VENICE ART BIENNALE: FINISSAGE

la Biennale di Venezia
Finissage of 54th International Art Exhibition – ILLUMInations

Saturday, November 26th

• 11.30 press conference
• 12.30 award ceremony of online competitions (photos and essays)
• 14.30 Meetings on Art: Let’s talk about us/sessions 1 and 2

Sunday, November 27th

• 11.30 opening of the exhibition of artists’ videos from the Biennale Historical Archives (VIDEO MEDIUM INTERMEDIUM )
• 12.00 award ceremony of online competitions (videos)
• 14.30 Meetings on Art – Let’s talk about us/sessions 3

Venice, November 10th 2011 – The 54th International Art Exhibition – ILLUMInations (which includes 89 national participations) directed by Bice Curiger and organized by la Biennale di Venezia chaired by Paolo Baratta, will close with a weekend (Saturday and Sunday November 26th and 27th) including special events and initiatives.

Saturday, November 26th

• Press Conference: ASAC – Historical Archives Library, Giardini, at 11.30

On Saturday, November 26th at 11.30 a closure press conference will take place at the ASAC – Historical Archives Library, Central Pavilion, Giardini. Speakers will include President Paolo Baratta and director Bice Curiger who will take stock of the 54th Art Exhibition.

• Award ceremony of online competitions (photos and essays): ASAC – Historical Archives Library, Giardini, at 12.30

The opening will be followed by the award ceremony of the online competitions of 2011 Art Biennale and 2010 Architecture Biennale (published on www.labiennalechannel.org):

• ILLUMInations – Photography: the best photograph of the Exhibition (open only to accredited photographers)
• ILLUMInations – Essay: the best critical essay on the Exhibition
• People meet in architecture – Essay: the best critical text on the Exhibition (open to young people and students between the ages of 18 and 30 years old)

The jury of ILLUMInations – Photography is composed by Paolo Baratta and Bice Curiger.
The jury of ILLUMInations – Essay and People meet in architecture– Essay is composed by Paolo Baratta, Bice Curiger and the architect Aldo Cibic, exhibiting at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition.

• Meetings on Art: Let’s talk about us/1 and 2: Teatro alle Tese, Arsenale from 14.30

On Saturday afternoon, November 26th, will take place the first two sessions of Let’s talk about us, part of Meetings on Art, a series of conversations with artists, philosophers, writers, theologians, art historians, curators, museum directors and critics on the themes of the 2011 Art Biennale. Both meetings will focus on the differences and similarities between a Biennale curator and a museum curator. Speakers will include art historians and critics who have served in one or both of these roles during their career.

From 14.30 to 16.30 the first session titled Blockbuster or Betablocker: Biennale curator, museum curator will feature the participation of Paolo Baratta, Bice Curiger, Germano Celant, Massimiliano Gioni, Hans-Ulrich Obrist and Letizia Ragaglia.
From 17.00 to 19.00 the second session Blockbuster o Betablocker: museum curator, Biennale curator will be a conversation with Paolo Baratta, Diana Baldon, Giovanni Carmine, Okwui Enwezor, Beatrix Ruf and Vicente Todoli.

Sunday, November 27th

• Opening of the exhibition of artists’ videos from the Biennale Historical Archives (VIDEO MEDIUM INTERMEDIUM): Ca’ Giustinian, at 11.30

The exhibition of artists’ videos from the collections of Biennale Historical Archives, titled VIDEO MEDIUM INTERMEDIUM, will open on Sunday, November 27th at 11.30 at Ca’ Giustinian, headquarter of la Biennale. Following the improvement project of the Biennale Archive heritage and the success of the exhibition of its historic posters, la Biennale will offer a selection of artists’ videos realized between 1969 and 1977, along with photographs and other documents from the Collections of the ASAC, selected for the exhibition by Bice Curiger.
For the very first time, the public will be able to view the rich legacy that documents the nascent art of video in Europe at the beginning of the Seventies. In the Portego on the ground floor of Ca’ Giustinian, monitors will be set up to view the videos selected by Bice Curiger, along with photographs and other documents from the archives. The two rooms on the sides will respectively be organized for the consultation of a video library and a daily program of videos, in order to view the selection more comfortably.

• Award ceremony of online competitions (videos): Ca’ Giustinian, at 12.30

The opening will be followed by the award ceremony of the online competitions:
– ILLUMInations – Video: the best video on the theme of the Exhibition
– People meet in architecture -Video: the best video on the theme of the Exhibition (open to young people and students between the ages of 18 and 30).

The jury of ILLUMInazioni-Video and People meet in architecture-Video is composed by: Paolo Baratta, Bice Curiger and Aldo Cibic.

• Meetings on Art – Let’s talk about us/3: Teatro alle Tese, Arsenale, from 14.30

The last exhibition day will end with the third session of Let’s talk about us, part of Meetings of Art. On Sunday, November 27th from 14.30 the conversation titled What have we done?! will be a review of the last five editions of the Art Biennale. President Baratta and Director Curiger will engage in a panel discussion with the directors of the most recent editions: Francesco Bonami (2003), Maria de Corral and Rosa Martinez (2005), Robert Storr (2007) and Daniel Birnbaum (2009).

All videos of the 54th International Art Exhibition and of Meetings on Art are available on www.labiennale.org e www.labiennalechannel.org at the following link:
http://www.labiennale.org/it/videocenter/index.html?BACK=false&PAGEN=0

iBiennale, the official application of la Biennale di Venezia, available for iPad and iPhone and produced in cooperation with LOG607 and Marsilio Editori, is downloadable on:
http://itunes.apple.com/it/app/ibiennale-la-biennale-di-venezia/id387333827?mt=8

Further Information
Press Office Visual Arts
la Biennale di Venezia
Ph. +39 041 5218 – 849/846/716
infoartivisive@labiennale.org
www.labiennale.org – www.labiennalechannel.org
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