By Janet Ekstract -NEW YORK- Italy’s premier art extravaganza, La Biennale di Venezia 2024, its 60th international art exhibition, opened April 20 with this year’s theme Foreigners Everywhere, (Stranieri Ovunque) representing a series of works begun in 2004 from the Paris-born and Palermo-based Clair Fontaine collective. The title of the 2024 biennale originated from the name of a Turin artist collective who fought racism and xenophobia in Italy in the early 2000s. The artworks consist of neon sculptures in diverse colors in a number of languages with the words “Foreigners Everywhere.” Adriano Pedrosa, artistic director of the biennale and a Brazilian curator and artistic director of the Sao Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) said the term “Foreigners Everywhere” has several interpretations. The first is that wherever you go and wherever you are, you will always see foreigners since they are everywhere. The second is that no matter where you find yourself, you are always truly, deeply a foreigner.
What’s unique about this biennale is that the focus relies on a diverse group of artists that span the global style grid. As Pedrosa explained, in different languages, the first meaning of the term ‘foreigner’ is queer or strange – the lead-in to a focus on queer artists, exploring various sexualities, genders, quite often persecuted or outlawed. Another focus is on the outsider artist, usually at the fringes of the art world, similar to the self-taught artist. Other focuses include the folk artistand the indigenous artist, often treated as a foreigner in his or her own country. The biennale revolves around these four who comprise the Nucleo Contemporaneo or Contemporary Core of the exhibition. The Giardini (Central Pavilion) and Arsenale venues are the showcases for these astounding pieces. The Central Pavilion features indigenous artists who represent an emblematic presence and the Mahku collective from Brazil who will paint a monumental mural on the building’s façade. The Corderie features the Maataho collective from Aotearoa, New Zealand with a large-scale installation in the anterior space while the queer artists appear throughout the exhibition, also the main focus of a large section in the Corderie with one area showcasing queer abstraction in the Central Pavilion.
The Nucleo Contemporaneo features a special section in the Corderie showcasing the Disobedience Archive – a project by Marco Scotini who has been developing a video archive since 2005, focusing on relationships between artistic practices and activism. This project was designed by Juliana Ziebell who also worked on the exhibition architecture of the entire international exhibition. The special section also features two major areas: Diaspora activism and Gender Disobedience. The Disobedience Archive includes works by 39 artists and collectives created between 1975-2023. Then the Nucleo Storico (Historical Core) features artwork from 20th century Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. A plethora of rooms will feature works from these regions in essay-draft form as a speculative-curatorial, questioning the boundaries and definitions of modernism of the Global South that remain for the most part, a mystery. Also, featured are a select group of well-known international artists from a veriety of countries, among them Ai Wei Wei. The biennale will also feature 88 national participations in the historic pavilions at the Giardini, Arsenale and in Venice’s city center. Four countries will be participating for the first time: Republic of Benin, Ethiopia, United Republic of Tanzania, Democratic Republi of Timor, Leste Nicaragua, Republic of Panama and Sengal. There will also be 30 Collateral Events from the biennale curator – promoted by non-profit national and international bodies and institutions in different locations in Venice. The exhibition which ends on November 24, will also feature outdoor performance events on the last day of the biennale as it did at the pre-opening. Biennale Arte 2024 is focusing on artists who have never shown before at this exhibition with special attention going to outdoor projects in the Arsenale and Giardini while showcasing a wide diversity of voices from the artistic world..
