“You are walking over an endless upside-down forest; you are walking over an incredible upside-down forest.”
Tiziano Scarpa
127 years of history brings us to the 59th edition of the Venice Biennale, new trends and innovative projects from the world of Art that this year will bring up the uniqueness of artists from all over the world reflecting their vision and our society. Curated by Cecilia Alemani, the Venice Art Exhibition opens its doors on the 23rd of April (pre-opening on the 20th, 21st and 22nd of April). This edition of the Biennale was originally planned for 2021, then it moved due to different rules of prevention and containment following the global health emergency.
Cecilia Alemani, born in 1977, is an Italian curator living in New York. She holds a degree in Philosophy from the University of Milan and a master’s degree in Curatorial Studies from Bard College in New York. Among her most significant works, since 2011 she has been supervising the High Line Art Program: a very important project, in an unusual public space, which brought her into contact with several internationally renowned artists and allowed her to organize exhibitions for young emerging talents. This led to the creation of Frieze Projects, a site she curated between 2012 and 2017, a non-profit platform that brings to light new productions by emerging artists and reconstructions of historical exhibitions. In 2017, Cecilia Alemani was the curator of the Italian pavilion at the Biennale and today of its integrity: one of the best-known art exhibitions in the world.
Il Latte dei Sogni (The Milk of Dreams) is the name chosen by Alemani for this edition of the Biennale. A title inspired by a fairy tales’ book by Leonora Carrington, defined by Dalì as “the most important female surrealist artist”. The book’s cover and childlike drawings conceal fairy tales that are actually grotesque, irrational, disturbing and dreamlike.
In preparing the Biennial, Cecilia Alemani had meetings and conversations with various artists who highlighted the feeling of threat to humanity in this historical moment, imagining a future condition and questioning the modern vision of the human being. Three thematic areas emerged: the representation of bodies and their metamorphoses; the relationship between individuals and technologies; and the links between bodies and the Earth.
61 nations and more than 200 artists, more than two thirds of whom have never participated in the Venice Biennale before. Moreover, for the first time, the Biennale presents a large majority of female artists and non-binary subjects: this choice reflects the international panorama of a highly creative modern society, as well as a decisive downsizing of the male role in today’s culture. From the Central Pavilion to the Giardini to the Corderie, from the Artiglierie to the Gaggiandre to the Arsenale, contemporary and unpublished works await you.
From Abano Terme you are in Venice in just 40 minutes by train or 45 minutes by car. An excellent idea for an excursion during your holiday: a unique cultural interlude, and then dive back into the relaxation of the AbanoRitz and our thermal wellness center.
