"The 56th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition" Report Part 3

The 56th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition will close on November 22 after a period of about seven months. This year's Expo 2013, which began about a month earlier than usual in conjunction with the opening of the Expo Milano, recorded approximately 501,000 visitors during the period, exceeding the previous international art exhibition held in 2013 by 24,000. bottom. There were more than 8,000 interviews and reports by domestic and foreign media (including 2,650 in Italy and 5,450 in foreign media), and it was widely reported not only in major art magazines around the world but also in daily newspapers. It has also been reported on the popularity of SNS (especially on the final day, the number of registered users on Twitter reached 450,000, an increase of 79% compared to the previous year, and Instagram was also introduced one month before the opening, and currently has 28,000 registered users) .

On the other hand, the official announcement on the final day was not only about the number of participants, but also about the implementation of various events that will serve as forums for discussion, achievements in exchanges with students and educators who will lead the creation of the future, and new developments of the Biennale. As you can see, there was also a mention of the "Venice Biennale Online", a collaboration with Google that makes full use of the latest IT technology, and the "Collateral Event" (simultaneously held exhibition), which is increasing in number and attracting attention year by year. . In this final MAGCUL.NET report, we will introduce these “biennale continuations”. In addition, among collateral events, we will look back on a special exhibition by M+ (Museum Plus), a large public art museum currently under construction in Hong Kong, and a joint exhibition of Indian and Pakistani artists realized at the request of a private foundation. Finally, we would like to inform you about the future activities of the two representatives of the Japan Pavilion who answered the interview in the first report.

Venue on the final day of the 56th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition
Photo by Andrea Avezzù Courtesy: la Biennale di Venezia

Paolo Baratta, director of the Venice Biennale, evaluated this international art exhibition, especially after 1999, when it recorded about 200,000 visitors, while paying attention to the number of journalists, critics, young people, etc. He says that he would like to evaluate the further deepening and richness of the knowledge and creative possibilities brought about by the exchange. Even in the breakdown of visitors, after the number of media mentioned above, the target demographic of "young people and students", who account for 30% of the visitors this time, is specified. was seen a lot. This is also the result of a project called the "Biennale Session," which encourages universities and art academies around the world to appreciate the Venice Biennale. A total of 3518 participants from 78 universities, of which 24 were from Italy and 54 were from abroad.

In addition, Venice has produced important movements and artists in the history of art, and at this year's Biennale, 60 students from the National Institute of Fine Arts of Venice, founded in 1750, were among the world-famous conceptual artists. Participating in productions by artist Hans Haake and performances by Golden Lion winner Adrian Piper. Furthermore, in addition to the various events held every day at the "Red Theater" in the Giardini venue that I reported on last time, an international conference called "Creative Time Summit 2015" was held at the Teatro alle These in the Arsenale venue. More than 100 speakers, including activists, teachers, theorists, and politicians, discussed art education and other issues.

56th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition Viewers (Giardini Venue)
Photo: Alessandra Chemollo Courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia

○ Biennale Sessions on the occasion of the 56th International Art Exhibition (List of participating schools and videos available)
http://www.labiennale.org/en/art/archive/56th-exhibition/biennale-sessions/
○ Biennale Educational 2015 (Venice Biennale Educational Activities Guidelines)
http://web.labiennale.org/doc_files/educational-en2015b.pdf
○ The 2015 (7th) Creative Time Summit: the Curriculum at the Biennale Arte 2015 (event overview, list of speakers, video available)
http://creativetime.org/summit/venice-2015/

Whether you weren't able to go to Venice this time, or if you went but were overwhelmed by the large number of exhibitions, please come and experience the "Venice Biennale Online" jointly developed by the Venice Biennale with the Google Cultural Institute. please give me. "Cultural Institute" is a service provided free of charge on the Internet by Google, which makes it possible to digitally archive exhibitions and collections of museums around the world and freely search and browse them. The Venice Biennale version has been developed this time. In addition to the exhibition venues (Arsenale and Giardini), the names of the pavilions by country in 70 countries are listed. With just a click, you can enjoy the exhibition route or slides of photos according to the set theme. In addition to the operation that allows you to enjoy the scenery of the venue 360 degrees, you can also watch performances at each venue that you could not see due to the fixed date and time, and videos of commentary by the curator. In Venice, a booth where you can enjoy this online biennale is said to be open until January 23, 2016 at Palazzo Justinian, where the Secretariat of the Biennale Management Foundation is located.

○ "56th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition Online"
The 56th International Art Exhibition online by Google Cultural Institute
https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/u/0/project/la-biennale-di-venezia
(Click here for the "Japan Pavilion" page)
https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/u/0/exhibit/the-key-in-the-hand/2wJSFJ9xCfj3Jw?projectId=la-biennale-di-venezia

In various spaces on the main island of Venice, there is an increasing number of "collateral events" such as special exhibitions held at the same time as the Venice Biennale, bearing the names of countries and administrative districts, such as the national pavilions at the Giardini venue. increase. Hong Kong is one of the administrative districts that has participated in this collateral event type since 2001. This year, we held a solo exhibition of Tsang Jianhua (born in Shantou, China in 1976, based in Hong Kong) at the Hong Kong Pavilion in the venue opposite the main entrance of the Arsenale. This exhibition is co-hosted by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (ADC) and M+ (Museum Plus), which is attracting attention as a new large-scale public art museum. M+ is a museum specializing in visual culture scheduled to open in 2018 in the West Kowloon Cultural District, a 2-kilometer stretch of skyscrapers along the Victoria Bay coast of Hong Kong. The museum's curation team chose him to represent Hong Kong in Venice.
Zeng is an artist who develops wallpaper and video installation works that mainly use text as a material. In Japan, I exhibited at the 2010 Aichi Triennale and the 2011 Mori Art Museum MAM Project. In his new work for Venice, Zeng develops his recent studies on Nietzsche's atheism and faith, and presents a video installation "THE INFINITE NOTHING" (literally translated as "infinite (meaning no) was announced. As a Christian, Zeng touches on Nietzsche, and expresses a journey of searching for "uncertain ultimateness" while drawing inspiration from themes of Buddhism, Western philosophy, and contemporary film. Cross the "river" and confront the "light" and "words" pouring down, and the "door" that appears in front of you. Will the viewer be able to find the "eternal recurrence" that is suggested beyond that by their "free will"? This exhibition stylishly expresses the modernity of chaos in an ever-evolving civilized society, in which individuals search for their "true self" in the name of faith and religion, and is also linked to the water city of Venice. So, I'm curious about the trend of expression in Hong Kong, including M+.

○ “Zheng Jianhua THE INFINITE NOTHING”
Date: May 9th - November 22nd, 2015
Venue: Campo della Tana, Castello 2126-30122, Venice, Italy
Co-organizers: The Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC), West Kowloon Cultural District M+
www.venicebiennale.hk

Another concurrent exhibition worth mentioning is the joint exhibition of Indian and Pakistani artists, “My East is Your West,” realized at the request of a private foundation. After independence from the British colony, repeated wars and religious conflicts have continued, and on the border between the two countries, what is said to be the longest defensive wall in the world has been built. Shilpa Gupta (born in Bombay, India in 1976, based in the city that changed its name to Mumbai in 1995) creates works that visualize the various evils and barrenness of globalizing society and politics. I have been to This time, she will silently draw a border line with carbon paper on 3394 meters of white cloth, which is 1/1000 of the length of the border between the two countries. On the other hand, Rashid Rana (born 1968 in Lahore, Pakistan, based in Lahore) uses digitally processed photographs and images to measure the temporality of existence and the concept of place. The exhibition used large monitors and live-stream capabilities to bring viewers in the galleries of Lahore and Venice to a real-time face-to-face experience. The female director of the Gujral Foundation, Fellows, who called for cooperation between artists from both countries, who are increasing opportunities for international activities, in addition to presenting doubts about the state of their homeland and ways to overcome them.・Mr. Gujral was praised for bringing India and Pakistan together at Venice, the world's largest contemporary art festival, and presenting a vision of the future that South Asia wants.

My East is Your West(2015) at the 56th Venice Biennale by Rashid Rana.
Photo by Mark Blower

○ “My East is Your West”
Venue: Palazzo Benzon, San Marco 3927, Venice, Italy
Date: May 6th to October 1st, 2015
Organizer: The Gujral Foundation
http://gujralfoundation.org/my-east-is-your-west/

Lastly, I would like to tell you about the continuation of the Japan Pavilion “Palm Key” exhibition, which was triggered by the exhibition in Kanagawa in an interview with MAGCUL.NET.
Although the pavilion did not even win an award, the photographs of the installation landscape were featured on the front page of local Italian newspapers, and the exhibition was well-received by leading art newspapers in Europe and the United States as a must-see exhibition.
Each report will be updated on the special website of the Japan Pavilion, and can be viewed even after the closing.
Hitoshi Nakano, the curator who served as Japan's representative, is currently preparing a cutting-edge exhibition at the KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater , where he is currently affiliated, to introduce Japanese contemporary artists who are active both in Japan and overseas from Kanagawa.
At the same time, he has been requested from all over Japan to give presentations on the Venice Biennale, contributing to the development of both artists and curators who will represent the Japan Pavilion in the future.
For further information on artist Chiharu Shiota, please refer to the artist's official website and the latest exhibition information at Galerie Daniele Tamperon , a major French gallery to which she belongs.
In particular, taking the opportunity of participating in Venice, it seems that it was decided to participate in the "Sydney Biennale" (from March 18, 2016). MAGCUL.NET will continue to watch and support what kind of works Mr. Shioda will present at this international art exhibition, which began in 1973 as the first biennale in the Asia-Pacific region!

The venue on the final day Photo by Andrea Avezzù Courtesy: la Biennale di Venezia

Report responsibility: Mami Iida (art historian)

Related article