VENICE BIENNALE 2024

FOREIGNERS EVERYWHERE is the theme chosen for the 60th edition of the Art Biennale. In a city that owes so much economically, socially, artistically, and culturally, to its foreign communities, the 2024 leitmotif sounds in perfect harmony with the cosmopolitan atmosphere which has marked Venice for centuries.

From April 20th until November 24th Venice will be once more at the center of the international art world.

We leave Adriano Pedrosa, the Brazilian curator, the task of introducing the venue with his statements:
«The backdrop for the work is a world rife with multiple crises concerning the movement and existence of people across countries, nations, territories, and borders, which reflect the perils and pitfalls of language, translation, and ethnicity, expressing differences and disparities conditioned by identity, nationality, race, gender, sexuality, wealth, and freedom. In this landscape, the phrase Foreigners Everywhere has (at least) a dual meaning. Wherever you go and wherever you are you will always encounter foreigners—they/we are everywhere. Secondly, that no matter where you find yourself, you are always, truly, and deep down inside, a foreigner». The curator also states: «The Biennale Arte 2024 will focus on artists who are themselves foreigners, immigrants, expatriates, diasporic, émigrés, exiled, and refugees—especially those who have moved between the Global South and the Global North».

It is remarkable that for the first time in the long history of the Art Biennale the curator is a Latin American.

The Venice Biennale 2024  will be split into two major sections dedicated to new and old artworks, a Contemporary and a Historical nucleus. This latter deals with the history of modernism outside Europe and North America.

“We are all too familiar with the history of modernism in Euro-America, yet the modernisms in the Global South remain largely unknown and thus they assume a truly contemporary relevance—we urgently need to learn more about and from them,” Pedrosa affirms. “European modernism itself travelled far beyond Europe throughout the 20th century, often intertwined with colonialism, and many artists in the Global South travelled to Europe to be exposed to it. Yet modernism was appropriated, devoured, and cannibalized in the Global South, repeatedly taking on radically new shapes and forms in dialogue with local and indigenous references.”

An important subdivision of the Nucleo Storico will focus on what Pedrosa defines “the worldwide Italian artistic diaspora in the 20th century,” on the many Italians who migrated to Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Our guided visits to the two venues of the 2024 Art Biennale, at the Giardini and at the Arsenale, will be conducted by our experts, that will select and comment the most imaginative and advanced art projects.

We already know for sure that, amongst the not-to-be-missed pavilions at the Giardini, we can certainly already include Benin (new entry), Japan, the United Stated, South Korea, UK, Nordic Countries. While in the afternoon at the Arsenale we’ll touch Ireland, Italy, Senegal, Singapore, and some more exhibits.

An informal discussion on what you just saw might enrich your lunch break: our guide will be happy to organize a gourmet break in a nearby trattoria, where there will be some time for a first evaluation.

On request, we can also provide private guides to the other national pavilions outside the main venues.
Should you want to select some more private modern art tours with us please visit our dedicated section.