Record 88 countries to take part in Venice Biennale
A record 88 countries will take part in the Venice Biennale contemporary art festival this year including top artists
AFP
Mar 11, 2011
ROME (AFP) - A record 88 countries will take part in the Venice Biennale contemporary art festival this year including top artists like Thomas Hirschhorn, Angel Vergara and Cindy Sherman, organisers said on Friday.
The Biennale, which first opened in 1895, will start on June 1 and run until November. It will include for the first time national pavilions for Andorra, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Haiti and Saudi Arabia.
The Democratic Republic of Congo and India, which have not taken part since 1968 and 1980 respectively, will also be taking part in a series of exhibitions and shows.
"The Biennale is a place of pilgrimage for the whole world," director Paolo Baratta told reporters in Rome, adding that the total cost of the festival this year was 13 million euros (18 million dollars).
Bice Curiger, a Swiss art critic and Biennale curator, said: "The Biennale is one of the most important forums for... reflection on current art trends."
She said the festival's title "ILLUMInations" emphasised its global role.
The Biennale, which is held every two years, is known for its often provocative shows. At the last show in 2009, Chechen artist Andrei Molodkin's work used actual blood donated by Russian soldiers who fought in Chechnya.
At this year's show the national pavilion of the United States will feature Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla and the Chinese one will contain works by Yuan Gong, Pan Gongkai, Liang Yuanwei, Yang Maoyuan and Cai Zhisong.
Japan will be represented by Tabaimo, Germany by the late Christoph Schlingensief and France by Christian Boltanski. Mecca-born Shadia Alem, who has works in France, Ireland, South Africa and South Korea, will exhibit in Saudi Arabia's pavilion.
