Art in Venice
Venice Biennale 2024
Art in Venice
Venice Biennale 2024
AN EXPERIENCE REPORT
Venice Biennale 2024
The Venice Art Biennale is taking place until November 2024 under the motto ‘Foreigners Everywhere – Stranieri Ovunque’.
In June 2024, I spent a day at the Venice Art Biennale – finally immersing myself in the epicentre of contemporary art that takes place every two years!
Should you prepare for it and if so, how, or just let yourself drift in the sea of exhibitions? Both! I’m happy to share my experiences here so that you can still see the Biennale for all the art.
Your Jacqueline
In September, Céline also went to see the Biennale. You can find her top 5 pavilions below.
The details
at a glance
Duration: until 24 November 2024
Opening hours:
Monday closed
Giardini and Arsenale:
20 April to 30 September, 11.00 a.m. – 7.00 p.m. (last admission 6.45 p.m.)
1 October to 24 November, 10.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. (last admission 5.45 p.m.)
Only at the Arsenale:
until 30 September: Friday + Saturday extended opening hours until 8 p.m. (last admission 7.45 p.m.)
Public holidays: 17 June, 22 July, 2 and 30 September and 18 November 2024 open.
Prices from the official website:
3-day ticket:
EUR 40 for adults (valid for 3 consecutive days, closing days are not counted)
Weekly ticket:
EUR 50 for adults (valid for 7 consecutive days, closing days are not counted)
Day ticket:
EUR 30 for adults (for 1 admission to the Giardini and 1 admission to the Arsenale)
EUR 20 for people over 65 years of age, resident in Venice (a valid ID is required at the entrance)
EUR 16 for students and/or under 26 years of age (valid ID required at the entrance)
Free admission for children up to and including 6 years of age, people with disabilities and one accompanying person (valid ID required at the entrance, need a free ticket)
+ 50 cent online reservation fee
Where can I buy tickets?
Tickets can be purchased on site. However, it is advisable to purchase them online in advance to avoid unnecessary queuing.
On the official website of the Biennale, all information and ticket purchases are only available in Italian and English. Moreover, even in the English version, some of the information is in Italian (see screenshots).
If you don’t want to go down the slippery slope when buying tickets, I recommend you buy them via our website here. You can do everything there in English or your personal language.
In both cases, the tickets are flexible, which means you don’t have to choose the day in advance (even if you have to choose a day with Tiqets, they can still be redeemed on any day).
Buy your
Art Biennale Ticket
This year’s art biennial (already the 60th!) runs from 20 April to 24 November 2024 and is open every day except Mondays (with certain exceptions).
If you want to meet everyone who’s anyone in the contemporary art world, we recommend the Opening Week. Ok, unfortunately it’s already over now, but you can make a note of it for 2026 😉 But there’s also a lot going on then and the exhibitions are really full.
I was there on a Tuesday in June, which was very pleasant. Although you’re not travelling alone, it never got too crowded and you didn’t have to queue anywhere. Just choose the days that suit you best for a trip to Venice. It goes without saying that the city is generally not as crowded in November as it is in July/August and there is probably less going on during the week than at the weekend.
THE VENDIG ART BIENNIALE
WHEN SHOULD I GO?
GOOD QUESTION
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO VISIT THE ART BIENNIAL?
It all depends on the demands you place on the Biennale and yourself and, of course, the time you have available. I was there for one day, i.e. from 11 a.m. to about 6 p.m., in the two exhibition areas, Arsenale and Giardini, which are close to each other, by the way. It was sporty and demanding, but for my first time at the Biennale it was fine. If you want to visit the exhibitions with time and leisure, then two days are the minimum (there are tickets for 1, 3 or 7 days).
I also recommend spending at least 1-2 extra days in Venice to visit other exhibitions in the city that are part of the Biennale (and to enjoy an aperitivo at your leisure!). These are often in special locations, such as churches and palaces. This year, there is even a women’s prison (Vatican pavilion!).
Whether you have a lot or little time: I recommend finding out about the highlights of the main exhibitions and the national pavilions in advance: via cultural journals on television, websites that report on the Biennale or the official press pack.
I bought the official guide on site, which presents all the artists in the main exhibitions and introduces the national pavilions. If you’re very interested in art, it’s worth ordering this guide in advance and looking through it at home. You can then make a note of the art you really want to see and make sure you don’t miss anything!
Preparation is good, but it’s also not a bad thing to want to discover something new and unexpected, which shouldn’t be a problem given the wide range of different exhibitions on offer!
PLANNING YES OR NO?
HOW CAN YOU PREPARE?
The Biennale is a mixture of:
- two large exhibitions,
- various country pavilions,
- collateral events,
and all this spread over three areas:
- Giardini (gardens),
- Arsenale (former shipyard),
- and several locations in the city of Venice itself.
In addition, there are many exhibitions in foundations and museums that are not part of the official programme but take place at the same time.
So there is a lot of art to see in Venice during the Biennale. As if there wasn’t already enough to discover in the city! You see: either you stay there for a whole week or you have to prioritise…
Regarding the Biennale-Area: There is no order of priority, which means you can simply start where it suits you best.
I travelled directly from the airport on the Alilaguna transfer, which has two stops near the Biennale: Bacini – Arsenale Norte and Giardini. I got off at Bacini and then walked to the Arsenale (early in the morning through a residential neighbourhood without tourists – very nice!) By the way, there is a cloakroom with lockers for bags and small luggage.
If I had already been in Venice, I would probably have started at the Giardini. There are more, and also larger, country pavilions to see there, which are more sophisticated in terms of content. In other words: if you’re still fresh in the morning, you can take it all in better!
While I first went through the main exhibition in the Arsenale, I started with the pavilions in the Giardini. Here, too, you can do as you please.
WHERE SHOULD you
START YOUR VISIT?
Art, art, art – in all the shapes, formats, materials, smells and colours you can imagine. It is a feast for the senses, but also very thought-provoking.
The theme of the 60th Biennale is ‘Foreigners Everywhere’. Brazilian curator Adriano Pedrosa has focused on artists from the Global South and those who traditionally belong to marginalised social groups, such as indigenous or queer people. It is a very colourful Bienniale, and you see art that is not often seen in museums in our latitudes. For me, it really expanded my horizons, even if not everything immediately appealed to me, or I liked it.
I found it fascinating how the different countries took up the theme and commissioned artists and curators for their pavilions who don’t fit into the traditional country mould and yet are part of the respective society.
This is the case, for example, in the pavilions of Germany, England, Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, the USA and Australia, which I can highly recommend visiting.
BUT WHAT EXACTLY
IS THERE TO SEE?
Céline's
top 5 pavilions
September 2024, by now I, Céline, was also at the Biennale. Jacqueline’s pictures and her explanations were great, but of course I also wanted to see it with my own eyes! I’m sure you did too 😀
So that I don’t repeat everything, I thought I’d just show you my top 5 pavilions / works of art at the 2024 Art Biennale!
German Pavilion – Giardini
Frankly, this was the last pavilion I visited at the Biennale. As I did Arsenale first and then the Giardini after a short lunch break, my feet were already aching and my head was buzzing. I was about to give up, but then I gave in and went into the German Pavilion. And I’m glad I did. Because this pavilion was almost the most impressive for me. Even though it didn’t get a Lion and doesn’t feature in the usual top 10 lists, I thought it was fantastic, varied and involved a lot of work.
Under the name “Thresholds”, there are installations and video art by Yael Bartana ‘Light t the nation’ and ‘Farewell’, which make you think of the ‘future’ and ‘space travel’.
But the large and imposing work is by Ersan Mondtag, a third-generation Turkish immigrant. A structure was built in the large main hall that extends over three floors, which you can enter and from above you also have a view of the Yael Bartana installations. The name of the work is ‘Monument to an Unknown Man’. Here we find ‘fragments of a life’ – the working world on the ground floor, the living world on the first floor and the ‘terrace’ on the top floor. The unknown person is not unknown to the artist, only to us. This is the ‘life story’ of his grandfather, Hasan Aygün, who came to Germany as a guest worker in the 1960s. He worked for over 30 years at Eternit – a company that manufactured building materials from asbestos. I don’t need to say here that the material is not healthy. But Hasan had to breathe in the dangerous material every day, and that was his undoing. The dust that is everywhere in this construction also settles on our lungs, so you can get a sense of Hasan’s working conditions.
A very exciting work that gives us an insight into Hasan’s life, which at least immediately aroused compassion in me.
Italian Pavilion – Arsenale
The Italian pavilion appears minimalist in design, but is nevertheless impressive. The title is ‘Due Qui – To hear’. The translation seems unsuccessful, but it isn’t. 🙂 Because ‘due qui’ actually means ‘two here’. And not ‘to hear’. But both make sense. Because there are two installations and one of them definitely has something to do with ‘listening’. The artist Massimo Bartolini’s explanation is that we should learn how to hear – or rather ‘listen’ – as a form of paying attention to others.
In the first huge room, we initially see ‘only’ a long white beam on the floor, with an Asian figure standing at one end. One wall is painted purple, the second green.
In the second room we see a scaffolding construction. At first you think – oops, not finished, until you realise that the scaffolding is laid out like a labyrinth and different tones sound. When you reach the centre of the labyrinth, you see a kind of fountain – as is usually the case in green labyrinths. This one, however, has a white mass that curves upwards and downwards and makes a regular sound alongside two other objects.
Hungarian pavilion – Giardini
A beautiful pavilion with modernist mosaics on the outside – that’s how it attracted attention. Then I went to the entrance and immediately saw a futuristic, colourful something. These bright colours attracted me. 😉
The pavilion exhibits the works of Marton Nemes, which are entitled ‘Techno Zen’. Even though this is not my style of music, the colours, movements, and sounds still had an effect on me. He himself says that the works have a psychedelic character, even a hypnotic effect. They are intended to take the viewer out of the harsh real world and into a fluorescent, dizzying, colourful dream. And somehow he managed to do that with me too.
Scandinavian pavilion – Giardini
At first, I couldn’t quite work out which country this pavilion belonged to – I was thinking something Asian. But the plan and then the explanation said: Scandinavian?
You enter the pavilion and scaffolding made of bamboo sticks decorates the room. There are real tree trunks reaching through the ceiling and you can see the treetops. There are Asian robes on display, Asian sounds can be heard – and on the other side of the building there is a huge dragon’s head. So why are we here in Sweden, Norway and Finland?
The work is by Lap-See Lam (conceptualiser and film artist), Kholod Hawash (textiles) and Tze Yeung Ho (music). The work is called ‘The Altersea Opera’. The dragon head is a work by Lu Guangzheng.
Even if I can’t say more about the background currently, I call this pavilion because it radiates such tranquillity. Just sit down and enjoy the moment.
These were just 5 pavilions that particularly caught my eye. There are also the following interesting and award-winning works!
Giardini: The Australian pavilion by artist Archie Moore entitled ‘kith and kin’ (roughly translated: friends and family) received the Golden Lion for the best national contribution. So I had to go there too, and oh shock – it was the only pavilion with a queue. Is it worth waiting 20-30 minutes? For me personally, not really. Don’t get me wrong – the background of the work is beyond question (Aborigines) and the execution was certainly very strenuous and tedious (the family tree on the wall, which depicted two tribes of the indigenous people of Australia). But I missed the ‘aha’ moment here.
Arsenale: A New Zealand work on show in the international pavilion at the Arsenale has also won a prize: the prize for the best artist. It is the Mataaho Collective, which consists of four Maori women. The title is ‘Takapau’. The installation adorns the second room when you enter the Arsenale grounds and the pavilion. The room has been fitted with hi-vis bands (which are actually found on safety jackets and are reflective) and stainless-steel buckles. A great job that just looks beautiful. Takapau is a finely woven Maori mat used in ceremonies – especially births. The moment between light and dark – and this is what the Hi-Vis volumes are designed to recreate.
Arsenale: Also in the Arsenale and another highly acclaimed pavilion is the Lebanese pavilion. And I also liked it very much. The traditional, the staging – it was an all-round successful space. Mounira Al Solh has created ‘A Dance with her Myth’ – what a great title for us. This myth is about the Phoenician king’s daughter, Europa. The centrepiece is a boat, a film provides additional information and the numerous masks complete the picture.
Giardini: The Dutch pavilion wasn’t really on my radar. But I was somehow taken with the works. Creepy yes, disturbing too, but somehow good. The title of the exhibition is: ‘The intenational celebration of Blasphemy and the Sacred’. It is about the former colonial power of the Dutch, about plantation workers who had to suffer as slaves of the wealthy countries. It is about labourers in the Republic of Congo and the sculptures are intended to make us aware of their fate.
In the city: I would have liked to visit the Estonian pavilion. But unfortunately, it was already closed when I arrived in the evening. Edith Karlson has created a wonderful work with ‘Hora lupi’ (The Hour of the Wolf) in the church of Santa Maria delle Penitenti in Cannaregio. Creepy, but a great contrast to the church. At least that’s what the pictures I’ve seen tell me…
Tip: If you want to see a work by a famous ‘old’ artist, you have to go to the central pavilion in the Giardini. Because a work by Frida Kahlo is hidden here!
DON'T FORGET
KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN IN THE CITY
You will probably spend more than one day in Venice and enjoy this beautiful city. If you stroll around during the Biennale, you will unexpectedly pass one or two country ‘pavilions’. These very often consist of an exhibition space and are usually free to visit. It is therefore worth spending enough time in Venice to take advantage of this offer.
For example, we were in the following pavilions, which are hidden in the small and large alleyways of Venice:
Bosnia and Herzegovina – in Palazzo Zorzi: Title: ‘The Measure of the sea’
Lithuania – in the church Chisea di Sant’ Antonin: ’Inflammation’
Cyprus in a small (dilapidated) building: ‘On a wild flower – lined gravel track off a quiet thoroughfare…’
Mongolai: in a building just before the Arsenale entrance: ‘Discovering the present from the future’
Hong Kong: opposite the entrance to the Arsenale: ‘Courtyard with Attachments’
Summery
Be sure to go! It’s an experience, even for those who don’t consider themselves art freaks.
For art lovers, the Biennale is a paradise where there is much more to see and experience than you can take in.
In addition, there is the unique, majestic Venice, which actually serves as a backdrop here and yet ultimately outstrips contemporary art.
Your Jacqueline
and now Céline too 😉 🙂