In May 2024, ArtNomads continued our central Europe art travel tour ((Alpine Art Circuit??))(see our articles on Turin, Milan, Zurich, Basel) with a 2 week stay in Venice, Italy to attend the Venice Biennale.
Sometimes referred to as the “Olympics of the art world”, the Venice Biennale, or La Biennale di Venezia is different from most of the art fairs we’ve attended and reported on. It was our first time and we wanted to share some things we learned, some art we saw.
After all – Venezia is one of the greatest wishlist travel destinations in the world – why not time your trip to enjoy some art too?
What IS the Venice Biennale ?
The Venice Biennale is a massive art event that is more like a Worlds Fair than a typical art fair. It’s a celebration of nearly every art form, with hundreds of participating artists from all over the world.
The visual-arts portion of La Biennale runs every other year – presently mounted in even years- and has since 1895. There’s an Architecture Biennale in the odd years too, if you’re into that.
What we didn’t realize when booking our trip is that it’s also much more than a feast for visual-arts lovers: it’s kind of an overarching umbrella for other festivals as well. There are dance, theatre, cinema, music and performance-art subsections, each with different opening/closing dates.
For example, film will be celebrated as the 81st Venice International Film Festival, from August 28 to September 7, 2024. The 52nd International Theatre Festival opened just as we were leaving, on June 15, and closed June 30.
You can get details about each section from LaBiennale.org, the official website.
What makes it different?
There are some major differences between the Venice Biennale and pretty much any other art fair we’ve visited.
First, nothing is for sale. At least not directly – though we’re sure inquiries *could* be made.
Second, much like a Worlds Fair / Expo, there are 86 national pavilions, each featuring artwork from artists somehow connected to the host nation (though they needn’t live there).
There is also a curated component, with artists from various nations invited to exhibit along a central theme.
For 2024, the curator was Adriano Pedrosa, from Brazil. Pedrosa imposed the theme of “Stranieri Ovunque”, which translates as “Foreigners Everywhere”. More on that later.
Where is it?
The third major difference is that La Biennale effectively covers the whole city of Venice! There are two main sites, the Arsenale (a fascinating, 110+ acre site where the Venetian Republic built and maintained its mighty fleet of warships) and the Giardini.
These two sites are less than 20 minutes walk from each other, and totally different in character. Each has a curated section with artists from around the world, and a number of national pavilions. These sites are located on the eastern end of Venice, well away (a 30-ish minute walk) from the tourist-heavy Piazza San Marco.
BUT… and this is big, folks: there are also national pavilions and collateral exhibitions scattered all across the 6 sestieri, or districts of Venice. You can do a deep dive on the history and characteristics of each district here, but the ones you spend most of your time in are Castello, Cannaregio, San Marco, and Dorsoduoro.
What we’re here to tell you is if you you’re planning to see everything, buy and break in comfy shoes, and allot at least a full week to just looking at art. We spent two weeks, and still didn’t see everything.
THIS MAP (PDF) covers the *official* sites and collateral events, but there are many other worthwhile unofficial art stops as well. We review one, here. If you want to add the major draws like San Marco, Doge’s Palace, (and why wouldn’t you?) etc., you’ll either have to be crafty about planning or add a couple days.
What You’ll See
We’ll share what we saw in this 60th edition more in depth in another post, but you can expect to see and experience a LOT of (generally) contemporary painting & sculpture, with a good amount of video. This time, not much digitally-generated work.
This edition was also different in that Pedrosa curated in quite a few pieces dating back many decades, in order to give belated voice & access to artists who’d never been shown at La Biennale before – particularly BIPOC, South American, Indigenous/First Peoples and LGTBQ+ creators.
Given the curatorial theme, there was a TON of anti-colonialism artwork, and honestly much of our time felt like a sobering history lesson. Some artists handled it deftly, others used a hammer, and Pedrosa’s sections often felt like the latter. But there’s no doubt that we learned as we went along.
When should you go?
As the name implies, the Venice Biennale runs every other year, generally from mid-April to mid-November, so you’ve got plenty of time. Unless you’re a jetsetter, you’ll want to avoid the first couple weeks: that’s teeming with press, celebrities, curators, art-world heavyweights and other people who drive up the prices of… well, everything, but especially lodging. (Speaking of which, we booked our AirBnB a full year in advance; pricing was more than double by the time the Biennale started).
The official site suggests the “calmer” summer months, but Venice can get pretty hot & muggy / buggy. Plus everyone in Europe takes August off, right?
We’d suggest May for 2026, or September/October for 2024. Milder temps, kids are back in school… crowds would be lighter etc. Whatever date you choose, take bug spray.
Once there, know that all official Biennale sites are closed on Mondays, but open late on Fridays and Saturdays. In our experience, visiting weekdays, especially in afternoon, is a much more relaxed environment.
How long should you stay?
That’s obviously up to you, and how into art you really are. We’ve seen people make it through either main venue in 1 day each, but personally feel that’s way too fast. NO WAY those people sat through all the video offerings.
That also ignores all the offsite exhibits. We’d say a minimum of 3 days for the Arsenale & Giardini, plus another couple days (minimum) for collateral events and soaking up & enjoying the city itself. Call it a week to get a good sense of it all.
We’d been to Venice once before, 20+ years ago, for only 3 or so nights. We spent a full 2 weeks this time, and we’d realllly suggest as much time as you can manage. The vibe changes completely, to a more relaxed pace. You feel yourself getting annoyed at “tourists” – cuz after all, you’re a Venetian now! It gives you more time to wander, and find the best cicchetti / spritz (above), gelato, and dinner spots around. Hint: most aren’t where the blogs tell you.
Getting Around the Biennale
If you are going to visit more than just the Arsenale & Giardini, there are some practical considerations. Remember, Venice is a city composed of islands- there are no cars once you leave the mainland. Instead, you rely on your feet and various levels of watercraft as transport. The streets are cobbles / stone pavers. Leave the stilettos in the room. Better yet, at home. (We also suggest backpack luggage if you can manage the weight. Rollerbags -and strollers- are a problem).
Accessibility
Both the Arsenale and Giardini are big, fairly open spaces, easy to walk to and around, although the Giardini paths are gravel. The curated section of the Giardini (“Central Pavilion”) has several sections with stairs; we only noted one elevator, way in a back corner. Not super accessibility-friendly.
Each national pavilion has its own entrance; most had installed some level of ramp to get in, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that all the art is accessible. In this edition’s Germany pavilion for example, an “apartment” was built around a spiral staircase, with no other access to those floors.
The main curated section (“Corderie”) of The Arsenale is one big (humongous) long building on one floor; no problem for wheelchair, scooter etc. However, many of the national pavilions were up flights of stairs (we did see a few elevators) and/or had level changes from room to room.
Accessibility at any of the collateral spaces is a crapshoot; the larger palazzi and museums will be fine, but some other structures may be inaccessible. Remember you’re dealing with structures and “streets” from the 800s to 1700s, built on stilts in a lagoon – some places just can’t be retrofitted. You can download a map for the main venues here (PDF).
Comfort
Each site has a couple cafes, with prices that weren’t as inflated as we’d have assumed. We brought our own lunches & beverages, and assume anyone with dietary restrictions can do so too. Each site has a couple sets of restrooms, though not as many as you’d hope, given the numbers of attendees.
Cost, Tickets & Time(s)
La Biennale opened April 20, and runs through November 24th, 2024. Daily hours vary seasonally; check the website to be sure. Official Biennale events and venues are closed most Mondays.
There are multiple ticket options for the Biennale; single-visit all the way up to unlimited visit, and various discounts available. Remember, the Venice Biennale runs for 6 months, so if you’re traveling around Italy for a bit, this might be a good option. There are ticket booths at each site but the most convenient for us was at the Arsenale vaporetto stop.
We went for the 7-day ticket, which cost us 50EUR each. It’s good for 7 consecutive days, not counting Mondays, when the Biennale is closed. The “timer” doesn’t start until its first scanned, so you can buy whenever is convenient and lines are short. We visited a number of the offsite national pavilions before using our tickets for the two main sites. Weather may play a part in your strategy, as it did for us … if heavy rain is forecast, the curated pavilions are a good way to stay dry.
Pro Tip: Multi-day tickets also allow in-n-out privileges, which is pretty key. Lines are longest right at open, but taper WAY off by 2pm. School groups are also gone by then. It’s a better experience to hit some of the collateral sites in the morning and stroll on in somewhere after noon, maybe 1pm, to the main venues.
It’s also better to take in some exhibits and get some time away to “digest” it, rather that try to cram it into one day. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Where to Stay
If your main goal is the two main Venice Biennale sites, and not so much the rest of the city, or if mobility is an issue, we’d suggest staying somewhere around/along Via Guiseppe Garibaldi, like we did. It’s less tourist-heavy, quieter, cheaper, and less than 10 minutes walk to either the Arsenale or Giardini. There’s a slew of decent to really good restaurants, and bars, and a couple decent grocery stores, for that last-minute bottle run.
On the flip side, it adds a bunch of walking to the must-do Piazza San Marco, Doge’s Palace, etc. – though you could splurge on that multi-use vaporetto pass and save your legs.
Conclusion
For us, (Mr. Nomads in particular), attending the Venice Biennale was a bucket-list art travel event. I was expecting much more cutting-edge artwork… something forward-looking, but this edition was very much about looking at today and in the rearview.
But we did see amazing work, we learned a LOT, and we spent two weeks soaking in La Serenissima (“most serene”, Venice Republic’s nickname). We heartily recommend a visit, and as long a visit as you can manage.