Author Archives: Living Venice

Begin the Biennale 2019! (Art, this year)

The opening of the sempre highly-anticipated bi-annual international contemporary art exhibition in Venice is less than a month away. The 58th edition will be curated by the current director of the Hayward Gallery in London, Ralph Rugoff. This year’s edition is entitled May You Live in Interesting Times, and no matter how you interpret this interesting phrase that, according to the Biennale web site, is “of English invention that has long been mistakenly cited as an ancient Chinese curse that invokes periods of uncertainty, crisis and turmoil”, certainly seems appropriate.

90 national participations (Ghana, Madagascar, Malaysia and Pakistan are here for the first time) are housed in original pavilions in the Giardini, with later nation additions ensconced along the corridors of the Arsenale and spilling out into a number of often spectacular venues throughout the city. These 90 national participations are accompanied by an additional 21 collateral exhibitions and a variety of independent exhibitions, here to take advantage of the arty ambience.

In short: from May 11 to November 24 you will have all the contemporary art you can physically, mentally, emotionally and otherwise absorb as you visit Venice. Magnifico!

BIENNALE ARTE 2019
58TH INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION
VENICE, 11.05 – 24.11
Open: 10-18, Tue-Sun, closed Mon.
TIckets:
€25 Regular are valid for one admission to each exhibition venue, Giardini & Arsenale.
€35 Plus (the best deal by far) entitles the holder to multiple visits for 3 consecutive days to each exhibition venue (Giardini and Arsenale; closing days excluded).
€85 Accreditation grants unrestricted admission to each exhibition venue.

There is no charge for any of the exhibitions in venues outside the Giardini and Arsenale. There are also discount tickets for students, over 65, and others, for complete information see the Biennale web site.

One last note: There are excellent maps provided with your ticket purchase and also by VENEWS, found at any new kiosk around town. They make it easy not to miss a nearby exhibition as you wander the city.

#BiennaleArte2019
#MayYouLiveInInterestingTimes

Il Nuovo Trionfo - Trabaccolo a Venezia

The Triumphant Return of the Trionfo

Il Nuovo Trionfo - Trabaccolo a VeneziaWaterborne once again after much needed maintenance carried out at the shipyard Cantiere Casaril Sant’Alvise (the last one of its kind left in town for repair of vessels of this type).

The Nuovo Trionfo will be present at the Arsenale from April 24 – 26 on Open Arsenale 2015.

Everyone is invited to come aboard to inspect the work just completed, and also to become a member of the Club Amici del Nuovo Trionfo. Your dues will help to support the initiative for continued renovation of the historic vessel. They will also entitle you to

  • get on board and join the crew after a brief training
  • participate and / or organize private events (birthdays, parties, presentations, events, toast etc.).
  • participate in the short excursions in the lagoon on the dates organized for members
  • participate in the work of minor maintenance on board: painting, cleaning, light carpentry, interior, sails, halyards, ropes, rigging, etc. There is something for everyone who can work with his hands.

Current Amici are also invited to renew for 2015.

For more about the type of vessel, see the Trabaccolo Wiki page.

Canal Grande, coming to an iPad near you.

Venice Grand CanalYou would think, looking at the continuous images of each side of the Canal Grande, that photographer Daniele Resini went out and took one loooooong photo of each side of the entire canal all on the same day.

Hardly.

Instead, this labor of iPad love took three years to precisely compose numerous images to look like one practically endless one. Swipe from one end of each side of the Grand Canal to the other, or tap the map to jump directly to any palace anywhere along the canal. Each palace and location is named so before long, you’ll be reciting their names like a local.

There’s also a really fun set of extras, a series of chopped up image puzzles that you maneuver by hand to recompose in their original form. Just the thing to keep the kids busy in the vap while you gaze out the window at Venetian scene slipping lazily by. Palazzo Bembo, for the prince? And you thought Bembo was just a font…

From the incomparable, indefatigable Michela Scibilia Teolinda team.

See more about it on iTunes.

Rousseau the Douanier, Doge's Palace til July 5, 2015

The Surprising Vision of Henri Rousseau

Nicknamed the Douanier (the customs agent), Rousseau was actually a self-taught former toll collector, alternately admired, teased and beloved as he pursued establishing his art. The exhibit is steps lightly, much as Rousseau did; there are also comparative works by renowned friends and contemporaries like Cezanne, Picasso, Seraut and Delauney.

At the Doge’s apartment in the Palazzo Ducale, Rousseau’s works make a great complement to the upcoming 56th Art Biennale exhibitions; the Douanier is on til July 5.

Henri Rousseau, Arcaic Candor
mostrarousseau.it
€13, daily though July 5.

Rousseau the Douanier, Doge's Palace til July 5, 2015

Rousseau the Douanier, Doge's Palace til July 5, 2015

Rousseau the Douanier, Doge's Palace til July 5, 2015

Rousseau the Douanier, Doge's Palace til July 5, 2015