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| Freedom for Chile (1973) at Le Muse Disquiete - Photo: Cat Bauer |
For the first time, all the artistic directors of La Biennale's six different departments -- Art, Architecture, Cinema, Music, Dance and Theater -- have come together to curate Le Muse Inquiete, an enlightening exhibition illustrating how history has crossed paths with the dynamic cultural institution.
Back in the 1890s, the original idea to hold an international art festival in Venice was the brainchild of Riccardo Selvatico, a playwright, poet, and mayor of Venice, who, together with his circle of intellectuals, would meet in Caffé Florian in Piazza San Marco to organize their plans.
Back in the 1890s, the original idea to hold an international art festival in Venice was the brainchild of Riccardo Selvatico, a playwright, poet, and mayor of Venice, who, together with his circle of intellectuals, would meet in Caffé Florian in Piazza San Marco to organize their plans.
La Biennale's first International Art Exhibition of the City of Venice opened on April 22, 1895 in a purposely-built pavilion in the sprawling gardens of Venice's Giardini sector. Belgium built the first national pavilion in 1907, soon joined by Hungary, Germany, Great Britain, France and Russia, creating individual art embassies where each country could spotlight their talent.
Aside from interruptions by two world wars (and now the COVID-19 pandemic), La Biennale has taken place ever since, growing into one of the most important global cultural events.
The Disquieted Muses grabs us from the moment we enter the Central Pavilion. We come face to face with clips from June 14, 1934 of Adolf Hitler landing at the airport on the Lido in Venice and disembarking from a Lufthansa plane where he was greeted by Benito Mussolini. The two dictators hop into a boat taxi along with Giuseppe Volpi, the powerful businessman and president of La Biennale -- who created the Venice Film Festival -- and Antonio Maraini, the secretary general of La Biennale and Florentine sculptor who had a "dazzling career of absolute dominance over artistic life during Fascism."
We weave our way through rooms documenting La Biennale's transformation from a local public institution that organized international art exhibitions into an organization controlled by the Fascists, who viewed the arts as a political propaganda tool. From 1934 to 1938, La Biennale was visited by Mussolini, Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and the king of Italy, "demonstrating its importance as a stage for new Italian alliances with the world."
In May 1940, war raged in Europe but La Biennale still opened its doors, now totally under Fascist control, with artists chosen by direct invitation or through competitions based on Fascist themes. The Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido had been requisitioned by the armed forces, so the 8th Venice International Film Festival was held in the historic center of Venice at the San Marco and Rossini cinemas, and only Axis allies or neutral countries were allowed to take part.
Italy was at war in 1942 and La Biennale did not have the staff or resources to open, but geared back up in 1946 after the war. One of the most interesting documents on display is the MILITARY REQUISITION FOR PROPERTY dated May 1, 1947 notifying the Comune di Venezia that elements of the United States of America were temporarily occupying the Palazzo del Cinema.
Peggy Guggenheim brought her collection -- which included Jackson Pollack -- to Venice in 1948, the same year of the first solo exhibition by 67-year-old Pablo Picasso, who had never exhibited at La Biennale before. A small model of the Greek pavilion where Peggy exhibited her collection is an amazing reproduction of the show with the tiny works of art all in their places.
We journey through the Cold War and the 1950s when Bertolt Brecht was invited to stage Mother Courage and Her Children, but was refused a visa by the Italian government. In 1954, mayhem broke out at the award ceremony in the Sala Grande when Federico Fellini's La Strada won the Silver Lion and Luchino Visconti's Senso was totally ignored. "Visconti's assistant Franco Zeffirelli got in a physical fight with Fellini's assistant Moraldo Rossi, and the police had to intervene to separate them, while La Strada's producer Dino De Laurentiis engaged in a shouting match with Visconti supporters."
In the 1960s Abstract Expressionism arrived on the scene from the United States, bringing an American contingent of Pop artists like Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns to La Biennale. Robert Rauschenberg's controversial 1964 win of the coveted Golden Lion, La Biennale's top prize, created an uproar in the art world.
That is just a small taste of the overwhelming history lesson that awaits you at the Central Pavilion down at Giardini. The titles of the rooms illustrate more of what's in store:
ROOM 1
The Film Festival, 1932-1939
Room 2A
The Biennale during Fascism 1928-1945
Room 2B
The Cold War and the New World Order 1947-1964
Room 3
1968: a year of protests and new ideals
ROOM 4
The 1970s: interdisciplinary and political work
ROOM 5
Freedom for Chile, 1974
ROOM 6
Sofija Guvajdulina, applied music and absolute music
ROOM 7
The Biennale of Dissent, 1977
ROOM 8
The First International Architecture Exhibition and Postmodernism, 1980
ROOM 9
La Biennale and the Society of the spectacle
GIARDINO SCARPA
Tan Dun, traditional music and technology
ROOM 12
The 1990s: from Nation-States to a Global Biennale
ROOM 13
Central Pavilion since 1895
It was fascinating to discover the extent that international events and politics actually play out in the world of art, and the tense equilibrium artists create when they react to the world around them with powerful creative expression. We can only imagine what the current state of affairs will inspire in future Disquieted Muses.
Le Muse Inquiete - When La Biennale Meets History is at the Central Pavilion in Giardini until December 8, 2020. Go to La Biennale di Venezia for more information.
Ciao from Venezia,
Cat Bauer
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog
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| The Disquieted Muses - Photo: Cat Bauer |
We weave our way through rooms documenting La Biennale's transformation from a local public institution that organized international art exhibitions into an organization controlled by the Fascists, who viewed the arts as a political propaganda tool. From 1934 to 1938, La Biennale was visited by Mussolini, Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and the king of Italy, "demonstrating its importance as a stage for new Italian alliances with the world."
In May 1940, war raged in Europe but La Biennale still opened its doors, now totally under Fascist control, with artists chosen by direct invitation or through competitions based on Fascist themes. The Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido had been requisitioned by the armed forces, so the 8th Venice International Film Festival was held in the historic center of Venice at the San Marco and Rossini cinemas, and only Axis allies or neutral countries were allowed to take part.
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| Military Requisition for Property - Photo: Cat Bauer |
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| Model of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection - Photo: Cat Bauer |
We journey through the Cold War and the 1950s when Bertolt Brecht was invited to stage Mother Courage and Her Children, but was refused a visa by the Italian government. In 1954, mayhem broke out at the award ceremony in the Sala Grande when Federico Fellini's La Strada won the Silver Lion and Luchino Visconti's Senso was totally ignored. "Visconti's assistant Franco Zeffirelli got in a physical fight with Fellini's assistant Moraldo Rossi, and the police had to intervene to separate them, while La Strada's producer Dino De Laurentiis engaged in a shouting match with Visconti supporters."
In the 1960s Abstract Expressionism arrived on the scene from the United States, bringing an American contingent of Pop artists like Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns to La Biennale. Robert Rauschenberg's controversial 1964 win of the coveted Golden Lion, La Biennale's top prize, created an uproar in the art world.
That is just a small taste of the overwhelming history lesson that awaits you at the Central Pavilion down at Giardini. The titles of the rooms illustrate more of what's in store:
ROOM 1
The Film Festival, 1932-1939
Room 2A
The Biennale during Fascism 1928-1945
Room 2B
The Cold War and the New World Order 1947-1964
Room 3
1968: a year of protests and new ideals
ROOM 4
The 1970s: interdisciplinary and political work
ROOM 5
Freedom for Chile, 1974
ROOM 6
Sofija Guvajdulina, applied music and absolute music
ROOM 7
The Biennale of Dissent, 1977
ROOM 8
The First International Architecture Exhibition and Postmodernism, 1980
ROOM 9
La Biennale and the Society of the spectacle
GIARDINO SCARPA
Tan Dun, traditional music and technology
ROOM 12
The 1990s: from Nation-States to a Global Biennale
ROOM 13
Central Pavilion since 1895
It was fascinating to discover the extent that international events and politics actually play out in the world of art, and the tense equilibrium artists create when they react to the world around them with powerful creative expression. We can only imagine what the current state of affairs will inspire in future Disquieted Muses.
Le Muse Inquiete - When La Biennale Meets History is at the Central Pavilion in Giardini until December 8, 2020. Go to La Biennale di Venezia for more information.
Ciao from Venezia,
Cat Bauer
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog
When La Biennale was forced to postpone the International Architecture Exhibition due to the current health crisis, it got creative and dug into its Historical Archives for Contemporary Arts (ASAC) to mark the 125 years that it has been in existence. For the first time, all the artistic directors of La Biennale's six different departments -- Art, Architecture, Cinema, Music, Dance and Theater -- have come together to curate Le Muse Inquiete, an enlightening exhibition illustrating how history has crossed paths with the dynamic cultural institution.
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