UPDATED: Reopening the World? La Biennale in Venice Announces 2020 International Festival Schedule

Photo: La Biennale di Venezia

(Venice, Italy) Like all public gatherings where large groups of people congregate, La Biennale di Venezia's schedule has been upended by the COVID-19 coronavirus. As everyone knows, Italy was hit hard and early by the virus, forcing the International Architectural Exhibition to postpone its opening, which was scheduled for May 23. La Biennale has announced the new dates for all its different international sectors — real-life events, not cyber.

The Architectural Exhibition is now scheduled to open on August 29, 2020, with press previews on August 27 and 28.

UPDATE MAY 18, 2020 - Due to the ongoing pandemic, La Biennale announced today that the Architecture Exhibition has been postponed until 2021. How Will We Live Together, curated by Hashim Sarkis, will open on Saturday, May 22, 2021 and run through Sunday, November 21, 2021.

La Biennale International Art Exhibition, curated by Cecilia Alemani, has been posted to 2022. It will last seven months and be held from Saturday, April 23, 2022 through Sunday, November 27, 2022.

“The last few days – declared President Roberto Cicutto - have clarified the real state of the situation we are all facing. With the utmost respect for the work done by all of us, the investments made by the participants, and considering the difficulties that all countries, institutions, universities, architectural studios have met together with the uncertainty of the shipments, personal travel restraints and Covid-19 protective measures that are being and will be adopted, we have decided to listen to those, the majority, who requested that the Biennale di Architettura be postponed. I have received many messages asking for a postponement to 2021. We now plan to open the 17^th Biennale Architettura in May 2021 and allow it a longer life until November, as it was before the pandemic. Nevertheless Architecture will be in Venice this Fall organizing several events keeping at the center of the stage the question, more relevant than ever, of “How will we live together?”.”

Actress Cate Blanchett attends the premiere of the film "A Star Is Born" during the 75th Venice International Film Festival in Venice in 2018.

The Venice Film Festival starts on September 2 and run through September 12, as originally scheduled. The international film star, Cate Blanchett, is the president of the jury.

These international events normally draw large numbers of journalists and visitors from all over the planet. In normal times, during the openings, Venice's lagoon is often full of yachts and jet-setters, as well as a vibrant, educated general public. There are parties in palaces, bustling restaurants and busy bars. It is difficult to get a hotel reservation.

Venice looks forward to La Biennale's openings because they attract a valued type of traveler. The private and civic museums, art galleries and local businesses often schedule their own events based on La Biennale's schedule. Contrary to the destructive over-tourism that feeds off masses of tourists and daytrippers whose sole purpose seems to be to pose for selfies, the educated travelers who visit the lagoon for cultural events bring a welcome, dynamic energy.

It will be fascinating to see how Venice and La Biennale organizes these events with the COVID-19 coronavirus health crisis lurking in the background. La Biennale is a wise organization who understands well how to manage large crowds and keep people safe with military precision. We can imagine that this year will present one of its greatest challenges, with the eyes of the world watching how it goes.

Prophetically and appropriately titled, "How Will We Live Together?" the Architecture Exhibition directed by Hashim Sarkis will have 113 participants from 48 different countries, all of which you can find on La Biennale's website.

La Biennale International Architecture Exhibition 2016 - Photo: Cat Bauer

La Biennale also has a new President, Roberto Cicutto, who was born in Venice in 1948 and has a background as a film producer and distributor. His production company, Aura Film, won the Golden Lion in 1988 for La Leggenda del Santo Bevitore directed by Ermanno Olmi. Cicutto replaces the beloved and highly-respected Paolo Baratta, who has steered the vast organization through times of political turmoil and threats of terrorist attacks while hosting everyone from world leaders, to renowned artists and architects, to Hollywood celebrities.

The new Board of Directors met online on March 19, 2020 due to the current health emergency. President Roberto Cicutto stated:

“The exceptional conditions under which we are beginning our work must compel us not only to find the best solutions to pursue La Biennale’s mission, in the interest of its international prestige, of the city of Venice and of our country, but above all to enrich it with new initiatives and new ideas for the dissemination of the contemporary arts. Nor can we forget La Biennale’s role as a factor in the growth and development of the city of Venice itself and of our nation."

Immediately after the Venice Film Festival ends on September 12, the International Theater Festival will open on September 14 through 24. The next day, on September 25, the International Festival of Contemporary Music Festival opens, and runs through October 4. There is a brief pause until the International Festival of Contemporary Dance kicks off on October 13 through October 25. These events usually draw a creative, intelligent and young-minded crowd, interested in the cutting-edge of what's in vogue.

Here is La Biennale’s program for the remainder of 2020:

·         August 29^th to November 29^th, the 17^th International Architecture Exhibition directed by Hashim Sarkis

·         September 2^nd to 12^th, the 77^th Venice International Film Festival directed by Alberto Barbera

·         September 14^th to 24^th, the 64^th International Theatre Festival directed by Antonio Latella

·         September 25^th to October 4^th, the 48^th International Festival of Contemporary Music directed by Ivan Fedele

·         October 13^th to 25^th, the 14^th International Festival of Contemporary Dance directed by Marie Chouinard

 

Venice Over-tourism - Photo: CNN Travel

The masses who were flooding Venice and the businesses who targeted them were like a virus themselves. The disease of over-tourism infected everything, creeping into all aspects of Venetian life -- the high cost of AirBnBs priced residents out of apartments. Supermarkets raised their prices, catering to tourists, not residents. Cruise ships barreled through the Giudecca Canal, unloading thousands of passengers at once, who flooded the streets, making it difficult to conduct everyday business. Daytrippers swarmed into the lagoon on trains and buses from newly-constructed hotels and hostels on the mainland, where tourists slept cheaply, crammed eight beds to a room. Venice was being killed in front of the eyes of the world. Then suddenly, the whole frenetic mess was brought to a grinding halt by the COVID-19 coronavirus.

We have a new opportunity in Venice to reopen the city with wisdom and foresight. The model of mass-tourism that Venice was practicing must be completely overhauled. Venice can be a leading example for the rest of the world, spinning straw into gold, transforming the sacrifices that all of humanity has made, and is still making, into worth and value. Let us hope that Venice and the travelers who visit the city have learned something during these demanding times and rise to the challenge.

Ciao from Venezia,
Cat Bauer
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog