from Thursday 22-Saturday 24 October 2009.
